Reimagining Universities: Speculative Scenarios for Higher Education

Professors from the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh will share their speculative scenarios for Higher Education Futures in an event which will be a mix of research-sharing, storytelling and collaboration.

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Reimagining Universities: Speculative Scenarios for Higher Education

24th March 2023 2:00 PM 4:00 PM GMT

A surreal scene features colorful, multi-faceted geometric shapes floating in the air and resting on white steps in front of a large, textured blue wall. The shapes vary in color, including reds, yellows, oranges, blues, and greens.

Join Professor Sian Bayne, Dr Michael Gallagher and Dr Jen Ross from the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh as we unsettle assumed futures and imagine new, desirable ones for universities. The speakers will share their new speculative scenarios for Higher Education Futures in an event which will be a mix of research-sharing, storytelling and collaboration. We will work with the audience to build visions of what higher education could look like in the context of expansive artificial intelligence, amplified social activism, cognitive enhancement, changing human-machine relationships, climate crisis, unbundling and ennui.

Speaker Biographies

Headshot of Sian Bayne

Sian Bayne is Professor of Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh, and Director of Education at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. She directs the Centre for Research in Digital Education where her research is currently focused on higher education futures and on interdisciplinary and critical approaches to researching digital education.

Headshot of Jen Ross

Jen Ross is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is co-director of the Centre for Research in Digital Education, and the MSc in Education Futures at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. Her research interests include cultural heritage futures and learning, online distance education and digital cultures. Her recent book, Digital Futures for Learning (2023), explores speculative approaches to researching and teaching about the future.

Headshot of Michael Gallagher

Michael Gallagher is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Education, a member of the Centre for Research in Digital Education, and Programme Director of the MSc in Digital Education. He works with UNHCR, Mastercard Foundation, and the British Council on digital education research in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly with forcibly displaced populations. 

47 Potterrow
Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9BT United Kingdom

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Meet the events team

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Alice Carr

Events Co-ordinator
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Fraser Pringle

Project & Events Administrator
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Ioannis Kalkounos

Programme Manager
Lewis Williams

Lewis Williams

Events Technician

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