3 March: World Hearing Day Outreach at the University of Auckland
Our team organised a World Hearing Day outreach stand as part of the University of Auckland Grafton Campus Student Expo! We'd like to share the experience with you in this article.
World Hearing Day is on 3rd March every year. This normally falls in the first week of the semester. This year, it was during the orientation week and the student Expo week was happening at the same time in the atrium at the University of Auckland Grafton Campus. We were very fortunate to be able to join the Expo to have our World Hearing Day display alongside other exhibitions. The Grafton campus on 3rd March was absolutely booming with students who are just beginning their university journey and may one day become clinicians, audiologists, researchers, and other health professionals.
Our goal was to raise awareness of hearing health and World Hearing Day in a way that felt open, visible, and engaging. Hopefully, for some students, this may even become the beginning of an interest in ear physiology, audiology, or hearing-related professions in the future. We displayed official World Hearing Day posters, shared information about other initiatives happening around New Zealand, and set up interactive visual materials that invited students to stop, look, and join in.
Our photo board was especially popular and created a fun, approachable way for students to engage with ear science. It also helped spark lots of conversations. Some students shared that hearing loss had affected people in their own families, while others asked about opportunities to study audiology or get involved in hearing research at the University of Auckland.
We also had New Zealand Sign Language and Deaf culture drop-in sessions provided by SignWest. It has been a few years now that we have worked with Monica and the SignWest team to bring these workshops onto campus, and we really value being able to include accessibility and Deaf culture as part of our hearing-related outreach.
This event felt like a really strong start to the year: good energy, strong student engagement, and lots of opportunities for meaningful conversations. The visibility of academic research and sharing of our knowledge & expertise with a broader audience is what we believe in.
Our next event will be New Zealand Sign Language Week in May, which will be especially exciting as it marks 20 years since NZSL became an official language of New Zealand. We will be supporting online lunchtime workshops for University of Auckland staff and students on NZSL and Deaf culture, so watch this space. So watch this space, and if you'd like to help or participate, please get in touch with us.