ABSTRACT
This book opens with the context for needing to understand the transitional experiences of undergraduate students, who are currently in underrepresented groups at universities in Britain. Considering difficulties that can occur in moving to university communities, the introduction defines problem spaces and maps how the chapters correspond with these issues. Starting points are raised, for this inquiry into how sensory transition can be assisted with arts methods. The research is outlined, as it gathers contributing voices and forms interpretations of how arts practice in university cultures can make space for self-representation.
An argument for how inclusive arts methods can enable more fulfilling sensory relations to the multiple worlds found in university environments is offered here, connecting with findings in qualitative research with respondents in the four nations of the UK, and organisational discourse analysis of student-led groups and communities.
The research participants are introduced – anonymised, as are the universities where they teach and research with arts methods. The introduction then links forward to Chapter 2, where the book's theoretical approach is situated, within the complexities of race, gender, and class, as this approach connects with the lived experiences and narratives of participants and undergraduate students.
