Month: May 2023

Future of Universities: The Future of Research

Posted on by Marcus Munafo

Last month I had the privilege of kicking off our Future of Universities event series. These events bring experts together from across the academic spectrum to discuss what universities could and should be like in 2033. The Future of Research delved into some of the challenges and opportunities facing research universities and those conducting research at our institutions.

Nigel Thrift, Emeritus Professor and University of Bristol alumnus, kicked off proceedings with a fascinating talk based on his new book, The Pursuit of Possibility: Redesigning Research Universities. He talked through some of the areas that require attention to ensure research universities can survive and thrive, including the University funding crisis and current regulation, and commented on how research universities are one of the few actors across the world who have the capacity to arrest the downward spiral towards irreversible damage to the planet that we currently find ourselves trapped in.

We then heard from a fantastic panel chaired by (as she put it) my “professional sibling”, Professor Michele Barbour, the Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Innovation. Michele was joined by a panel of experts from across the higher education environment who immediately got to work delving into how we can safeguard the future of research universities and equip our academics and prospective researchers with the tools, time and support needed to succeed.

With almost an hour of discussion and some thought-provoking questions from the audience, there were a lot of talking points! You can watch the full discussion on the recording below.

Thanks to our panel, whose various experiences cut across the higher education landscape, we heard a range of perspectives on what the future of research means. We considered topics from postgraduate researchers and the support (both in infrastructure and more holistic guidance) required to excel, to the synergistic links between universities and how we can leverage these to continue making an impact through research and help solve some of society’s most pressing challenges. Watch the full recording to find out what else we discussed.

The discussion was closed by Professor Evelyn Welch, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, who remarked on the higher education landscape as a community equipped to scope out solutions for these challenges and begin the work on putting this into place. My own work on research culture springs to mind, and the funding from Research England positions us to respond both proactively and reactively to some of the challenges in our research environment.

Next month promises to be a bumper month for Research Culture events and celebrates the diversity of what Research Culture can mean!

First, we have Histories of Tobacco, which looks at tobacco’s initial sacred purposes and its subsequent colonialisation and commodification. The history of this plant offers a fascinating case study of how research and attitudes of the past can help inform our future.

We then have our Celebrating Technicians event, which will focus on the vital role technicians play in the research process. Speakers from across the higher education system will highlight the excellent facilitation and vital research support carried out by technicians at universities across the country.

Finally, our next Future of Universities event, The Future of Teaching, examines the changes in the university landscape and how we, as institutions, need to adapt to safeguard higher education and best equip future researchers to change the world.

I hope to see you at one of these events in June!

 

Enhancing the transnational nature of research: uniting (de)colonial researchers at Bristol

Posted on by Marcus Munafo

What does decolonisation really mean, and how can it enhance research culture? 

by Tarini Bhamburkar
Postgraduate researcher, Department of English

The past few years have seen serious, guided efforts within the University of Bristol to decolonise its curricula, its library shelves and its teaching patterns. This has brought an increasing acknowledgement of the implications of slavery and empire as regards socio-political history and its repercussions in the contemporary world. But “decolonisation” is a weighty term, and often an overwhelming one when pondering on how to bring it “into operation” across the different teaching and research functions of the University.  

So, how do you bring it into research culture? 

Primarily, decolonisation, and the understanding of the transnational nature of history and literature, begin with acknowledging and addressing the legacies of colonialism and imperialism in literature and culture. It requires a critical examination of the narratives, systems and practices that have perpetuated colonial discourse and hierarchical relations throughout history. And it sounds like an intimidating task for someone to initiate on an individual basis.  

This is where funding from the Research England Enhancing Research Culture (ERC) allocation at Bristol was able to provide support. It helped develop a project uniting researchers at Bristol (and beyond) who worked on the literature of the British empire, postcolonial studies, settler colonial studies, transnational relations, histories structured by racial difference, etc, to form a network. With the help of symposia, reading events and awaydays, connections were fostered and formalised between scholars who have worked on different aspects of “decolonial” studies – to acknowledge empire and colonial history.

One example is an interdepartmental symposium that brought together scholars across the Schools of Humanities, Modern Languages and Law (see images below). It was a day dedicated to discussing the transnational aspects of colonial and postcolonial studies. Another is the Victorian Diversities Research Network event, which brought together scholars engaged in seeking new methodologies, to “widen” and “undiscipline” historical, colonial literary fields in the nineteenth century. 

Events such as these, and the wider project in general, have helped to re-emphasise the importance of diversifying and decolonising our syllabi, brought together researchers who work in colonial studies, and enhanced the transnational aspect of how we conduct research at Bristol. I personally hope to sustain the communities and networks that were formed with the support of the ERC funding, and even to broaden them if possible.

As postgraduate researchers, we do not often get access to such funding opportunities, so the ERC support came as a blessing – especially after a harrowing two years with very limited networking and communication. Scholars – especially postgraduate researchers and early-career researchers – enjoyed coming together on a formal platform and sharing their research, thereby facilitating a community of decolonial researchers at Bristol.