The Social World of the University: student belongings and becomings in (post)pandemic times

With Barbara Read, University of Glasgow and Mindy Ptolomey, Glasgow Caledonian University / June 2021 – present.

How are students experiencing and responding creatively to living their life at university in (post)pandemic times?

The social world of university – making friends, creating social networks, socialising at events – is an often neglected aspect of the student experience. Nevertheless, it is an incredibly important aspect of university life for many students, and is a crucial factor in relation to student wellbeing, belonging and progression at university.  The centrality of these aspects to the student experience has only been heightened in our current times, when the lack of opportunity to physically socialise has potentially jeopardised the quality of such experiences. Nevertheless, we also know that students have actively worked to find alternative ways of bonding collectively, to be and do university differently. To better understand and learn from their experiences this research uses zine-making workshops with student-participants at two different universities (one pre, one post ’92) in order to uncover the creativity of their responses in living their life at university in (post)pandemic times. This work will also allow participants to develop their own creative skills, supporting them to produce a zine of their own experiences, and collaborate on a zine that can be shared with others.

If you are a 3rd or 4th year university student studying law, history, sociology, criminology, economics, politics and computing at either the University of Glasgow or Glasgow Caledonian University and would like to take part in this project, please register your interest at this form.