Lancaster University, UK.
6th – 8th July 2020
Key Dates
Submission of proposals: 1st March, 2020
Notification of outcomes: 23rd March, 2020
Early Bird Registration deadline: 31st March, 2020
Registration Deadline: 25th June, 2020
About the Conference
Higher Education Close-Up is a peer reviewed biennial international conference, focused on issues relating to in-depth research into higher education. HECU10 takes place at Lancaster University on 6th – 8th July, 2020 and follows on from the very successful HECU9 in Cape Town, South Africa in November 2018. Higher Education Close Up is a virtual network of the Society For Research into Higher Education. The conference venue will be the luxurious Lancaster House Hotel, with accommodation for delegates in the hotel’s ensuite rooms.
The conference runs from lunchtime on the first day to lunchtime on the third day to enable colleagues to travel to and from Lancaster.
Conference Theme
The theme for HECU10 is ‘Critical approaches to close-up higher education research’.
The theme is intended to open discussion around multiple understandings of criticality in close-up higher education research. This includes, but is not limited to, the use of critical theory and/or critical pedagogy as a lens through which to engage with research into higher education. Equally it refers to taking a critical stance in terms of a questioning approach to the research processes themselves and towards the broader social framework in which higher education is situated. The theme raises questions about how we conduct such close-up research in a time in which higher education itself, and the practices and values of the academy, are subject to critique and challenge. How do we demonstrate critical reflexivity as close-up researchers in a time of ‘fake news’ and challenges to the role of expert knowledge? In what ways is a commitment to critical approaches a necessary feature of the fine-grained, nuanced research that defines the ‘close-up’ approach, in contrast to other forms of research? Finally, we should consider the relationship between close-up research and more macro perspectives: understood through the lens of criticality what are the tensions between them and in what ways may they be complementary (this thread also encompasses the notion of interdisciplinarity and what it means to adopt a critical interdisciplinary approach).Each of the keynote speakers has provided a think piece, which raises questions about different aspects of this theme. We ask that conference participants submit proposals for papers that in some way respond to these questions that that an interactive conversation can develop before, during and, we hope, after the conference.
The Call for Proposals outlines this process in more detail
Call for Proposals
Call for Proposals
The conference theme, Critical Approaches to Close-Up Higher Education Research, and the four ‘Think Pieces provided by the keynote speakers, invite participants to engage with questions around the ways in which close-up higher education research reflects, incorporates or furthers higher education as a critical endeavour.
In very different ways, each of the think pieces addresses the conference theme. The differences in the focus and concerns of the four think pieces are intended to offer conference participants a number of different angles from which to think about this theme. In responding to one or more of the think pieces in their proposals, participants might choose to build on the work in the think piece, to contest or challenge the ideas or assumptions they contain, or to show how these issues have arisen in their own research. In building the conference around a common theme and the four think pieces the intention is to encourage the development of in-depth collective conversations over the three days of the conference.
Proposals
We invite proposals for contributions that critically explore questions relating to locating social justice in close-up higher education research. All proposals will be subject to blind peer review and authors will be notified of the outcome of the process by 23rd March, 2020.
Proposals submitted earlier than the final date can be reviewed within two weeks to enable successful contributors to secure funding and/or make travel arrangements.
Proposals may include contributions in the following areas, but are not limited to these:
- Conceptual issues exploring the meaning of critical and criticality within a higher education context
- Conceptual issues exploring the nature of critical theory and/or critical pedagogy and their application to higher education practice and research
- Methodological and ethical issues when engaged in critically-informed research. Does such an approach to research lend itself to, or require, different methodological approaches? What would a critical understanding of research ethics entail?
- Student or participant involvement in critically-informed research. For example, does it entail different roles and responsibilities?
- Relationships between close-up research and large scale studies. Can or should a critical approach to higher education research span these two domains?
- Student-teacher relationships in higher education – for example, issues of power, sharing control and identity
- Uses of critical theory/critical pedagogy to inform policy and practice. For example, is it possible to tailor such research to the mainstream forums of policy makers and policy actors? Or are the two mutually exclusive?
- Exploration of the concepts of critical/criticality/critical theory/critical pedagogy in an increasingly internationalised higher education sector.
There are two forms of proposals:
Single Paper proposals
Symposium Proposals
People are welcome to submit more than one proposal, however, where space is limited we will give priority to ensuring one paper from each person.
Single Paper Proposals
For those wishing to submit single paper proposals, an outline of 1000 words should be submitted via EasyChair. The closing date for submissions is the 1st March, 2020. The outline should include a discussion of how the paper relates to the conference theme and to one or more of the keynote ‘think pieces’.
Download the peer review criteria for single paper proposals.
Symposium Proposals
Symposium sessions will take up a full conference session (90 minutes) and will involve a minimum of three conference participants. A symposium might involve a collection of up to three papers on a related theme or an innovative use of the space that could include an interactive activity or a performance piece. Proposals for Symposia should be approximately 1500 words and, in addition to discussing their relation to the conference theme and one or more of the ‘think pieces’, should provide an outline of how the symposium will make use of the 90 minute space. Those thinking of submitting a symposium are encouraged to use the HECU discussion list to find partners to work with in developing their proposals. Any participants who would like to discuss their proposed symposium prior to submission can contact Jan McArthur.
Download the peer review criteria for symposium proposals.
One joint proposal for each symposium should be submitted via EasyChair. The closing date for submission is 1st March, 2020. The Administrator will acknowledge receipt within 48 hours.
Final Papers
Those who wish to have their final paper considered for a special journal issue should submit a copy to the Conference Desk during the conference.
Authors should use the Template provided when writing their final paper.
Discussion List
The Higher Education Close Up discussion list is at: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/HIGHER-EDUCATION-CLOSE-UP.html. Please join this list for conference announcements and to participate in ongoing discussions of in-depth higher education research.
Publications from the conference
As with previous conferences, we aim to put together a Special Issue of a journal based on selected papers from the conference. The papers will be selected on the basis of: a) academic quality and b) their contribution to making a coherent collection, taken together.