CfA: Third international conference Why Still Education?

Third international conference Why Still Education?

Humanism, Posthumanism, Anti-Humanism: Educational Perspectives

Call for Papers

05-07 October 2022

Organiser: EduLab, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade, Serbia.

Venue: Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, 45 Kraljice Natalije Street, Belgrade, Serbia.

Participation: in person (if epidemiological situation allows).

Keynote Speakers:

Rosi Braidotti, Utrecht University, Netherlands

Stefan Lorenz Sorgner, John Cabot University in Rome, Italy

Carol Taylor, University of Bath, UK

Grasping the present situation of our human and educational history requires (re)thinking a number of important questions. Has the world changed dramatically or is it our image of the world that has changed? When we talk about the changed world, are we talking about the human condition (conditio humana), our image of humanity (imago hominis), or both? Are we already living in the posthuman age or in the age of posthumanist thinking? What impact does the posthuman paradigm have on educational theory and practice? What impact could or should it have?

If education has been traditionally observed as the synonym for humanisation, which embeds humanist and neohumanist ideals as its foundation and key inspiration, does it mean that education will be transformed alongside the envisaged transformation of humanity?

Is posthuman education actually the death of humanity as we know it? Do the critiques and suggestions that arise within antihumanism, transhumanism, metahumanism, and posthumanism effectively negate the idea of (still) ongoing education or can education actually absorb these new forces in its practice to continue its ancient mission and meaning? Is there another way and what is it? What is actually the mission of posthuman education? What does it look like? How does it work? What techniques, strategies, and pedagogies can we use to stay true to its charter and its vision? What are its goals? What does it aim to preserve or destroy with regards to the humanist ideals? Does the decentering of educational vision from humans to an equal inclusion of other – or more-than-human world – require a slight or thorough revision of the curriculum? Does it require an open debate around its place and role in pedagogy and education in all forms? What are the challenges and potential dangers?

Of course, the answers to these questions depend on our understanding of humanism and posthumanism, the critique surrounding both, and what we consider that education is for or should become.

We invite the global scholarly and teacher community to submit abstracts for the conference that provide theoretical, philosophical, sociological, practical or any disciplinary insights on the reflections and questions we shared above.

We welcome a broad range of contributions that provide educational perspectives on humanism, posthumanism, de-humanism, and related approaches, such as new materialism, including papers with a special focus on related ecological and technological aspects. Suggested topics could include, but are not limited to:

1. Digital pedagogies
2. Techno utopias and dystopias
3. Rhizomatic modes of learning
4. New ethical approaches to education
5. Critical histories and decolonial perspectives and practices
6. Located and place/space/land-based pedagogies
7. Body and movement in education
8. Relational ontologies and epistemologies
9. Global and local citizenship
10. Diffractive imaginaries
11. Artistic imaginaries, art, and literature as/in pedagogy
12. Material/materiality in educational practice
13. Morals and/in education
14. New educational cultures and communities
15. More-than-human world-building, ecologies, and education

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: wseconference@instifdt.bg.ac.rs no later than June 1, 2022.

*Please add the aforementioned email address to your list of safe contacts.

The official languages of the conference are English and Serbian.

Possible presentation formats are individual or co-authored papers.

Presentations should not exceed 20 minutes.

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 350 words), including title, keywords (up to 10).
• Short bio (up to 200 words), including name and surname, affiliation (include the complete hierarchy of the affiliation), and email address of every author that may be published in the book of abstracts.

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

Submitting a creative art form (optional)

Applying various art forms across disciplines and educational contexts have often generated valuable learning experiences. In spite of many authors (e.g. Dewey) stating the value of the arts in education, artistic forms of expression and engagement continue to be peripheral and even undervalued in mainstream education and higher education in particular. For this reason, and due to the fact that many educators apply artistic expression in their practice, especially the ones who explore posthuman and more-than-human pedagogies, we are inviting authors to submit creative art forms together with their paper abstract submissions. This is, of course, if an author wishes to do so, hence there is no expectation for these submissions, but we think it is an exciting opportunity. These creative forms would represent an example of what you do in your educational practice or they can be an independent work of art that you connect to the theme of the conference through a very brief narrative as described below.

In particular, we are inviting authors to submit photographs, short videos, and sound files of up to 3 minutes with a title, copyright statement, and a short description of up to 100 words that relate to their educational practice, the topic of the conference, and/or their paper. Please note that the files submitted need to be either created by the author submitting them OR the author submitting them has previously obtained copyrights and/or permission to use the files. These creative outputs will be part of a digital exhibition embedded in the conference.

*If possible, aspect ratio of the photographs and videos should be 16:9 with resolution of 1920×1080 pixels.

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 papers.

Refreshments during the conference will be provided.

Important Dates

Application deadline: June 1, 2022

Notification of acceptance: June 15, 2022

Conference dates: 05-07 October 2022

For more information: https://ifdt.bg.ac.rs/?lang=en or https://wse.ifdt.bg.ac.rs/?lang=en

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