Jacques Ranciere remains neglected within educational debates. In this paper I examine the potential of his philosophies for enacting critical interventions in relation to contemporary (higher) educational concerns. Ranciere argues against the progressive temporality of pedagogic relations and provides an alternative thesis that equality is a point of departure for social and pedagogic encounters. He also emphasises the importance of aesthetics and the "distribution of the sensible" as a mechanism for understanding who is un/able to be seen, speak and produce knowledge. These arguments are examined through an analysis of two research-based art installations: Sociologists Talking (2008, 2009) and The Idea of a University (2010). I consider the potential for "alternative" forms of knowledge production and communication to enact different pedagogic methods and re/distribute the sensory spaces in which research and teaching take place. (Contains 12 notes and 7 figures.)