About the Symposium

Pedagogies of Hope in Higher Education is an online symposium bringing together educators, researchers and practitioners to explore what hope might mean and make possible in higher education in a time of ecological crisis, institutional pressure and wider social and political uncertainty.

The symposium is part of the wider work of the Hope Collective, an interdisciplinary collaboration exploring how hope is understood, practised, questioned and sustained in higher education. Our work asks not only how educators try to cultivate hope, but also what kinds of hope are possible, for whom, under what conditions, and with what limits.

How this work developed

Our collaboration has grown through several connected strands of work. We began by mapping how hope has been conceptualised and applied across education and related fields, including our scoping review Hope and Its Applications. We then carried out a nationwide survey of tertiary educators in Aotearoa New Zealand to understand how educators think about hope, whether and how they foster it in their teaching, and what supports or constrains that work.

This symposium is the next phase of that work. It expands the conversation beyond a single institution or national setting and helps grow an international community of practice around hope in higher education. The symposium is jointly hosted by Massey University and Michigan State University, and brings together participant contributions, asynchronous discussion, live keynote conversations and workshops across two weeks.

How the symposium works

The symposium is free to attend. Everyone who registers is welcome to join the live keynote conversations and workshops, explore the participant images and stories online, and take part in asynchronous discussion through the symposium forums.

The symposium is organised around six thematic streams. Images and stories submitted by participants will be assigned to one of these streams, creating six online spaces for shared reflection and discussion. You do not need to submit an image to participate: you are very welcome to attend the live sessions, browse the contributions and join the asynchronous conversations.

What we hope to create

We want the symposium to be more than a sequence of presentations. Across the two weeks, participants’ images, reflections, conversations and questions will build into a shared space for thinking together. We are interested in practices that seek to cultivate hope, but equally in tensions, contradictions, refusals, uncertainty and the limits of hope.

Our aim is to create a generous and critically engaged space where people can encounter different traditions and experiences, learn from one another, and contribute to new ways of thinking about what higher education can make possible.

Meet the Hope Collective

Associate Professor Alice Beban

Alice is a sociologist whose research explores environmental change, land and agrarian politics, and how people respond to uncertain futures. She also leads He Kaupapa Tūmanako / Project Hope.

Associate Professor Elaine Khoo

Elaine researches digital teaching and learning across online, blended, mobile, flipped and virtual environments.

Dr Clare Mouat

Clare is an interdisciplinary scholar-storyteller working across community, planning and governance, with a particular interest in designing and planning for hopeful futures.

Dr Lisa Vonk

Lisa researches the social and environmental dimensions of networked media and communication, with a particular interest in care.

Associate Professor Daniel Ahlquist

Daniel’s teaching and research examine human relationships to place, including agriculture, conservation, migration, climate change and environmental justice.

Associate Professor Amanda Flaim

Amanda uses ethnographic, participatory and survey methods to study human rights, development, inequality and social change.