Creativity, Criticality and Conformity in Higher Education

The definition of creativity is the use of imagination or original ideas to create something; the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, and interpretations. Universities should surely be creative places. The economic, political and social climate that universities work in across the world present challenges to this. In many cultures there is an emphasis on measurable, economic outcomes. Does this have to result in policy that emphasises only some parts of the work that universities do, obscuring important activities that often develop and thrive at the margins, or in the spaces between traditional functions? It could be argued that higher education researchers too draw on an increasingly limited range of methodologies, approaches and ideas that are often not persuasive to policy makers. Have we, in search of measurability and academic respectability, retreated to a dull conformity where anything different is just too risky? Should we instead challenge ourselves to transcend traditional rules, build an innovative culture and practice of research and problem solving, in order to throw light onto the shadows rather than ignore them? What is it we need to know more about in universities in relation to their role in the world, their place for social good and the building of global diverse societies? How can higher education researchers be creative in their approaches to illuminate these areas, and to make a positive difference in the world?

Keynote Speakers:

	Plenary 1. Wednesday 11th Dynamic Perspectives on Creativity in Higher Education Professor Lene Tanggaard Professor of Psychology, Director of The International Centre for the Cultural Psychology of Creativity (ICCPC), University of Aalborg, Denmark		Plenary 2: Wednesday 11th In Ref we trust? Some reasons to be cheerful Professor David James Cardiff University, Chair of REF2021 Sub-Panel 23 (Education)
	Plenary 3. Panel Discussion Thursday 12th Preparing critical students for the post-truth era: Key Research Questions Dr Foluke Adebisi Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Bristol, UK		Plenary 3. Panel Discussion Thursday 12th Preparing critical students for the post-truth era: Key Research Questions Dr Ibrar Bhatt Lecturer in Education, Queen's University Belfast
	Plenary 3. Panel Discussion Thursday 12th Preparing critical students for the post-truth era: Key Research Questions Dr Elizabeth Hauke Principal Teaching Fellow, Imperial College London, UK		Plenary 3. Panel Discussion Thursday 12th Preparing critical students for the post-truth era: Key Research Questions Dr Kathy Luckett Director of the Humanities Education Development Unit, Associate Professor,  University of Cape Town, South Africa
	Closing debate. Friday 13th Creativity, criticality and conformity: the impact of competition on Research Professor Rajani Naidoo Prosessor in Higher Education Management, Director of the Centre for Higher Education Management (ICHEM), School of Management, University of Bath, UK		Closing debate. Friday 13th Creativity, criticality and conformity: the impact of competition on Research Professor Ian Jamieson Director, Chambers and Jamieson Associates Educational Consultancy, Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, UK

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