Innovative and Critical Approaches to Higher Education in the 21st Century

The second international conference on Innovative and Critical Approaches to Higher Education will be held at Roskilde University in Denmark, June 22nd to 24th, 2016. The purpose of the conference is to bring together scholars, students and administrators who are interested in the history, theory, and practice of progressive higher education and wish to rethink and reinvigorate its strong traditions in the globalized context of the 21st century. We are therefore not only interested in papers which contribute to research on progressive higher education and research, but also in examples of best practices. Thus, we invite papers and panels on:

1) The history, theory, and future of progressive higher education. Papers could concern topics such as theories of individual educational thinkers, histories of educational institutions, traditions of interdisciplinary, critical and/or socially engaged research, as well as the possibilities and challenges that these theories, histories and traditions face today. Papers may also deal with new ideas and proposals for the future of progressive higher education.

2) The practice of progressive higher education. Papers could focus on examples of innovative courses, methods of mentoring and supervising, interdisciplinary co-teaching and research, student-centered learning and research as well as collaboration between educational institutions and civil society. For this second group of papers we are not primarily interested in traditional academic papers, but rather in examples and experiences from the everyday practice of education and research.

Proposals for papers and panels should be submitted to criticaledgealliance@gmail.com before March 1st 2016. Abstracts for papers (25 minutes, including discussion) should be no more than 250 words. Panels (1.5 hours, including discussion) can consist of 3-4 papers.

Registration for the conference will be possible starting in March 2016. The conference fee will be kept as low as possible to include meals, receptions, and coffee during the conference. For student participants as well as participants with financial needs, the fee may be waived. If requested, we will also attempt to organize local housing with Roskilde students and faculty. Please let us know in good time if you need to waive your fee and/or housing. The final deadline for registration is June 10th 2016.

The conferences on Innovative and Critical Approaches to Higher Education are part of a larger effort to establish an alliance of critical, alternative and innovative universities across the world. But those not affiliated with any of these institutions are also most welcome to participate. For more information about this alliance as well as updates about the conference, see:

http://criticaledgealliance.com/

Organizing committee:

Kasper Risbjerg Eskildsen, Roskilde University, Denmark
L. H. M. Ling, The New School, USA
Nizar Messari, Al Akhawayn University, Morocco
David McAvity, Evergreen State College, USA
P. K. Shajahan, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India
Carl Henrik Langebaek Rueda, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
Danilo Marcondes, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janerio, Brazil