Conveners: Eckhardt Fuchs (University of Mannheim), Augustus F. Adeyinka (University of Botswana), Marc Depaepe (University of Leuven), Klaus-Peter Horn (Humboldt University of Berlin), Christoph Lueth (University of Potsdam)

Call for Papers

The planned symposium of the International Standing Working Group on Cross-Cultural Influences in History of Education aims at debating educational politics of international and national institutions and the role they played in the cross-cultural dissemination and reception of educational theories and methods, institutional forms, and pedagogical practices during the 19th and 20th century. Central points of discussion shall be the structure and aims of these institutions, as well as the impact of cross-cultural transfers at the national level. The problem of disseminating, reception, and transfer varies according to the type of institutions under investigation. Thus, international institutions such as organizations, congresses, and institutes served mainly as agents and mediators of cross-cultural transfers and sought to influence national educational systems within the Western hemisphere, but were also spreading Western concepts and structures of education to the rest of the world. Therefore, they played an important role in the “world educational revolution” after 1945. This transfer, however, took different forms in different countries, regions, and cultures. Intentions and results of transfer and reception differed, and these differences reshaped the institutions themselves. In many cases the impact of these institutions on the reform of national educational systems, or at least on parts of them, have been tremendous. Therefore, papers on national institutions, such as kindergartens, schools, universities, etc., that investigate the impact of foreign influences are as welcomed as presentations on international institutions, such as UNESCO, world’s fairs, OECD, and educational congresses.

The Sydney symposium will be the third meeting of the International Standing Working Group on Cross-Cultural Influences in History of Education and take place at the 27th meeting of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education, which will be part of the International Congress of Historical Sciences (CISH). We would like to invite proposals addressing topics along the lines suggested above. They should include an abstract of the presentation (ca. 500 words in English) and a short CV of no more than two pages, including a list of relevant publications. The deadline for submissions is October 30, 2004. The chosen applicants will be notified by the end of November.

Proposals should be submitted (preferably by email) to:
Dr. Eckhardt Fuchs
Universitaet Mannheim
LS EW I
Kaiserring 10-12
681318 Mannheim
Germany
Fax: +49-(0)621-181-3136
Email: efuchs@rumms.uni-mannheim.de