Hello Again, IAWEL, Mat Leave, and Beyond
You know, when I posted my last post I was in labour? My second baby came along not six hours later.
Second labours, and second maternity leaves, feel a lot faster than the first ones, I can tell you that. I’m back at my desk today, feeling sleepy, confused, and as though I can’t quite remember my job. Given the current Edinburgh work environment, that might be a bit of a problem.
To be honest, returning to work at the moment feels like returning to a house fire, with not only Edinburgh facing problems, but the Higher Education sector in the UK looking at a perfect storm on the horizon, to say nothing of the impending AI bubble pop. As an elder Millenial, I look forward to facing yet more unprecedented times.
So I am delighted to announced I am now Programme Director of International Animal Welfare Ethics and Law!
Seriously though, I have been a part of the IAWEL MSc programme for over ten years now, and I am very pleased to be returning as Programme Director. I share this responsibility with the lovely Dr Sarah Brown, and we have lots of ideas about the programme’s future.
For me, an important aspect of being Director of the programme is ensuring that our students are equipped with the tools they need to cope with unprecedented times. And it strikes me that a lot of that requires feeling uncertain and vulnerable - a very difficult place to put yourself in as a student. I’m very conscious myself, right now, about feeling unsure of my place in a role, and how that impacts my family life, my abilities to work, and how I respond to challenges.
One of the big things I want to do with the Programme is to work hard on our sense of community. As someone who really hates organised socialising, this is certainly a place where I feel a bit uncomfortable.
But for now, I’m back, I’ve got a bit of a new job, I’m a little more tired than I was, and I’m a lot more time poor.
See you next time . . .