CfA "Why Still Education? Education and/or Emancipation: Challenges and Frictions"

Olga Nikolic Announcement
Location
Serbia
Subject Fields
Childhood and Education, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, Teaching and Learning

 

2nd International Conference

 Why Still Education?

Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory

University of Belgrade

Serbia

 

 

Emancipation and/or Education: Challenges and Frictions

 

Sremski Karlovci, Serbia

 

24 - 26 April 2020

 

 

The relation between emancipation and education is fraught with tensions. Even though we are the inheritors of the emancipatory potential of the Enlightenment, never before have these potentials come under rigorous critical scrutiny from various intellectual traditions of the second half of 20th century such as postcolonial studies, poststructuralist thought, feminist critique, etc. But precisely because the classic emancipatory ideal becomes outdated, the idea of emancipation is in need of rethinking and rearticulating. We want to question whether, and to what extent, in rethinking emancipation, the role and the aim of education must be rethought as well.

 

Given the polysemy and heteroglossia of the relation between emancipation and education, we aim for contributions that thematize the emancipatory potential of education as well as those that problematize it. Some of the still insufficiently considered issues are immediately imposed: Who is the subject of emancipation? And emancipation from what? What does emancipatory education look like at all? Does the education that emancipates today differs from the one before? How can we criticize ideological, normalizing, conformist functions of education and still argue for its emancipatory role? Finally, is emancipation a desirable goal of education at all, or do we by asking this question already assume an instrumentalization of education? 

            The relation between the two depends much on the practical use. School teachers, university professors, other practitioners of education, and policy makers have their own, often opposed visions of this relation. How are these visions to be realized through particular teaching methods and contents we find in the curriculum? How is the emancipatory potential of education facilitated or encumbered by legal requirements of particular education systems? What kind of change is needed in this respect, and how can it be achieved by reinventing schooling, informal education, teaching, learning, and grading methods, textbooks, curricula? We welcome specific examples and case studies that explore the relation between goals of education and means for their realization.

In sum, this conference will be concerned with rethinking different forms of relation between education and emancipation. It aims to bring together leading academics, researchers, teachers, educational managers and organizers, education counselors to discuss the most recent developments, trends and concerns, as well as practical challenges in rethinking this relation. The overall ambition is to present both empirical studies and theoretical inquiries that could contribute to the ongoing discussion of the role of education and emancipation in 21st century.

 

 

The organizers invite panel suggestions with their own topics, but we will also aim to accommodate submissions by assigning accepted papers to thematic sessions such as:

 

-          Thinking relation between education and emancipation: emancipation from or emancipation of education?

-          Are/Must/Should education goals be related to social ones?

-          Emancipation through tradition or from its hegemony?

-          Can theoretical knowledge ever be emancipatory?

-          How can education go beyond contemporaneity and be future-oriented?

-          Emancipatory theory and educational practice: Can emancipation be learned?

-          Social media, digital media and technologies: emancipatory vehicles or new slavery?

-          Visions of emancipation and forms of education: who and how should one decide on the purpose of education?

-          Can learning emancipate? If so, what knowledge and skills are required and how to teach them?

 

The above titles of thematic sessions are guidelines and should not be considered as either restrictive or definitive. Definitive titles will be determined after the acceptance of selected abstracts.

 

Organization of the Conference

 

The Conference is organized by EduLab – the Laboratory for Educational Strategies of the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade.

 

Application Procedure

 

Conference applications should be sent via e-mail to the following address: wse@instifdt.bg.ac.rs no later than January 15, 2020.

 

The official languages of the conference are English and Serbian.

 

Possible presentation formats include individual presentations and thematic discussions.

 

Individual presentations should not exceed 20 minutes. Thematic discussions should not exceed 90 minutes. Dynamic, engaging and innovative discussion proposals are especially welcome.

 

We kindly ask you to put the following title in your email subject: 'APP Last name of the applicant'. The complete proposal in .doc, .docx or .pdf format (Times New Roman, 12, double), needs to contain:

-          Abstract (up to 500 words), including title, keywords and type of presentation (individual or panel discussion)

-          Short bio (up to 200 words), including name and surname, affiliation and contact email of author(s).

 

Abstract and bio should be sent as separate documents, and abstracts should be prepared for double-blind review.

 

There is no registration fee. The Program Committee of the conference will select the presenters based on the submitted abstracts. A book of abstracts will be published and distributed during the conference. The organizers aim subsequently to publish an edited volume comprising the conference presentations.

 

Refreshments during the conference will be provided.

 

Important Dates

 

Application deadline: January 15, 2020

Notification of acceptance: February 1, 2020

Conference dates: 24-26 April, 2020

 

All additional information, including practical matters, can be found on the conference webpage: http://www.instifdt.bg.ac.rs/en/second-international-conference-why-still-education/

If you have any questions, please write to us at wse@instifdt.bg.ac.rs.

Contact Email
wse@instifdt.bg.ac.rs