Apologies for cross posting.  Replies to Mary Smith.

C-SAP INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE
11-12 JANUARY 2002

Lakeside Centre, Conference Aston,
Aston University, Birmingham


CALL FOR PAPERS

The New Higher Education? Learning and Teaching in a "Knowledge Society"

Global transformations in the knowledge economy and the accompanying reform
of British Higher Education are having profound consequences for learning
and teaching in the university. This conference seeks to draw on the methods
and paradigms of Sociology, Anthropology, Political Science/International
Relations and Cultural Studies to explore the implications of structural,
cultural and pedagogic change. The focus will be on encouraging staff and
students to reflect critically on their own experiences of learning and
teaching, making sense of their practice through theoretical insights from
the social sciences.  Four sets of general questions will guide the
conference:

1)      How is the new global "knowledge economy" reshaping Higher Education
policy and practice, particularly in UK institutions, and what effect is
this having on pedagogic practice?

2)      What is the utility/importance of conceptions of "teaching
scholarship" (Boyer) and "reflexivity" in learning and teaching?  How might
social science pedagogy benefit from a stronger research and evidence-base?

3)      What are the relative merits of disciplinary, inter-disciplinary and
"generic" perspectives in analyses of, and approaches to, learning and
teaching?

4)      What are the positive and negative features of "new approaches" in
learning and teaching? For example, how beneficial have been the
applications of Information and Communication Technologies?

Papers are invited that examine changes in Learning and Teaching and address
any aspect of the above themes. These could include analyses of national
policy frameworks (e.g. Benchmarking and Academic Review), institutional
change (e.g. modularisation, distance learning), or accounts of specific
innovations in classroom and learning practice (e.g. active learning,
work-based learning, peer-assessment, virtual and managed learning
environments).  Students and staff are equally invited to contribute.

·     One page abstracts outlining proposals for panels or papers are
invited.
·     Proposals for shorter "work-in-progress" or poster presentations are
also welcomed.
·     Abstracts of papers should be sent to Mary Smith
([log in to unmask]) by 16 July 2001.
·     We envisage papers of 5000 words which should be submitted by 30
September 2001.  These will be pre-circulated to conference participants.

If you would like more information or to discuss an idea, please contact Dr
Sue Wright, C-SAP Director ([log in to unmask])



Mary Smith
Communciations Administrator
C-SAP: Centre for Learning and Teaching
Sociology, Anthropology and Politics
12th Floor, Muirhead Tower
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
Tel: 0121 414 7919
Fax: 0121 414 7920
email: [log in to unmask]

My normal hours of work are 9.45 am to 1.30 pm, Monday to Thursday and 9.45
am to 12.45 pm on Fridays.

website:  http://www.c-sap.bham.ac.uk