Small human complex systems, here called co-present groups, are found across all fields of human social life. Complexity thinking suggests why this is so: that these groups, irrespective of formal content, have a meta-function of providing maximum complexity to manage the "indeterminacy" or "uncertainty" that characterises the…

In this paper, we argue that love is not only compatible with validity in social inquiry but is an essential part of it. The work of coming to know others is similar to the work of emotional relationship, and the two overlap. In the ethnographic tradition, validity, or trustworthiness in research is established through practices like transparency…

The author introduces the concept of vitality and its relation to affect. Stern defined vitality as the feeling of flow and aliveness. The author drew on research from literacy, curriculum theory, and the work of Stern to argue for the value of the concept of vitality for thinking about how literacy comes to feel vital. The author argues that…

This paper asks, what significance do diversity committee meetings have for how diversity workers experience, make sense of, and navigate the challenges of diversity work at a large, public research university? Drawing on a sixteen-month ethnography of diversity policy and practice, I analyze the practice of "preaching to the choir"…

We offer the concept of "proximate ambivalence" to highlight the ambiguity inherent in the social and spatial relations of higher education's digitally-mediated teaching and learning that replaced in-person seminars during the COVID-19 pandemic. By proximate ambivalence, we refer to one's simultaneous proximity and distance in relation…

In the last 20 years, various authors have drawn attention to the affective aspects of educational institutions, teaching and educational leadership. In this article, the authors intend to connect affects, actions, power and influence, thereby establishing the central place of affects in educational leadership theory and practice; and to develop…

This paper is concerned with troubling emotions felt or aroused in all aspects of academic practice, including teaching, learning, research and relationships. It discusses the emergent processes of a research group whose multidisciplinary interests coalesce around discomfort, disturbance and difficulty in the processes of higher education. We talk…

Reflecting on "The Antidote," created with performers in recovery from addiction, this paper theorises theatre-making practice that attends to being as formed through affective and emotive relation with others, including the non-human. It suggests that theatrical activity generates spaces, or liminal milieus, that facilitate new patterns…

Social presence theory has been a seminal part of digital pedagogies literature since the early generation of computer-mediated communication (CMC). However, despite multiple generations of the development of the theory, there is still a lack of a stable, widely accepted definition. Definitions range from those that identify social presence based…

Mentoring has been regarded as a promising way to reach at-risk youth and to strengthen the protective factors. This article focuses on emotions, reflections, and challenges that adult volunteers face in trying to establish and maintain a friend relationship with young adults in a multicomponent mentor setting in Finland. Based on our…

This article contributes to a growing literature on policy mobilities by proposing that affect be considered in analyses of the movements and transformations of policy over time and space. In particular, collective affective conditions, the role of affect in terms of infrastructures and actors of policy apparatuses and the mediating influences of…

Conference environments enable diverse roles for academics. However, conferences are hardly entered into by participants as equals. Academics enter into and experience professional environments differently according to culture, gender, race, ethnicity, class, and more. This paper considers from a philosophical perspective entering and initiating…

The expansion of school-based sexuality education in most countries has taken place with a strong focus on conveying information about sexual and reproductive health. While this is important so too is addressing the actual social contexts where relationships develop and the normalcy of pleasurable sexual and affective encounters. This is not only…

This article examines attachment; viewing attachment as a continuum from secure attachment relationships through to attachment disorders. The article outlines theoretical bases in attachment, the implications of healthy secure attachment and that of insecure attachment in educational settings, suitable interventions and the importance of…

When we join with another who shares our sensibilities, we have potential for doing good. This article explores how the self-initiated art making of children that happens outside the classroom challenges the child emotionally and intellectually more than teacher-directed school art. Furthermore, authentic collaborative art making creates a site…