CFP: ISEB/SOPHE Joint Conference

Edward Janak Announcement
Location
Texas, United States
Subject Fields
Area Studies, Biography, Humanities, Oral History, Research and Methodology

Join us for
The 38th I.S.E.B. Conference
&
I.S.E.B.’s Ruby Jubilee Celebration
September 29-October 1, 2022, San Antonio, Texas


I.S.E.B. (International Society for Educational Biography) invites proposals for its annual
conference, to be held in partnership with The Society of Philosophy and History of Education
(SOPHE), September 29-October 1, 2022, at the historic Menger Hotel in San Antonio, Texas.


CONFERENCE THEME
The mission of I.S.E.B is to explore the intersection of biography and education and
visiblize educator’s lives and lives that are educative. We are also interested in diverse research
and teaching approaches to life writing. We welcome submissions from academics, teachers,
graduate students, and independent scholars who engage with dimensions of life writing in their
work. As I.S.E.B. celebrates its 40th anniversary, we also encourage submissions that reflect the
history of the organization through the lens of individual, group, and community lives.
The conference theme is Life Writing in Historic Times. “Life writing” encompasses
ethnography, autoethnography, biography, memoir, life history, oral history, family history,
testimonio, as well as letters, interviews, bio-pics, literary texts, arts and performance, and other
popular culture products that shed light on the narratives of/about individuals, groups, and
communities. Our phrasing, “historic times,” recognizes the urgency of narrating our own
time—time marked by political divide, pandemic, and war—and invites conversations across
boundaries of disciplines, genre, theory, temporality, and geography about how life writing
reflects and contributes to social changes. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the
following:
1. Life writing in pandemics
2. Narrating migration, displacement, and belonging
3. War and refugee narratives
4. Storying politics and women’s experience
5. Life stories of the marginalized and underrepresented
6. Writing democracy and freedom in divisive times
7. Theorizing life writing in historic times
8. Imagining the future of life writing
9. Digital life writing
10. I.S.E.B. through the lens of life writing
11. Theories and practices of life writing in the past four decades

IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL PRESENTATION
The 2022 conference will be hybrid. We anticipate the majority of the sessions will be
in-person participation. We also offer a limited number of slots for virtual participation to
presenters with significant restrictions hindering their travel (e.g. living in a country currently
with international travel restrictions, status as caregiver, or any other concerns). Please designate
such and provide a rationale when submitting your conference proposal. Virtual presenters will
be expected to pay both I.S.E.B. membership and the conference fee. While we will do our best
to make the presentation process as seamless as possible, presenters choosing this option must
understand that in the event of technology glitches, I.S.E.B. will not be able to provide refunds.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION
The Conference Program Committee invites presentations in the following formats:
1. Paper or presentation (individual or co-authored) on completed or in-progress research.
2. Panel consisting of at least three panel members with related papers or presentations.
3. Roundtable discussion on an open pedagogical, methodological or research issue.
4. Structured Posters
To submit a proposal, please complete the Proposal Form and include an abstract of up to
300 words to describe your proposal. Those interested in previous conference information can
find it at the I.S.E.B. Archived Conferences. The Conference Program Committee will review
your proposal and notify you promptly. For questions, please reach out to the Conference
Program Chair, Dr. Jie Zhang, through jzhang@trinity.edu.

Deadline for Proposals: July 31, 2022. Proposals received after this date will only be
evaluated if there is room in the program.

Presenter deadline for I.S.E.B. conference registration: September 15th, 2022, after
which time you will not appear in the program.

Contact Information

Dr. Jie Zhang

Trinity University

Contact Email
jie.zhang@trinity.edu