Professor Richard Hall

Richard Hall is Professor of Education and Technology, based in the Division of Education in the School of Applied Social Sciences. Richard contributes to teaching on evidence-based education, the history of education and educational leadership, as well as supervising Masters and PhD students. His research focuses on the political economy of higher education, alongside the idea of the University in an era of polycrisis. Richard also researches on anti-racism and decolonising in higher education, and is currently leading co-creation projects on enriching the Muslim student experience, as well as contributing to research projects on the international student experience.

Richard is an Advance HE National Teaching Fellow, awarded in 2009. As well as being an Advance HE Principal Fellow, Richard was a member of the Decolonising DMU team that won an Advance HE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence.

Richard co-ordinates the Social Justice and Empowerment Research Centre, within the Social Science Research and Innovation Institute, at DMU. He is also the Head of Faculty Research Ethics, in Health and Life Sciences.

Externally, Richard is a Visiting Professor at at the Universities of South Wales and Sunderland. He is the editor for Palgrave Macmillan’s Marxism and Education series, and also for DMU’s re-launched education and pedagogic research Journal, Gateway Papers.

Richard has been involved in a range of voluntary, educational activities, including the Social Science Centre in Lincoln, and Leicester Vaughan College. He is a member of the Management Committee of the Leicester Primary Pupil Referral Unit, an independent visitor for a looked-after child, and a member of the Research Ethics Committee for Coram.

• Social Science Research and Innovation Institute

Click here to view a full listing of Richard Hall's publications and outputs.

Hall, R., Maryam, Y., and Loonat, S. (2025) The Impact of the Current Student Loans Regime on Muslim Student Engagement and Retention in English Higher Education. Leicester: De Montfort University. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/24766

Hall, R., and Mawson, K. (2024). Podcast Series: The UN Sustainable Development Goals and Educational Research. Implications for Policy and Practice. British Education Research Association and the UN Impact Hub. https://www.bera.ac.uk/media-series/the-sdgs-and-higher-education-impacts-on-policy-and-practice

Ansley, L., and Hall, R. (2024). Decolonising DMU: Progress Report. De Montfort University, Leicester. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/23632

Hall, R., Ansley, L., and Connolly, P. (2023). Decolonising or anti-racism? Exploring the limits of possibility in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/22733

Hall, R., Accioly, I., and Szadkowski, K. (2023). The Palgrave International Handbook of Marxism and Education. London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/22942 and https://tinyurl.com/5fu73wsv

Hall, R. (2021). The Hopeless University: Intellectual Work at the End of the End of History. Leicester: Mayfly Books. http://mayflybooks.org/?p=302

Gamsu, S., and Hall, R. (eds 2019). Realising the National Education Service. London: Centre for Labour and Social Studies. https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/17884

Hall, R. (2018). The Alienated Academic: the struggle for autonomy inside the University. London: Palgrave Macmillan. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/16381

• The political economy of higher education
• The idea of the University and radical alternatives to it
• Higher education governance, regulation and funding
• Academic labour and alienation
• Decolonising, anti-racism and the University
• The Muslim student experience in higher education
• Pedagogy and critical social theory
• Higher education and mental health
• Neoliberalism and primary education

• The sociology of education
• Politics of education
• Critical pedagogy
• Contemporary and historical issues in education
• Evidence-based education
• Research methods in education
• Reimagining higher education
• Decolonising higher education

• B.A. Hons
• M.A.
• Ph.D.

• Ph.D. supervision
• M.A. Education Practice: EDUC5016: Current and Emerging Issues in Education; EDUC5022: Negotiated Study; EDUC5023: Dissertation/Major Project
• Postgraduate Certificate in Empowering Education: EDUC5033: Reimagining Higher Education
• B.A. Education Studies: EDUC1401: An Introduction to Education; EDUC1404: Contemporaty and Evidence-Based Issues; EDUC3422: Education and Equality: Class, Race and Ethnicity

• Advance HE Principal Fellow (PFHEA), 2024.
• Decolonising DMU, Highly Commended at the International Green Gowns Awards, Social Justice Award, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Sustainability category, 2024.
• Visiting Professor of Inclusive Education at University of Sunderland, 2024.
• Visiting Professor of Education at University of South Wales, 2023.
• Decolonising DMU, UKRI Green Gowns, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Sustainability Award, 2023.
• Decolonising DMU, AdvanceHE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence, 2023.
• British Education Research Association, Social Theory and Education SIG Convenor, since 2022.

