Arts Methods for the Self-Representation of Undergraduate Students

Miranda Matthews is an author, researcher, and artist educator based in the UK. Miranda is currently Head of the Centre for Arts and Learning at Goldsmiths, University of London. Miranda has taught in the arts and education since 2002. She began teaching in universities in 2011 and started to lead undergraduate teaching in arts methods in 2016. Miranda researches and writes on issues for self-representation in the arts. She also develops programmes of practice research and international collaborations that connect with issues of concern for arts practice and learning.

"This is an engaging, insightful, and important book that draws on empirical research with educators to explore the significance of arts-based practice in challenging inequalities and creatively enabling belonging. It is an essential read for anyone working and studying in universities who values inclusive practice, pedagogy, and pastoral care." Dawn Mannay, Reader in Social Sciences and Director of Postgraduate Research, Cardiff University."Miranda Matthews has found an impressively original, creative, and inclusive way of offering practical solutions to problems experienced by new students starting life at university. This book will be invaluable for any university lecturer or administrator who cares about undergraduate students."Helen Kara, Independent researcher in higher education and author of Creative Research Methods: A Practical Guide (2020)."A thoughtful treatise centring the transitional experiences of underrepresented groups whose lives continue to be burdened by racialisation, gendered, and stratified social (class) conditioning, this book works to gather testimony about the vitality of creative arts methods that can enable more fulfilling cultural relations in UK HEI’s."Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark, Artist, Researcher and Lecturer at the University of the Arts London - London College of Fashion."Miranda Matthews has crafted a truly inspiring book that makes central the promise of arts-based methods to generate knowledge about what it means to navigate a sense of belonging in the contemporary university. The findings and theorisations, from an intersectional perspective, will be of huge relevance to anyone interested in issues of social justice in HE. Every page offers so much to consider, especially in the pursuit of greater equity - it is both timely and important - I highly recommend." Professor Jayne Osgood, Middlesex University, London.

• 1. Introduction 2. Theorising Sensory Transition 3. Factors of Difference: Changing Environments 4. Meeting Points in Arts Practice 5. Peer Groups, Inclusion and Belonging 6. Community and Leadership 7. In Conclusion: Opening Narratives