In January 2020 we held the first doctoral conference on public education and pedagogy at the Centre for Public Education and Pedagogy, Maynooth University, Ireland. The week-long event was enjoyable and intellectually stimulating, not least because all participating students had sufficient time to present and discuss their own work, which is quite different from many big and often rather ‘hurried’ international conferences. Also, spending a week together on campus allowed for a more sustained conversation to evolve. W
hile we were keen to having a second conference in 2021, the pandemic made this impossible, so it was only in the spring of 2022 that we were able to have the second doctoral conference. We are planning to have the next doctoral conference from 12 until 16 June 2023 on the campus of Maynooth University, Ireland. The conference will start at 5.00 p.m. on Monday 12 June, so as to allow participants to travel to Maynooth. The conference will finish 12.00 noon on Friday 16 June.
We are now inviting applications for participation in the conference. As the scale of the event is quite important, we are limiting the conference to 30 participants. One important criterion for participation is the extent to which the work you will present from your doctoral studies has an explicit connection to questions around public education and the ‘publicness’ of education. We ask all applicants to specify this in their proposal. We do take a wide interpretation of public education and are interested in work across the whole range of educational institutions, sectors, and settings, including non-formal and informal education of children, young people and adults. We are open to empirical, theoretical and historical contributions, including those that raise questions about notions of public education, ‘publicness’ and the public quality of education. Applications will be considered on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis.
Deadline for submission of proposals is Monday 16 January 2023. You will be notified no later than Monday 30 January 2023. In order to secure a place at the conference, you will need to pay conference and accommodation fees no later than Wednesday 15 February 2023 (you will receive further instructions about this together with your acceptance email).
We are currently finalising arrangements for the conference and anticipate that the total costs will be in the region of €600 - €700 per person. This includes single room accommodation on campus and all meals (starting with dinner on Monday 12 June and finishing with lunch on Friday 16 June), and coffee, tea and refreshments during the conference.
Please see our website for further application details.