• The Digital Literacy Framework Project won the Reclaim Open Learning Challenge, an international contest sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, the Digital Media and Learning Hub, and MIT Media Lab.
• Higher Education Academy, National Teaching Fellowship, 2009.

Editorial Board: University Reimagined book series, Manchester University Press (since 2025).

Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies (since 2012).

Editorial Board: TripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique (since 2015); Teaching in Higher Education (since 2015); Postdigital Science and Education (since 2017); and Research in Learning Technology (formerly ALT-J) (2009-22).

External member of the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Committee and Academic Awards Committee, University of South Wales (since 2024).

External, professorial mentor and Race Equality Charter Advisor, University of Sunderland (since 2023).

Co-convenor, BERA Special Interest Group on Education and Social Theory (since 2022).

Management Committee member, Leicester Primary Pupil Referral Unit, since 2019.

British Educational Research Association, since 2020.

• Principal Fellow, Advance HE
• PRINCE2, Practitioner
• Managing Successful Programmes, Practitioner

A full list of projects is available at: http://www.richard-hall.org/research-projects/

Principal Investigator

British Educational Research Association, Small Grants Fund, Teaching to Transform the Curriculum: Building Frameworks for Racial Literacy (T2TC), 2024-25 [£4,995].

The Aziz Foundation, De Montfort University, Muslim Friendly Universities Audit, 2024 [£20,523].

DMU-funded, Academic Innovation Project, The impact on Muslim students of the current Student Loans regime on student engagement and retention in Higher Education, 2023-24 [£4,500].

Co-Investigator

QAA-funded, Membership Collaborative Enhancement Partnership project, Mapping staff support to enhance the experiences of international students, with Manchester Metropolitan University, and the universities of Manchester and Wolverhampton, 2025 [£10,000].

GCRF-funded Networking Grants scheme, Realising Education’s Promise for Children Refugees from Syria: Assessment of Education Provision and Learning Environments in Iraq, with Erbil University, 2022-23 [£24,995].

Academy of Finland, University Democracy, Universities as Laboratories of Meaningful Democracy, and the Crisis of Representative Democracy, with Tampere University, 2023-24.

Hall, R. (2025). What Are We Missing? Examining the Intersections of Race, Colonialism and Educational Inequality in Higher Education. The University of Law Research working Group: Law, Race and Colonisation. The University of Law.

Hall, R. (2025). Discussant, The implications of polycrisis for higher education. Reconciling marketisation: The potential for post-market reform. Understanding the new political economy of higher education, Centre for Higher Education Studies (UCL Institute of Education) and the Centre for Higher Education Transformations (University of Bristol) online seminar series.

A full list of papers is available at: http://www.richard-hall.org/conference-papers/

All presentations are available at: http://www.slideshare.net/RichardHall

Recent presentations include the following.

Hall, R. (2025). Reimagining the University through research-engaged teaching and learning. Pedagogy Research and Innovation Special Interest Group launch. University of South Wales.

Hall, R., Ansley, L. Loonat, S., and Nemouchi, L. (2025). How British Muslim, first-year students experience their Muslimness in HE spaces, Aziz Foundation and Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education Conference. University of York.

Co-Convenor, Global Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence in Education – Challenges, Opportunities, and Collaborative Solutions. BERA. Online Symposium.

Hall, R. (2024). ‘Complete Control’? Exploring the stories we tell ourselves about retention. Should I Stay or Should I Go? Retention in Higher Education. University of Sunderland.

Loonat, S., and Hall, R. (2024). Reimagining pedagogies with international students: Anti-racist perspectives. Decolonising Academic Practice Workshop. University of Lincoln.

Hall, R. (2024). Invited panellist. Critical Future of HE Organising: Problems, Possibilities and Pathways. The Baltic Sessions, The University of Northumbria.

Panel Chair, Embracing challenge-based learning. University of South Wales Learning and Teaching Conference, 2024. Cardiff.

Hall, R. (2024). Decolonising DMU: Re-imagining the University. Leading Learning and Teaching, Durham University.

Co-Convenor, Social Theory, Educational Research and polycrisis. BERA Social Theory SIG. Online Symposium.

Co-Convenor, Book launch and discussion: Palgrave International Handbook of Marxism and Education. BERA Social Theory SIG. Online Symposium.

Loonat, S., Maryam, Y., Nemouchi, L., and Hall, R. (2024). Muslimness, Islam and student identity/experience in the University. Islamophobia Awareness Month, online workshop, De Montfort University Education Academy.

Hall, R. (2024). Voicing the Impact Of The Current Student Loans Regime On Muslim Student Engagement And Retention In Higher Education. Reimagining Higher Education: Journeys of Decolonising 2024. University College London.

