Dr Mark Austin
MSc, Cert HE, PhD.
Postgraduate Programmes Lead / Oxford Brookes Teaching Fellow
School of the Built Environment
Role
My role as Postgraduate Programmes Lead is to provide effective leadership of the school's postgraduate programmes through monitoring and enhancing the quality academic performance. Additionally I lead on QA activities, including the development and validation of new and revised academic programmes, chair examination & programme committees, liaise with external examiners and assist the Head of School in the day to day management of the School including the allocation & monitoring of teaching workloads, staff development, conduct, PDRs and performance.
Teaching and supervision
Courses
- Building Information Modelling and Management (MSc)
- Construction Project Management (MSc)
- Project Management in the Built Environment (MSc)
- Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management (MSc)
Modules taught
- Managing Technology for Sustainable Environments
- Advanced Construction Technology and BIM
I am the Program Lead for the postgraduate programmes in the School of Build Environment.
My teaching centres on the science behind green technologies as used in construction. In recognition of my excellence in teaching I was awarded the Oxford Brookes teaching Fellowship in 2016.
Research
My research interests include the application of Bourdieu's theories of Cultural Capital to understanding the development of the built environment, specifically the adoption of green and sustainable technologies.
Synopsis of my PhD research "Constructing the Active Body: A Sociological Investigation":
An investigation into the relationship between the use of space within sports facilities and the development of cultural capitals. Research findings concluded that investing in, and maintain the active body, together with the corresponding development of an acceptable social identity leads individuals to develop a sense of belonging within sporting environments (both physical and social). This in turn engenders a sense of ontological security about the physical self that serves to reinforce and stabilise long-term patterns of participation in physical activity.
[Key words: Bourdieu, Body, Cultural Capitals, Exercise, Participation Adherence, Social Identity Design of Sport Centres]
Groups
Projects
- Establishing a Virtual Design Studio in Teaching and Research for International Collaborations
Professional information
Memberships of professional bodies
- Elected Fellow of the Higher Education Accademy (FHEA)
- Incorporated into the Chartered Insitute of Bulding (ICIOB)
Conferences
- Austin, M (2017). Making the dissertation process ‘real’ to the student: An ontological approach to supervising dissertations. Council of the Heads of Built Environment (CHOBE) iBEE conference, Innovation in Built Environment Education: Learning Matters, Birmingham City University
- Vokuhl, T & Austin, M (2017). Room to swing a Kid: An exploratory study into end-user engagement with spatially constrained UK family homes, AMPS, Architecture MPS; University of Derby
- Austin, M., Linares Gonzalez, E.E. (2016). Development of a taste for sustainable homes: Cultural capital of green technologies. BSA Annual conference, Aston University
- Fleming, P., Jackson, J., Fenn, T., & Austin, M. (2013) Monitoring of Unusual and Innovative Construction Projects CIBSE Technical Symposium, Liverpool John Moores University
- Austin, M. (2009). Maintaining the Active Body: An interplay between space, physical capital and social identity. BSA Annual conference, Cardiff
- Austin, M. (2001). Designing Sports Centres: The Importance of Social Identity. BSA Annual Conference Manchester.