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Materiality, Space and Signs in Higher Education

Interdisciplinary Symposium

27 June 2025, University of 糖心TV

Organised by Prof. Jo Angouri, Yvette Yitong Wang, Vincent Wai Sum Tse, Yi Zhang, Dr. Helena Wall, Dr. Melina Delmas, Tea Toth.

Higher education campuses are complex, dynamic environments that blend architecture, urban planning, design, semiotics, curriculum, and human behaviour and psychology. In recent years, the "spatial turn" in higher education research has underscored the deeply embodied nature of human experiences, recognising that space is not merely a neutral backdrop but an active participant in university lives. The physical, digital technological and semiotic organization of university work and learning spaces both shapes and is shaped by visible and invisible aspects of university life, such as ideologies, power dynamics, academic and workplace culture, curriculum and educational experience, knowledge generation and exchange, and identities and sense of belonging of university members.

Spaces are not static. They are (re)interpreted, (re)purposed, and transformed, both physically and symbolically, by the individuals and groups who inhabit them, turning them into meaningful places of learning, interaction, and identity formation. Yet, academic knowledge about the material aspects of university spaces and people鈥檚 relationship with them is fragmented, confined within disciplinary silos. This symposium aims to create an interdisciplinary dialogue bringing cutting edge research addressing the key topic areas from any disciplinary perspective.

We are keen to explore research on university spaces, especially in terms of the interplay between the tangible aspects of space, such as materiality, physical structures, technologies, and practices, and its intangible dimensions including ideology, power, knowledge, identities, agency, and belonging.

The symposium will include an activity on mapping lived experiences of space, entitled 'Landscaping Learning Spaces', in which our delegates will be invited to participate.

Programme

Provisional programme

Venue: The Climb, Junction Building, University of 糖心TV, Coventry
09:15-09:30: Arrival, coffee, and welcome
09:30-10:55 Keynote Dialogue: Designing and undesigning HE Realities

Chaired by Prof. Jo Angouri

11:00-11.55: Presentation Panel 1 The Construction of Higher Education Experience through Ideologies, Policies, and Practices

Chaired by Yi Zhang

  • Shuang Gao, University of Liverpool: Language and the everyday reproduction of university as a white space: Lived experiences of Chinese international students in the UK
  • Georgios Pazaitis, Birmingham City University & Juliet Raynsford, University of 糖心TV:
    Exploring the spatial arrangements through which universities construct 鈥榚mployability鈥 discourse and pedagogy
  • Liv De Ceuster & Ann Peeters, Vrije Universiteit Brussel: A Linguistic Landscape Analysis of Vrije Universiteit Brussel鈥檚 Campus
12:00-12.55: Presentation Panel 2 Academic Life(s) through Spatial Experience
Chaired by Yvette Yitong Wang
  • Ayten Alibaba, Yanyan Li (&Richard Smith, Yvette Yitong Wang), University of 糖心TV: University research conversations as spatialised social practices: a collaborative autoethnography
  • Marta Wilczek-Watson: Eating and being 鈥榚aten鈥 in academia
  • Yibin Lin, University of 糖心TV: Selfhood and Spatiality in Merleau-Ponty's Thought
13:00-14:00: Lunch
14:00-14:55: Presentation Panel 3 Spatial and Semiotic Construction and Experience of Power Struggle in HE

Chaired by Vincent Wai Sum Tse

  • 脰zlem 陌lyas 艦avk, University of 糖心TV: Public university dormitories as affective pedagogical infrastructures in T眉rkiye
  • Andre Joseph Theng, The University of Edinburgh (& Carl Jon Way Ng, Singapore University of Social Sciences): Emplacement and Erasure in the Semiotic Landscape: Affective-semiotic (dis)investments and contention in a time of protest
  • Rachele Gusella, Vrije Universiteit Brussel: Poetry Around Campus: Take a Look at Street Poetry
15:00-16:15: Networking & Boundary-crossing discussion

