Arkansas Global Changemakers and KUAF Launch Season Two of Points of Departure Podcast

Rogelio Garcia Contreras

Rogelio Garcia Contreras, Laurence Hare, and Daniel Caruth at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, Spain

Arkansas Global Changemakers, a collaborative, faculty-led global learning initiative at the University of Arkansas, is announcing the release of the second season of its podcast series, Points of Departure, in partnership with KUAF public radio.

Points of Departure features interviews with local and international scholars, students, entrepreneurs, and activists who are working to solve global issues at the local level. These discussions take listeners around the world as they illuminate contemporary issues, highlight innovative new approaches, and advance the Changemakers mission of bringing communities in Arkansas and abroad into dialogue.

The hosts of Points of Departure are Laurence Hare, associate professor and chair of the Department of History in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, and Rogelio Garcia Conteras, teaching assistant faculty leading social innovation initiatives at the Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Venture Innovation Department in the Walton College of Business. In the second season, the two hosts, joined by KUAF producer Daniel Caruth, traveled to Barcelona, Spain and Rome, Italy and recorded as part of a larger project.

As Hare explained, "The purpose of the trip is to build a network of organizations in Arkansas and in Europe as part of our Changemakers study abroad programs. Along the way, we invited our partners to speak with us about their exciting work."

The episodes feature on-site discussions with key figures in social business and the non-profit sector who are advancing innovative solutions in Catalunya to key social challenges related to food insecurity and job skill development. Hare and Contreras also visited the University of Arkansas Rome Center, where they talked with University of Arkansas students who are studying abroad, including architecture students in Rome who are learning creative new ways to revitalize public spaces. Each episode features the sounds of Rome and Barcelona and considers the ways in which local culture and city life shape efforts at social change. 

"We can't wait for listeners to join us on our journey," said Contreras, "We hope that these episodes will stimulate discussions about these issues here at home and will inspire our listeners and our students, as the next generation of changemakers, to get involved."

The first season of Points of Departure is available on the KUAF website and on all major podcasting applications. New episodes of the second season will appear throughout November and December. Support for the second season was provided by a Study Abroad Capacity Building grant from the U.S. Department of State and World Learning and by the Cleveland C. Burton Professorship in International Programs.