This year’s annual conference hosted by the UW–Madison School of Education’s Department of Educational Policy Studies will delve into the relationship between advocacy, educational policy, and social transformation and feature a keynote panel on Indigenous language revitalization.
The 2024 EPS Conference, a free, one-day event, will be held in the Education Building on March 8. In addition to the keynote panel, it will feature presentations, panels, and roundtable discussions on a variety of subjects.
Conference organizers say the keynote panel, “Language Revitalization: A Pathway for Self-Determination,” will offer an opportunity for learning and to tease out notions embedded in UW–Madison’s Our Shared Future initiative.
“We are particularly animated by the inclusion of Indigenous activists and advocates who will lead a keynote panel on Indigenous ways of knowing and language revitalization efforts,” the conference committee said. “This keynote panel aims to lift up policy, advocacy, and the resulting social transformative work of Indigenous people, featuring Indigenous advocates and activists engaged in language revitalization efforts.”
Conference organizers said the panel will guide attendees towards an understanding of the needs of Indigenous people, the current state of Indigenous language and ways of knowing, and the places in which the University bears responsibility to act.
Overall, the conference aims to encourage critical perspectives on the ways in which marginalized learners contest unequal power structures through various advocacy and policy efforts. It will also focus on perspectives that examine the dynamic relationship between advocacy, educational policy, and social transformation through time and space.
“The conference is an opportunity for Educational Policy Studies to highlight the great work of students, both in EPS and across the School of Education, create space for critical discussions around the evolving landscape of advocacy, education policy, and social transformation, as well as engage with potential incoming students,” the conference committee said.
The event is hosted by the Department of Educational Policy Studies and the Office of Professional Learning and Community Education (PLACE) and was made possible by the generosity of the School of Education Dean’s Office. Additional co-sponsors include University Lecturer Funds, IRIS NRC, LACIS (Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program), and Centre for South Asia.
More information about the conference, including required registration information, is available here.