EPI•STEM PODCAST EPISODE 42

<p>In this replay episode of the EPI·STEM podcast, Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome Professor Laura Colucci-Gray as their special guest. Professor Colucci-Gray is Professor of Science Education in the School of Education at Moray House, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.</p><p>Originally recorded following Professor Colucci-Gray&#39;s keynote address at the European Science Education Research Association (ESERA) 2025 Conference in Copenhagen, this conversation explores her perspectives on the importance of positioning the arts alongside the sciences in science education and sustainability.</p><p>Professor Colucci-Gray takes a feminist and new materialist approach to science education, highlighting the significance of affectivity beyond evidence and advocating for social and emotional development as essential not only for human flourishing but also for nurturing the capacity to care for others and for the wider world. She discusses how these perspectives contribute to the sustainability of democratic society, the economy and the environment.</p><p>Drawing on her extensive work in science education research, Professor Colucci-Gray offers rich insights into the transdisciplinary nature of science education and the vital role of the arts in learning. She also discusses research and development projects that support embodied and place-based learning practices. Among these is the STEAM education project <em>Garden as a Provocation</em>, developed with a team of teacher educators and artists at the University of Edinburgh. The project invites science teachers to engage with the garden both as a metaphor and as a real-world learning space, inspiring arts-based pedagogies that encourage ethical, open, contemplative and democratic approaches to science learning while fostering care for self, others and the environment.</p><p>The music featured in this episode is by Caoimhe Fitzpatrick, then a first-year student on the BA in World Music at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick. Caoimhe performs her original composition, <em>Liberties Baby</em>, an acoustic reflection on human freedom.</p><p><strong>Originally released in 2025. We are delighted to share this conversation again with our listeners as part of our EPI·STEM podcast replay series.</strong></p><p></p>