Art, Identity and Higher Education: How Artistic Expression Shapes Personal and Academic Growth

Dear Colleagues,

We kindly invite you to contribute to this Special Issue, Art, Identity and Higher Education: How Artistic Expression Shapes Personal and Academic Growth. Its aim is to explore how creative pedagogies, arts‑based methods, and artistic practices are employed within educational contexts and to evaluate their value. This Special Issue offers a unique opportunity to bring together a range of artistic practices, pedagogies, and perspectives within higher education.

Previous edited publications have focused on the growth of artistic forms of inquiry, such as arts‑based research, arts‑informed research, practice‑based research, action research, artful research, and arts‑based educational research. However, this collection will also contribute to the knowledge and understanding of how artistic practice and arts‑based pedagogies positively impact individuals. When undertaken ethically and sensitively, artistic methods and pedagogies can support well‑being and provide a means of exploring the identities of self and others. In the current climate—where higher education faces existential threats from increased marketisation, commodification, and automation through the integration of generative AI—artistic practice can offer critical insight into these complex challenges and foster deeper relationships between educators, students, communities, and wider society.

This Special Issue will capture the growing recognition that creativity, artistic methods, and arts‑based pedagogies have significant value and can positively influence identity, well‑being, and academic achievement.

To support authors in responding to this invitation, we suggest the following themes:

• Artistic practice and social justice in higher education;
• The capabilities and attributes of creative arts graduates;
• The benefits and challenges of employing arts‑based pedagogies in higher education;
• Artistic practices, identity, and higher education;
• Student exhibitions and graduate trajectories;
• Creative educational approaches and continuous professional development;
• Inclusive artistic practices in higher education.

For this Special Issue, we welcome original research articles and reviews. Research approaches may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Evaluations of arts‑based research methods in higher education;
• Practice‑based inquiries into arts‑based pedagogies;
• Sociological approaches examining identity and/or academic awards in creative arts subjects;
• Ethnographic studies exploring the impact of artistic practice in higher education;
• Critical reflective studies on the use of creative pedagogies in the arts or other subject areas.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Samantha Broadhead
Dr. John Wright
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Trends in Higher Education is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• creative pedagogies
• arts-based methods
• artistic practices
• student identity
• student trajectories