Saturday, March 16, 2013

Sociology and the Global Economic Crisis


SOCIOLOGY AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS

CALL FOR PAPERS

Sociology
A journal of the British Sociological Association
Sociology and the Global Economic Crisis

Special Issue Call for Papers
Deadline for submissions: 31 August 2013

Editorial Team:
Ana C. Dinerstein (University of Bath), Gregory Schwartz (University of Bath) and Graham Taylor (University of the West of England)

Brief: As the Editors of the 2014 Annual Special Issue of Sociology (http://soc.sagepub.com), a journal of the British Sociological Association (http://www.britsoc.co.uk), would like to invite you to submit a paper, and extended book review essay, or a theoretical intervention that does one of two broadly defined things: 
·         Explore how sociology can contribute to a better understanding of (the lived experience of) the global economic crisis; and/or
·         Reflect on how social processes and movements confronting the crisis can inspire a new sociological imagination.

Our aim is to bring together contributions that:
·         Bridge disciplines
·         Unsettle conventions
·         Cosmopolitanise epistemologies
·         Renew sociology

We welcome contributions on relevant topics in any field of social science engaging with sociological research, from early career and established academics, and from those outside academia.

Rationale: The Editorial Board of Sociology considered a high number of proposals in response to the tender for the Special Issue of the journal in 2014. Our proposal, titled ‘Sociology and the Global Economic Crisis’ was selected as the successful submission. The Special Issue will address the urgent need todeconstruct and interrogate the formulation and reality of the global economic crisis. Additionally, it will systematically and critically investigate the specifically social processes underpinning its development and intensification.

Our aim in this proposal has been to tackle the challenge confronting the social sciences by the current economic crisis, in that there has largely been a failure to translate a quotidian reality of crisis into adequate forms of knowledge. While there has been discussion of ‘the crisis’, or 'austerity', of growing poverty, precarity, unemployment, and proletarianisation, there have been severe limitations in the disciplines of social science to engage with their object of knowledge in a way that seriously rethinks the epistemological and methodological assumptions of such knowledge. In short, the emergence of the current crisis has tended to highlight serious limits to the sociological imagination. Rethinking the ‘crisis’ could facilitate the renewal of sociology as an intellectual force in the public sphere, and imbue sociology with a critical or radical force that has been missing in recent decades.

With the explicit aims of the special issue to bridge disciplines, unsettle conventions and cosmopolitanise epistemologies, we see the contribution of critical Marxist theorists as paramount. Why? Above all, by asking authors to reflect on how social relations of production are confronted and rethought by various (new) movements and (new) forms of politics, and how modes of protest are not only confronting the political-cultural and class changes, but how social mobilisation itself nurtures epistemological innovation. 

Queries: The full paper should be submitted by the 31 August 2013. The articles will be peer reviewed following the journal's usual procedures. The special issue is to be published in October 2014. To discuss initial ideas, seek editorial advice, or discuss a specific paper, please contact the Special Issue Editors by email on sociology.specialissue.2014@gmail.com



**END**

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales); and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo (new remix, and new video, 2012)  
'Cheerful Sin' – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk
Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski
Online Publications at: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

Birmingham Radical Education Development


BIRMINGHAM RADICAL EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT

BRE(A)D

ABOUT
We are a newly created group seeking to build and participate in more democratic educational processes;
Our aim is to work together towards higher education experiences that are not consumerist, indebting, authoritarian or judging of individual worth;
We therefore seek to work collectively against the principles that now shape the so-called public university;
Central to the educational experiences we want to create is the idea that students and teachers have much to learn from one another;
Thus all who participate in the Free University-Birmingham are scholars: student-scholars and teacher-scholars;
On our courses learning and teaching entail processes of continuous negotiation to ensure the fullest participation of all, recognising, respecting and celebrating human diversity;
All learning and teaching will be critical—questioning the world as it is to explore how it could be otherwise;
We believe that in order for all learning and teaching to be critical and democratic, dialogue is essential.
All critical, democratic dialogue amongst student-scholars and teacher -scholars should, when possible, not just remain in the classroom;
Thus our ultimate classroom is the wider world; we seek to develop educational processes aiming to build a more socially just and sustainable world.

Birmingham Radical Education Development: http://bread4brum.wordpress.com/

**END**

'Cheerful Sin' – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk
Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski
Online Publications at: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

Friday, March 8, 2013

Higher Education in Crisis


HIGHER EDUCATION IN CRISIS: CRITIQUING ALTERNATIVES TO THE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY

Call for Papers
This is a stream of the London Conference in Critical Thought 2013

Stream organiser: Joyce Canaan

Numerous critical authors have recently observed that higher education is: in ‘crisis’ (Thorpe 2008); under ‘assault’ (Bailey and Freedman 2011); at its ‘end’ (Vernon 2010) or ‘in ruins’ (Readings 1996). These observations capture critical academics’ efforts to evaluate how processes of privatisation, marketisation and financialisation have impacted northern and southern university systems during the past 40 years and have led to a nearly ‘complete subordination of intellectual life to instrumental values and, most brutally, to the measure of money’ (Thorpe 2008).