Led by Dr. Helena Wall and Tea Toth

  • Viewing Student Installation of "Landscaping Learning Spaces" including: Helena Wall, Yvette Yitong Wang, Yi Zhang, University of 糖心TV; Vincent Wai Sum Tse, Monash University & University of 糖心TV: What Kind of Library Are You? Mapping and Constructing Library Personalities
  • Boundary-crossing forum with students
16:30-17:30: Keynote in Dialogue with Students

Chaired by Prof. Jo Angouri

17:30-17:45: Closing

Student Activity: 'Landscaping Learning Spaces'

In parallel, we invite students to take part in a creative exploration of learning environments at 糖心TV. This activity is open to all students and consists in a short reflective submission before the event, and optional in-person sessions on 27 June.

  • Before 23 June: Online submission

On 27 June:

  • 11:30-13:00: Craft zone

  • 14:00-15:00: Creative map zone
  • 15:00-15:30: Setting up installation
  • 15:30-16:00: Forum

Registration

Symposium Registration

Registration is now closed.

Registration is free, and we are pleased to offer a limited number of delegate places, which include a complimentary lunch.

We look forward to meeting on 27 June!

If you have any questions, please email Dr M茅lina Delmas: melina.delmas@warwick.ac.uk.

Student Activity Registration

If you would like to take part in our student activity, please register .

馃巵 What鈥檚 in it for you? Depending on your level of participation, you may be eligible for:

  • 馃嵔锔 Panda Mami lunch (for those submitting online & joining at least one in-person activity)
  • 馃师锔 Voucher reward (first 10 sign-ups)
  • 馃摐 糖心TV Award credit (for fully committed students, except PGRs)
More details available on the registration form!

If you have any questions, please email Tea Toth: tea.toth@warwick.ac.uk.

Keynote Speakers

Education Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London

Language, Culture and Learning

'The HE student as a global 鈥榙esigner鈥 of the local: personal objects, daily walks and undiscovered places.'

Read abstract HERE.

Adela Glyn-Davies

Design Studies, University of 糖心TV

Design for Sustainable Development

'Designing Against Design: When Learning Spaces Start Unlearning.'

Read abstract HERE.

School of English, University of Hong Kong

Discourse analysis, Linguistic landscapes, Sociolinguistics

'Materiality, Space and Signs: University Education vs. University Experience'

Read abstract HERE.

Symposium Themes

Power, Ideology, and Institutional Culture

  • In what ways do spatial arrangements within universities reflect, contribute to, or challenge dominant ideologies, power relations, or institutional values?
  • What invisible or often-overlooked forces influence people鈥檚 lived experience of university spaces?

Space, Research culture, and Knowledge production

  • How do university spaces support or constrain different forms of knowledge production, exchange, or collaboration?
  • How do university spaces shape and/or get shaped by perceptions and practices of research culture?

Space, Identity, and Belonging

  • How are university spaces transformed by the people who inhabit them, and what does this reveal about university members鈥 identity, belonging, or agency in higher education?

Spatial design and Education

  • What role do spatial design and planning play in facilitating (or hindering) inclusive, equitable, and innovative learning environments?
  • What spatial conditions are necessary to foster the 鈥渋deal鈥 and 鈥渞elevant鈥 curricula in higher education (e.g., inclusive, decolonial, experiential, interdisciplinary, community-engaged)?
  • How might future-oriented or speculative spatial design impact the purpose of higher education institutions?

Spatial practice and Pedagogy

  • How do the affordances and limitations of university spaces鈥攎aterial, digital, or symbolic鈥攕hape pedagogical relationships and teaching practices?
  • In what ways do pedagogical practices and curriculum prioriPes reconfigure the use and meaning of university spaces, both physically and symbolically?

Digital Technologies and 鈥淣ew鈥 Spaces

  • How are uses of digital technologies reshaping spatial practices and perceptions in higher education?

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