Socially just education in the neoliberal university: using liminality to stimulate critical reflection and reflexivity around citizenship and human rights by Dr Piers von Berg

This seminar has now concluded but it is available on demand here. 

This seminar is hosted by the School of Law, Social & Criminal Justice Research Seminar Series. Our series offers exciting insights into ongoing research projects within the law school and conducted by our external research partners. We often feature work from our research centres. Join us for invigorating discussion! 

In this session, we hear from Dr Piers von Berg. Piers von Berg is a Senior Lecturer in the College of Law, Criminal and Social Justice at Birmingham City University. His research centers on citizenship and human rights education at university and youth justice. More broadly, he is interested in theories and innovative methodologies for teaching and learning at higher education, and the effective participation rights of children and young people. 

Before studying for his EdD at the Institute of Education at University College London, he practiced at the Bar of England and Wales (2010-2018) and worked on technical assistance projects in the Caucasus and Central Asia (2000-2006). For more information on Piers’ work please see Dr Piers von Berg

Latest publication: How research into citizenship education at university might enable transformative human rights education | Human Rights Education Review (humanrer.org) 

In this session, Dr Piers von Berg will give the following presentation, followed by an interactive Q&A: 

Socially just education in the neoliberal university: using liminality to stimulate critical reflection and reflexivity around citizenship and human rights

This presentation explores student experiences of liminality in an action research project in citizenship and human rights education at a UK university. It draws on shared practices of citizenship and human rights education of using liminal spaces to free up students and academics from power structures to explore issues of injustice. These were interlocking liminal practices, spaces and times in the classroom, the university and the community that were at the margins of society and in between power structures. An innovative research methodology combining participatory theatre with experiential learning exposed students to questions of social injustice. The data shows how experiences within the spaces, and moving between them, enabled students to be critically reflective and reflexive of their citizenship and their perceptions of others as rights-holders. These findings challenge market-driven approaches to global citizenship education and contribute to the emerging field of human rights education at higher education. 

If you have any questions, contact Mitchell Longan, the Research Seminar Series leader, at mitchell.longan@bcu.ac.uk.