Recent resistance to government policies on university has taken two forms: student-led demonstrations, occupations and actions and the emergence of ‘free’ or ‘alternative’ universities. This stream seeks to explore the latter, less explored alternatives, guided by Brown’s (2005:5) observation that the concept of critique comes from the Greek word ‘krisis’, used to explain the processes of ‘judging and rectifying an alleged disorder in or of the democracy’. The contemporary meaning of critique as ‘temporal rupture and repair’ (2005:7) contains elements of this earlier meaning; it entails and presumes a certain urgency to reconsider and rebuild, or to create an alternative to, that which has been torn asunder. Critique might also benefit from insights from historical materialism. Brown (2005:13), building on Benjamin, notes that the historical materialist reroutes ‘by rethinking the work of history in the present, stilling time to open time’. Stilling the seeming inevitability of the trajectory from past to present opens up the present and past to: ‘act[s] of reclamation’, re-viewing and thereby potentially reworking for a more emancipatory future.

Papers for this stream are thus asked to explore how emergent alternative universities today can be seen to operate as acts of reclamation—and might do so more effectively in future. Questions for consideration include:

·        What perceived limits of the public university impel a group to build an alternative?
·        Which theoretical and activist traditions inform their project?
·        What vision(s) of critical theory and/or historical materialism guide them?
·        What understandings of critical education shape their efforts to overcome/avoid perceived limits to the public university?
·        What theories of radical pedagogy inform their practices?
·        To what degree do insights from social movement theories and practices inform their theories / practices? And, in addition, contribute to the social movement literature?
·        What kinds of spaces do they seek to meet, teach and act in? Why?
·        How do they negotiate problems? What theories and practices inform these negotiations?
·        What are their strategies for reaching others as teaching and/or researching partners and how effective are they?
·        How central is praxis to their project?

Please send abstracts for 20-minute papers to londoncriticalconference@gmail.com with the subject as: ‘Higher Education Submission’.

**END**

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk
Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski

A paper on the crisis in higher education, by Glenn Rikowski:
Rikowski, G. (2012) Life in the Higher Sausage Factory, Guest Lecture to the Teacher Education Research Group, The Cass School of Education and Communities, University of East London, 22nd March, online at: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=articles&sub=Life%20in%20the%20Higher%20Sausage%20Factory

London Conference in Critical Thought 2013


LONDON CONFERENCE IN CRITICAL THOUGHT 2013

Royal Holloway, University of London
6-7 June 2013
Call for Papers
Summary – : full version here: http://londonconferenceincriticalthought.wordpress.com

The second annual London Conference in Critical Thought (LCCT) will offer a space for an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas for scholars who work with critical traditions and concerns. It aims to provide opportunities for those who frequently find themselves at the margins of their department or discipline to engage with other scholars who share theoretical approaches and interests. Participation is free (though registration is required).

The conference is divided into thematic streams, each coordinated by different researchers and with separate calls for papers, included in this document. We welcome paper proposals that respond to the particular streams below, as well as papers for inclusion in a general stream.

Central to the vision of the conference is an inter-institutional, non-hierarchal, and accessible event that makes a particular effort to embrace emergent thought and the participation of emerging academics, fostering new avenues for critically orientated scholarship and collaboration.

Thematic Streams:
Concerning Bodies
Futures of Deconstruction
Pragmatism and Political Criticism
Feedback Loops of Feminist Thought and Activism
Beyond Identity and Critique
Spinozan Politics
The Soul at Work and in Debt
New Sensibilities in the Everyday
Sociocultural Criticism After Lehman Brothers
Critical Theory and Psychoanalysis
Critique, Action, Ethics
On Representation/Non-representation
The New Amateur
New Materialisms
Three Questions for the Emancipation of Latin America
Jean-Luc Nancy in Fragments
Higher Education in Crisis

Please send papers/presentations proposals with the relevant stream indicated in the subject line to londoncriticalconference@gmail.com

Submissions should be no more than 250 words and be received by the 25th March 2013.

Full call for papers with details of the streams can be found here: LCCT 2013 Call for Papers: http://londonconferenceincriticalthought.wordpress.com/call-for-papers-2013/

All the best,
The LCCT organising collective.


**END**

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales); and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo (new remix, and new video, 2012)  
'Cheerful Sin' – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk
Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski
Online Publications at: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Canada International Conference on Education (CICE-2013)



CANADA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION (CICE-2013)

CALL FOR PAPERS

======================================
Canada International Conference on Education (CICE-2013)
June 24-26, 2013
University of Toronto, Hart House, Toronto, Canada
http://www.ciceducation.org
======================================

The CICE is an international refereed conference dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practices in education. The CICE promotes collaborative excellence between academicians and professionals from Education.

The aim of CICE is to provide an opportunity for academicians and professionals from various educational fields with cross-disciplinary interests to bridge the knowledge gap, promote research esteem and the evolution of pedagogy. The CICE 2013 invites research papers that encompass conceptual analysis, design implementation and performance evaluation. All the accepted papers
will appear in the proceedings and modified version of selected papers will be published in special issues peer reviewed journals.

