Tamar Nir – presentation and proposal outline

[Tamar NirParticipant]

Institutional Affiliation

I am currently undertaking a 3 year PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London shared at the Sociology and Politics department.

Training Background

I have completed an Undergraduate degree in Sociology/Anthropology and Philosophy at Tel-Aviv university, and continued to an MSc at the LSE in Contemporary Social Thought (Sociology stream).

Main themes of investigation

My PhD is premised on a contemporary reading of the marketisation of Higher Education in the UK. It will attempt to explore the consequences of the prevalence of neoliberalism in the context of Higher Education in contemporary Britain. Focused on the use of government data from the aspect of student loans, particularly data from the Student Loans Company (SLC), which is often viewed as a neutral decision making platform. Exploring these data will aid examining the forms of realities it constructs through categorisation, thus providing a different critical approach to neoliberalising techniques utilised by the UK government.

Paper intended to write

The paper I wish to write is premised on the changing space of higher education in the UK reflected through a narrative on ‘Brexit’. The separation of the UK from the EU calls for an inquiry into ‘how is HE viewed?’ or ‘how are universities viewed’ as ideology based policy will inform future change. I aim to understand whether, if at all, there is a specificity to Brexit, or is it another step towards marketisation of HE, by ‘taking back control’ narratives, which have often meant the glorification of the UK higher education market. Although Brexit may have many unforeseen effects, the paper would focus on knowledge practices and the prioritisation of hard sciences, caused mainly by a shift from EU based funding, exemplified in white papers and R&D funding specifically.

Starting knowledge base

The starting knowledge base of the paper would be geared towards a contemporary understanding of higher education in the UK, combined with an ideological reading of how HE is viewed. The methodological underpinnings would be based on a policy-oriented reading of higher education or based on a discursive analysis of HE white papers.

Knowledge needed to complete the paper

A wider understanding of EU higher education in the sense of differing EU policies in order to make out the national basis of Brexit changes. Looking to collaborate with someone who shares an interest in knowledge practices and values/ideologies of HE.

[Author]

Posts