Campus Projections and Interrupted Flows: What does a campus ‘say’ to students and shape their movements within it?
| Dates: | 28 January 2026 |
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| Times: | 14:00 - 15:00 |
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| What is it: | Lecture |
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| Organiser: | School of Environment, Education and Development |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, External researchers, Current University students |
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| Speaker: | Richard Budd |
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Guest speaker: Richard Budd is a Lecturer in Higher Education in the school of Social Sciences at Lancaster University
Research on university campuses tends to be divided into somewhat distinct discussions, with practical concerns around design and estates management on the one hand and their cultures and social composition on the other. The little work that combines the two often focuses on particular elements such as classrooms, accommodation, or student unions, rather than considering the campus as a whole. This research does suggest, though, that while the cultural aspects matter most, they are mediated by the physical, but the relationship between them is poorly understood.
This paper, using interview and focus group data from a diverse group at a large, UK university, explores how students feel about and move through their university estate. It does so by invoking Doreen Massey’s conceptualisation of spaces as hierarchically interrelational and multiplicitous. This allows for a recognition of how the physical and social (and organisational) aspects of a university influence its students’ perceptions, experiences, and subsequent within-campus mobility. In short, it highlights that a university as a space is much more than a neutral container for its varied activities and constituent groups, but projects a sense of what and who matters to the institution as well as who is un-/welcome there.
Speaker
Richard Budd
Role: ecturer in Higher Education in the school of Social Sciences
Organisation: Lancaster University
Biography: Richard Budd is a Lecturer in Higher Education in the school of Social Sciences at Lancaster University. His research interests relate to how we can conceptualise and investigate how different groups experience and negotiate being at/in universities. His work incorporates relational and social justice questions around personal and professional identity, organisational cultures and practices, and the geographical and physical aspects of university campuses. He is particularly interested in exploring how these compare on a domestic and international basis, as well as how decolonising research and practice can inform and enhance our understandings of them, and higher education as a whole.
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A3.6
Ellen Wilkinson Building
Manchester