The topics in CICE-2013 include but are not confined to the following areas:

*Art Education
- Music Education
- Writing Education
- Imaginative Education
- Language Education
- History

*Adult Education
- Competitive Skills
- Continuing Education
- Higher Education
- Vocational Education
- Transferring Disciplines

*Business Education
- Educational Administration
- Human Resource Development
- Academic Advising and Counselling
- Education Policy and Leadership
- Industrial Cooperation  
- Life-long Learning Experiences
- Workplace Learning and Collaborative Learning  
- Work Employability
- Educational Institution Government Partnership  
- Patent Registration and Technology Transfer
- University Spin-Off Companies

*Course Management
- Accreditation and Quality Assurance
- Academic Experiences and Best Practice Contributions
- Copy-right  
- Digital Libraries and Repositories
- Digital Rights Management
- Evaluation and Assessment
- E-content Management and Development
- Open Content
- e-Portfolios
- Grading Methods  
- Knowledge Management
- Quality processes at National and International level
- Security and Data Protection
- Student Selection Criteria in Interdisciplinary Studies  
- User-Generated Content

*Curriculum, Research and Development
- Acoustics in Education Environment
- APD/Listening
- Counsellor Education
- Courses, Tutorials and Labs
- Curriculum Design
- ESL/TESL

*Educational Foundations
- Early Childhood Education
- Elementary Education
- Geographical Education
- Health Education
- Home Education
- Rural Education
- Science Education
- Secondary Education
- Second life Educators
- Social Studies Education
- Special Education

*Learning / Teaching Methodologies and Assessment
- Simulated Communities and Online Mentoring
- e-Testing and new Test Theories
- Supervising and Managing Student Projects
- Pedagogy Enhancement with e-Learning
- Educating the Educators
- Immersive Learning
- Blended Learning
- Computer-Aided Assessment
- Metrics and Performance Measurement
- Assessment Software Tools
- Assessment Methods in Blended Learning Environments

*Global Issues In Education and Research
- Education, Research and Globalization
- Barriers to Learning (ethnicity, age, psychosocial factors, ...)
- Women and Minorities in Science and Technology
- Indigenous and Diversity Issues
- Government Policy issues
- Organizational, Legal and Financial Aspects
- Digital Divide
- Increasing Affordability and Access to the Internet
- Ethical issues in Education
- Intellectual Property Rights and Plagiarism

*Pedagogy
- Teacher Education
- Cross-disciplinary areas of Education
- Educational Psychology
- Education practice trends and issues
- Indigenous Education
- Kinesiology and Leisure Science
- K12
- Life-long Learning Education
- Mathematics Education
- Physical Education (PE)
- Reading Education
- Religion and Education Studies

*Research Management
- Research Methodologies
- Academic Research Projects
- Joint-research programmes
- Research on Technology in Education
- Research Centres
- Links between Education and Research
- New Challenges in Education
- ECTS experiences
- The Bologna Process and its implementation
- Joint-Degree Programmes
- Erasmus and Exchange experiences in universities
- Students and Teaching staff Exchange programmes

*Ubiquitous Learning
- Accessibility to Disabled Users
- Animation, 3D, and Web 3D Applications
- Context Dependent Learning
- Distance Education
- E-Learning
- E-Manufacturing
- Educational Technology
- Educational Games and Software
- Human Computer Interaction
- ICT Education
- Internet technologies
- Learning Management Systems (LMS)
- Mobile Applications and Learning (M-learning)
- Multi-Virtual Environment
- Standards and Interoperability
- Technology Enhanced Learning
- Technology Support for Pervasive Learning

*Ubiquitous Computing
- Videos for Learning and Educational Multimedia  
- Virtual and Augmented Reality
- Virtual Learning Environments (VLE)
- Web 2.0, Social Networking, Blogs and Wikis
- Wireless Applications

*Research In Progress

Important dates:

Research Paper, Extended Abstract, Case Study, Work in Progress and Report Submission Deadline: Extended March 10, 2013
Notification of Paper, Extended Abstract, Case Study, Work in Progress and Report Acceptance Date:  Extended March 30, 2013
Final Paper Submission Deadline for Conference Proceedings Publication: Extended April 15, 2013
Workshop Proposal Submission Deadline: March 01, 2013
Notification of Workshop Proposal Acceptance/Rejection: March 10, 2013
Poster/Demo Proposal Submission: March 01, 2013
Notification of Poster/Demo Acceptance: March 10, 2013
Participant(s) Registration (Open): December 1, 2012 to June 23, 2013
Early Bird Registration (Authors and Participants): January 30, 2013 to April 06, 2013
Late Bird Registration (Authors only): April 07 to May 18, 2013
Conference Dates: June 24-26, 2013
 
For further information please visit CICE-2013 at http://www.ciceducation.org

**END**

‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
‘The Lamb’ by William Blake – set to music by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw3VloKBvZc

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk
Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski
Glenn Rikowski’s MySpace Blog: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski/blog

Glenn Rikowski’s paper, Critical Pedagogy and the Constitution of Capitalist Society has been published at Heathwood Press as a Monthly Guest Article for September 2012, online at:

Heathwood Press: http://www.heathwoodpress.com