Maryam, Y., Loonat, S., and Hall., R. (2024). The impact on Muslim students of the current Student Loans regime on student engagement and retention in Higher Education. University Learning and Teaching Conference. De Montfort University.

Maryam, Y., Loonat, S., and Hall., R. (2024). The impact on Muslim students of the current Student Loans regime on student engagement and retention in Higher Education. Global Students as Partners Roundtable. University of Queensland, Australia.

Ansley, L., and Hall., R. (2024). Exploring a University community's perspectives of Decolonising in Higher Education. BERA Conference 2024 and WERA Focal Meeting, University of Manchester.

Loonat, S., and Hall, R. (2024). Reimagining research with international students: Anti-racist perspectives. Decolonising Academic Practice Workshop Series. Birmingham City University.

Hall, R. (forthcoming). Beyond University Abolition: Imagining New Horizons for Intellectual Work with Mike Neary. Leicester. MayFly Books.

Loonat, S., and Hall, R. (forthcoming, 2025). Let’s not use the word ‘decolonise’ when decolonising the Business School. In How to Embed EDI in the Business School: Anti-racism and Decolonisation in Practice, eds Osho, Y. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Hanna, E., and Hall, R. (forthcoming, 2025). The emotional labour of conducting sensitive research: The researchers perspective. In Handbook of Sensitive Research in the Social Sciences, ed. Liamputtong, P. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Hall, R., Maryam, Y., and Loonat, S. (2025) The Impact of the Current Student Loans Regime on Muslim Student Engagement and Retention in English Higher Education. Leicester: De Montfort University. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/24766

Hall, R., and Mawson, K. (2024). Podcast Series: The UN Sustainable Development Goals and Educational Research. Implications for Policy and Practice. British Education Research Association and the UN Impact Hub. https://www.bera.ac.uk/media-series/the-sdgs-and-higher-education-impacts-on-policy-and-practice

Hall, R. (2024). Generative AI and re-weaving a pedagogical horizon of social possibility. Special Collection, Higher Education Futures at the intersection of justice, hope, and educational technology, in International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 21(12): 1-20. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/23462 and http://tinyurl.com/4p9vjpz6

Hall, R. (2024). Beyond the Limits of Solidarity in the Post-Pandemic University. Special Issue: Organisation in the (Post)Pandemic University, in Work organisation, labour & globalisation, 18(1): 13-30. https://doi.org/10.13169/workorgalaboglob.18.1.0013

Hall, R. (2024). Preface: Unfolding creative co-operation beyond corporate higher education. In Cooperative Education, Politics, and Art: Creative, Critical, and Community Resistance to Corporate Higher Education, eds Hudson-Miles, R., and Goodman, J. London: Routledge. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/24581

Hall, R. (2024). On the abolition of intellectual leadership. In Intellectual leadership, higher education and precarious times, eds Fitzgerald, T., Gunter, H., and Nixon J. London: Bloomsbury Academic. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/22064

Hall, R. Ansley, L., Loonat, S., and Nemouchi, L. (2024). Scoping a Muslim friendly Universities audit: DMU Interim Report. De Montfort University/The Aziz Foundation. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/24270

Ansley, L., and Hall, R. (2024). Decolonising DMU: Progress Report. De Montfort University, Leicester. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/23632

Hall, R. (2024). Generative AI and re-weaving a pedagogical horizon of social possibility. Special Collection, Higher Education Futures at the intersection of justice, hope, and educational technology, in International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 21(12): 1-20. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/23462 and http://tinyurl.com/4p9vjpz6

Hall, R., Ansley, L., and Connolly, P. (2023). Decolonising or anti-racism? Exploring the limits of possibility in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/22733 [This article was one of six nominated for the Teaching in Higher Education Editors’ Choice Award for 2024.]

Hall, R., Gill, R., and Gamsu, S. (2022). ‘Whiteness is an immoral choice’: The idea of the University at the intersection of crises. Special Issue: Higher Education in the Eye of the Covid-19 Storm, in Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education Research. https://rdcu.be/cLMGi

Szadkowski, K., and Hall, R. (2021). Has the University become surplus to requirements? Or is another university possible? Praktyka Teoretyczna, Special Issue, Latency of the crisis: globalization, subjectivity, and resistance, 42(4), 111–137. https://doi.org/10.14746/prt2021.4.5.

