Category: Academic Encounters
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Bridging the Gap: From Understanding to Action in Research and Policy
“Researchers are excellent at understanding things. But they are often very bad at distilling that understanding into precise recommendations for change. Policymakers, by contrast, have no time at all to understand anything. They are under constant pressure to decide what to do about it.” — Jackson (2025), The Care Economy This quote has stayed with…
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Women in Academia: Getting Unstuck and Rethinking Resilience
Let me begin with a caveat: I do not feel disadvantaged as a woman in academia. I am acutely aware of my privilege, and my academic career has been shaped, sometimes gently, other times firmly, by the circumstances of my life. To me, being an academic has never been simply a job. It is a…
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Becoming a Human Book: Reflections From Rathlin Island’s Human Library
Sometimes, as academics, our work takes us into unexpected spaces, both intellectually and geographically. One such moment arrived when I agreed to become a Human Book at a Human Library event on Rathlin Island. The gathering was hosted by the Rathlin Development and Community Association and the Ulster University Rathlin-Research Forum as part of the Northern Ireland…
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Shaping Tomorrow: Reflections from THRIC 2026
The 2026 Tourism and Hospitality Research in Ireland Conference (THRIC) served as a timely reminder of the collective agency embedded within our academic and professional community. Since its inaugural gathering in Portrush in 2005 and following a Covid-19-induced hiatus, its revitalisation at MTU Dingle, Co. Kerry in 2024, THRIC has evolved into far more than…
