Past Event details

‘Higher Education as if the World Mattered’

A conference to be held on 25 and 26 April 2013 organised by:
The Higher Education Research Group (Institute for Education, Community and Society, The University of Edinburgh) in partnership with
The Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE)

CALL FOR PAPERS

Higher education matters in this world. Indeed, it matters more than ever before in its long history. In the so-called ‘knowledge economy’ and ‘knowledge society’ higher education is high on every government’s agenda. Higher education, or more precisely the returns expected from investments into higher education, is seen to matter profoundly. But the title of this symposium is precisely not ‘The world as if higher education mattered’. In the current social, political and economic context such a statement would become meaningless, confusing even. It would be like saying ‘Water as if life mattered’. Of course it does. However, when turned around as in ‘Higher Education as if the World Mattered’ it makes us ‘stop and think’. Now the words ‘as if’ assume significance as they imply that there are some real questions to be asked about the extent to which the world is seen to matter in the present policy context characterising higher education.

Viewed in most general terms, the world is the physical and social space that we share with our fellow human beings and non-human species. It involves the various local communities and indeed the global community with whom we live together and with whom we share our natural environment, our planet and the universe. Of course, some may observe, higher education matters because the world matters! Investment in higher education, it might be said, is profoundly important for the world, and not only in developing countries. While this surely is the case, the point is that the value attached to higher education is increasingly seen in economic terms thereby risking that we lose sight of the other goods associated with higher education. We might ask, therefore, to what extent, the increased emphasis on economic returns is associated with a neglect of cultivating and demonstrating a real care for our social and natural world.

While higher education is known to enhance people’s life chances, questions remain to be asked about how the goods to be gained from higher education are presently distributed. Despite policies that are meant to increase access to higher education for under-represented sections of society we know that in a highly stratified society and higher education system even widened entry does not guarantee greater social justice in relation to access, for example. Against this backdrop, broad questions that the symposium will address include: To what extent and how do higher education policies and practices make a difference to this world? What are present priorities and how could things be otherwise? To what extent does higher education address community and environmental concerns?  To what extent are participants encouraged to make a contribution to the world?

Author submissions
All submissions are subject to a blind peer review process. Proposals are invited for Individual Papers. Each paper accepted for individual presentation will be allocated a minimum of 30 minutes for presentation and discussion.

Timetable for submissions
All proposals must be submitted via email to fsmit@srhe.ac.uk. The deadline for submission is 1 March 2013.

Call for papers- Format for submissions
To maintain the high quality of papers presented at the conference, and ensure that the review process has access to a sufficient level of detail on paper proposals to take an informed view, submitting authors are asked to provide a short paper for peer review in two parts.

Conference Venue
The symposium will take place at Paterson’s Land, Moray House School of Education, Holyrood Road, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 8AQ. All rooms are equipped with a screen and laptop. 

The School of Education is located in the picturesque Old Town area (off the Royal Mile, or Canongate).  It is a 10 minute walk (or three minute taxi ride) from Edinburgh Waverley train station to the School of Education.  The City of Edinburgh is easily reachable by train and most airlines (Easyjet and Ryanair offer low-budget flights from several cities in England). Travel from Edinburgh Airport to the City Centre (final stop at Waverly Bridge, right opposite Waverley Station) by Airlink bus service takes approximately 30 minutes (and a single journey costs £3.50) and by taxi the cost is between £18 and £20.

 The City of Edinburgh offers many attractions for conference participants considering spending the weekend. It also features a wide range of cafés, bistros and restaurants and a good number of reasonably priced hotels close to the conference venue (e.g., IBIS at Grassmarket, The Jurys Inn on Jeffrey Street, The Travel Lodge on St Mary’s Street, and the highly praised Salisbury Green Hotel, situated on the University’s own premises at Pollock Halls). 

Further Information
If you require any further information or assistance, please contact the Conference Organiser, Francois Smit at fsmit@srhe.ac.uk

Conference Director: Carolin Kreber, Institute for Education, Community and Society, The University of Edinburgh.