Hall, R., Ansley, L., Connolly, P., Loonat, S., Patel, K., and Whitham, B. (2021). Struggling for the anti-racist university: learning from an institution-wide response to curriculum decolonisation. Special Issue: Possibilities and complexities of decolonising higher education: critical perspectives on praxis. Teaching in Higher Education, 26(7-8): 902-919. DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2021.1911987 and https://dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/20773

Hall, R. (2020). The Hopeless University: Intellectual Work at the end of The End of History. Postdigital Science and Education, 2(3), 830-48. DOI: 10.1007/s42438-020-00158-9. https://dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/20001

Hall., R. (2019). On authoritarian neoliberalism and poetic epistemology. Social Epistemology: A Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Policy, 33(4), 298-308. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/17412

Hall, R. and Pulsford, M. (Eds., 2019). Neoliberalism and primary education: Impacts of neoliberal policy on the lived experiences of primary school communities. Special Issue: Neoliberalism and Primary Education. Power & Education, 11(2): 241-51. https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/17885

Hall., R. (2018). On the alienation of academic labour and the possibilities for mass intellectuality. tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique, 16(1), 97-113. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/14300

Hall, R., and Smyth, K. (2016). Dismantling the Curriculum in Higher Education. Open Library of the Humanities. 2(1), p.e11. http://doi.org/10.16995/olh.66

Hall, R., and Bowles, K. (2016). Re-engineering higher education: the subsumption of academic labour and the exploitation of anxiety. Workplace: A Journal of Academic Labour, 28, 30-47. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/12709

Hall, R. (2015). The University and the Secular Crisis. Open Library of the Humanities, 1(1), e6. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16995/olh.15

Hall, R. (2015). For a Political Economy of Massive Open Online Courses. Learning, Media and Technology, 40(3), 265-86.http://hdl.handle.net/2086/10847

Hall, R. (2015). The Implications of Autonomist Marxism for Research and Practice in Education and Technology. Learning, Media and Technology, 40(1), 106-22. https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/10089

Hall, R. (2014). On the abolition of academic labour: the relationship between intellectual workers and mass intellectuality. tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique, 12 (2), 822-37. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/10816

Hall, R. (2013). Educational technology and the enclosure of academic labour inside public higher education. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 11(3), 52-82. https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/8973

Hall, R., and Stahl, B. (2012). Against Commodification: The University, Cognitive Capitalism and Emergent Technologies. Triple-C: Cognition, communication and co-operation, 10(2), 184-202. https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/7954

Hall, R. (2011). Revealing the Transformatory Moment of Learning Technology: the Place of Critical Social Theory. Research in Learning Technology, 19(3), 273-84. https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/7145

Case study for UCU on decarbonising and decolonising, following consultancy work with NUS-Students Organising for Sustainability (2021-23).

Invited member of the JISC Pedagogy Experts group (2009-16).

Advisor to the British Council with Moscow Bauman State Technical University on the development of a Masters in Design Innovation (2006, 2011 and 2012).

Consultant on the University of Surrey’s VLE Review (2010).

Consulted as part of the UK JISC Mobile and Wireless Technologies Review (2010).

Advisor to Te Wānanga o Aotearoa University in New Zealand, in developing technology solutions for distance learners (2008).

Ally Ackbarally, Ph.D. on human factors and non-technical skills for Senior First Assistants in clinical settings (1st supervisor)

Abena Addo, Ph.D. on heuristic research to inform holistic pedagogical practices in health professional education and research (2nd supervisor).

Hadassah Baaba, Ph.D. on an exploration of art-based methods of coping and fugitivity used by Black Women within Education (2nd supervisor).

Yvonne Letson, Ph.D. on the embodied experiences of apostates who have left high control, high demand religions (2nd supervisor).

Sumeya Loonat, Ph.D. on the intersectionality of race and language in the construction and context of minority students within UK Higher Education (1st supervisor).

Barira Shahid, Ph.D. on the effectiveness of Universal Design of Learning Principles in enhancing teaching and learning practices for non-native speakers of English in the UAE Universities (1st supervisor).

Caroline Spence, DBA on diversity in the public relations industry (1st supervisor).

Jennifer Wilkinson, Ph.D. on the historical context for functional skills' development in English Further Education (1st supervisor).

Neil, Young, Ph.D. on the Cultivation of Universal Design for Learning & Teaching Innovation in an Accounting Education Discipline within an English Higher Education Setting (2nd supervisor).

