Back in December 2024, the DEAR Centre in conjunction with the class of EQ923, held a special session focussing on a particular aspect of waywardness in international academia - namely, the "Deployment of wayward behaviour as a form of resistance".

Led by Dr Jamie Burford, the 10 week module "EQ923 Understanding Global Education and International DevelopmentLink opens in a new window" focuses on the changing global patterns in the way that education systems are being regulated, and in different populations’ participation in education systems. The changes that education is experiencing as a conceptual space, as systems and institutions, and as individuals’ everyday experiences, demand a contemporary approach to the study of education for practice as well as purely academic purposes. The module explores the discourses of globalisation in education and the contemporary international development agenda in relation to education, as well as practical implications for education practice and research. UGEID brings together foundational theories of international development with current trends, and applies theoretical perspectives on education in a variety of contexts.

The titles of the talks were:

• ‘A sense of social responsibility’: Informal higher education outreach practices in Indian academia – S. Arokia Mary and Prof. Henderson

• 'Navigating complexities of higher education recovery: Displaced Syrian academics’ informal contribution to Syrian higher education – Dr Akkad

• 'The Road Less Travelled': Informal Conflict Management Practices in Syrian Higher Education Institutions – Fatima Alhaj Hasan

As well as a celebration of the conclusion of EQ923, it gave the presenters an ideal opportunity to fine tune their presentations prior to the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE)Link opens in a new window that was held later in December 2024 in Nottingham UK, as the theme for the 2024 conference was "Higher Education: A Place for Activism and Resistance?"

At the SRHE conference, a parallel session symposium was held, proposed by the DEAR Centre and comprised of the presenters mentioned above. The symposium drew on cutting-edge research on the academic profession across different country contexts. The symposium encompassed a range of different instances of academics working within and against institutional structures, in different domains of their work. Firstly, the symposium showcased a study of UK-based academics as they navigate grey areas of institutional policy relating to reasonable adjustments and mitigating circumstances in doctoral education. The second paper discussed informal conflict management processes in Syrian academia. The third paper focused on displaced Syrian academics based across a range of countries as they find ways to contribute to reconstruction in Syria, in the absence of formalised mechanisms. Finally, the symposium closes with a paper based on a study of academics in India who enact HE outreach activities in the absence of a formal culture of HE outreach.

L to R: Dr Jamie Burford, Fatima Alhaj Hasan, S. Arokia Mary, Prof Emily Henderson, Dr Ahmad Akkad at SRHE	S. Arokia Mary presenting at the SRHE Conference