Art, Design & Media

Teaching & Research Conference | Part of the Focus on Pedagogy Series

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OXFORD, UK

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Event: 14 – 16 July, 2027      |      Abstracts: 25 July, 2026

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CONFERENCE

Teaching & Research | Understanding the Modern Academy

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Art, Design & Media

The Art, Design & Media strand of this conference is interested in questions of art, design and media studies as both subjects of academic research and as sites of innovative teaching. It is open to a variety of perspectives and disciplines including fine art practice, media and communication studies, graphic, fashion and product design, film studies and more. The overall event forms part of the International Focus on Pedagogy series with previous conferences held in San Francisco, Madrid, Toronto, Florida, Prague, LA and elsewhere.

It examines teaching and research at a moment when the ways knowledge is produced, taught and experienced is changing at dizzying speed. Whether it be AI, tools like ChatGPT, reflexive research practices, microlearning, participatory action research or learning analytics, the plethora of new and emerging factors informing the modern academy is enormous. We seek to better understand best practice teaching in this context and, in addition, ask whether this scenario could blur the difference between classroom teaching, investigation and published research.

Taking place in the historic city of Oxford, UK, the site of the conference is one of the world’s most renowned centres of scholarship and learning. It has centuries-long academic traditions, colleges and architecture, as well as a current, vibrant and cutting-edge intellectual life today. It thus offers an ideal backdrop for discussions about the evolving role of teaching and research in the modern academy. Bringing together participants from across disciplines and institutions to this iconic venue, we seek to foster new conversations about how teaching and research can inform, challenge and enrich one another in various fields.

Disciplinary Themes

ART, DESIGN & MEDIA:

Themes include but are not limited to:

Examinations of best practice art teaching; innovations for student success in the creative industries, the future of academic research in design and new technologies in media studies. Other issues of interest are critiques of funding for arts education, the first-hand documentation of innovative student support in creative disciplines, and presentations on interdisciplinary teaching across the full spectrum of art, design & media fields, and more

Other themes:

Teaching & Learning | Methods, modes of practice and innovations in both how we address health and wellness in how we teach and what we research.
Sustainability & Resilience | From integrating SDGs into curricula to supporting sustainable teaching and learning practices for both educators and learners.
Art & Design | Best practices in art and health research for wellness and mental health in patients, students and teachers.
Humanities & Social Sciences | Examinations of innovative education and research in diverse fields that interlink with public health: sociology, geography, psychology and more.
Built Environments | Presentations on Covid-19, design for life, sick building syndrome, care in the community, healthy cities, sanitation and public health, and more.
Science & Technology | Considerations of how technologies like AI can support health and wellbeing – from wellness apps to innovative health research and practice.

Further details and to submit your abstract: