ROUGE FORUM CONFERENCE, 2010: CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Education in the Public Interest: Teaching and Learning for a Democratic Society
RF 2010 will be hosted at George Williams College on the scenic banks of Geneva Lake. Located officially in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, the college is nestled between the major metropolitan areas of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois. The conference will be held August 2-5.
Bringing together academic presentations and performances (from some of the most prominent voices for democratic, critical, and/or revolutionary pedagogy), panel discussions, community-building, and cultural events, this action-oriented conference will center on questions such as:
- Transforming the notion of “saving public education” to one of creating education in the public interest, what does teaching and learning for a democratic society look like?
- What does education for liberation look like compared to the more socially reproductive/dominating education we see in many of our nation’s schools?
- Are the current crises in the economy as well as educationally in such states as California or cities like Detroit indicative of a turning point in history? Has the rightward shift ebbed or will the economic crisis push the ruling class towards fascism?
- What is a public good? Is education a public good? Why is it treated as a private good?
- Is climate change a matter to be debated by governments and industry leaders? Has the public participated in the debate on climate change? What roles do educators have in making students aware of the implications of that debate?
- Are multi-trillion dollar deficits public ‘bads’?
- What debts will future generations, including the students we may teach, carry because our financial, governmental, and military endeavors have not been concerned with public goods?
- What are the educational implications of the recent Supreme Court decision to endow corporations with the right of free speech?
- How do we learn and teach to get from where we are to where we need to be?
- How do we stand up for the correctness of our ideas?
- How does change happen (individually, within a school, within a district)?
- Can the current system be reformed in order to better serve children, families, and citizens?
- If not, what would a new system look like? How would it be implemented? What past models exist on which to work and build?
To learn more about the conference, please contact any of our conference organizers:
Faith Wilson (fwilson@aurora.edu)
Adam Renner (arenner@bellarmine.edu)
Wayne Ross (wayne.ross@ubc.ca)
Rich Gibson (rgibson@pipeline.com)
Gina Stiens (stiensg@yahoo.com)
Doug Selwyn (dselw001@plattsburgh.edu)
Joe Cronin (jcronin@antioch.edu)
Or visit the conference website at: www.rougeforumconference.org.
Submissions
Proposals for papers, panels, or performances should include title(s), no more than a 500 word description, and names and contact information for presenter(s). Presenters should plan on 45 minute time slots to deliver papers. Panels and performances will be awarded 90 minutes.
Review of Paper and Panel Proposals treating any of the above questions will begin April 15, 2010. Please send your proposals to Faith Wilson (fwilson@aurora.edu). As we expect a number of proposals for a limited number of slots please forward your proposal as soon as possible.
Performance Proposals should also be forwarded to Faith Wilson (fwilson@aurora.edu) by April 15, 2010. Please describe your art/performance and how it may relate to the conference topic/questions.