As Principal Investigator

• British Educational Research Association, Small Grants Fund, Teaching to Transform the Curriculum: Building Frameworks for Racial Literacy (T2TC), 2024-25, [£4,995]
• The Aziz Foundation, De Montfort University, Muslim Friendly Universities Audit, 2024 [£20,523].
• I was the principal investigator on the HEIF5-funded Knowledge Exchange Digital Literacy Framework Project, 2012-14 [£126,886]. This is a unique partnership with Leicester City Council. This project has received international acclaim, as one of five winners of the Reclaim Open Learning Challenge, an international contest sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, the Digital Media and Learning Hub, and MIT Media Lab. This project was runner-up in the Association for Learning Technology Team of the Year Award in 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/10804
• I was the principal investigator on the HE Leadership Foundation-funded, Changing the Learning Landscape project, 2013.
• I was project manager [principal investigator], for DMU’s HEA e-Learning Research Observatory-funded, Connecting Transitions and Independent Learning Project, 2008–09 [£60,000, match-funded]. This was a partnership with the National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education. https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/10819
• I was the DMU lead on the JISC Curriculum Delivery Programme, Mobilising Remote Student Engagement Project. This was a partnership with Kingston University, 2008–10 [£197,000]. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/10799
• I was the DMU lead on the collaborative, HEA-funded ADDER (Assessment & Disciplines: Developing E-tivities Research) Project. This was a partnership with the Universities of Leicester and Northampton, 2008-09.
• I was project manager [principal investigator], for DMU’s HEA-funded e-Learning Pathfinder Project on Web 2.0 cultures, 2007–08 [£248,000, match-funded]. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/10808
• I was the project manager [principal investigator], for DMU’s HEA-sponsored e-Learning Benchmarking Project, 2006–07.
• I was the project manager [principal investigator], for DMU’s HEFCE-funded e-Learning Capital Investment funding, 2005–06 [£457,000].
• I was the project manager [principal investigator], on the HEFCE TLTP3, Courseware for History Implementation Consortium (Chic) project, 1999–2002 [£666,000, match-funded].

Principal Investigator

• DMU-funded, Academic Innovation Project, The impact on Muslim students of the current Student Loans regime on student engagement and retention in Higher Education, 2023-24 [£4,500].
• I was the principal investigator on the Centre for Urban Research on Austerity (CURA/ESRC)-funded project, Mapping Learning City Infrastructures Under Austerity Governance, 2017-18 [£800].
• I was the principal investigator on the DMU-funded Teaching Innovation Project, Towards Equitable Engagement: the Impact of UDL on Student Perceptions of Learning, 2016-17 [£7,264].

Co-Investigator

• DMU-funded Decolonising DMU project, 2019-21 (I am Research and Evaluation lead).
• DMU-funded Teaching Innovation Project, Leading Change for Sustainability: developing a Social Learning approach within a DMU course, 2016-17 [£3,355].
• HEIF5 Transformative learning for the public good – an integrative approach to sustainable community development [£21,539]. I co-lead Sub project 2: Into work and learning by doing, with Professor Jo Richardson.
• HEIF5 Electro Acoustic Resource 2 (EARS 2): Implementing sound-based music, technology and education, 2013-14. This is a partnership with Prof Leigh Landy, Music, Technology and Innovation [£53,000]. https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/10029
• HEIF5 Electro Acoustic Resource 2 (EARS 2) Pedagogical Project, 2011-12. This is a partnership with Prof Leigh Landy, Music, Technology and Innovation [£30,000]. https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/10029
• DMU Revolving Investment Fund for Research Round 2, Building Capacity to Impact on Policy and Practice Project, 2010-11. This was a partnership with Dr Catherine Durose, Department of Public Policy [£10,000].

Visiting Professor of Inclusive Education at University of Sunderland.

Visiting Professor of Education at University of South Wales.

I am the editor for Palgrave Macmillan’s Marxism and Education series.

Member of the Research Ethics Committee for Coram.

I was a Trustee of the Open Library of Humanities.

I am a member of the Review Boards for: University Reimagined book series, Manchester University Press (since 2025); the Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies (since 2012); TripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique (since 2015); Teaching in Higher Education (since 2015); Postdigital Science and Education (since 2017); and Research in Learning Technology (formerly ALT-J) (2009-22).

I am a reviewer for: Capital and Class (since 2023); Teaching in Higher Education (since 2016); the Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies (since 2014); Higher Education (since 2023); the Higher Education Research and Development journal (since 2016); the Journal of Learning, Media, and Technology (since 2010); the Interactive Learning Environments journal (since 2010); Computers and Education (since 2010); the Open Library of Humanities journal (since 2015); Philosophies (since 2020); and the Electronic Journal of e-Learning (since 2005).

Reviewer, Independent Social Research Foundation (since 2018)

I am Editor for the DMU education and pedagogic research journal, Gateway Papers.