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Welcome to MWERA 2015!

Perspectives, Practices and Leadership in Global Education
October 21-24, 2015
Hilton Orrington Hotel, Evanston, IL


On behalf of the Board of Directors, officers, and Program Committee, I am pleased to welcome you to the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Mid-Western Educational Research Association (MWERA). The conference planning committee has worked hard to put together a program featuring insightful, challenging, and exciting themes for this year. The variety of choices participants have ranges from keynote addresses to invited speakers. Additionally, we have a thought provoking and high quality array of research based papers, workshops, poster sessions, alternative sessions, best practices fora, special events, research in progress, and symposia, all of which went through a rigorous peer-review process. I wish to offer my sincere gratitude to all chairs and co-chairs, reviewers, conference chairs, and discussants who have made this program possible.

The conference will feature dynamic speakers of interest to both researchers and practitioners. Teachers, administrators, and other school personnel are especially invited to come and share their school-based research and experiences at the 2015 MWERA conference. Noteworthy are the so many varied topics and session formats that fit the theme of the conference: “Perspectives, Practices, and Leadership in Global Education.”

Globalization has inevitably impacted many dimensions of education in the US. It has also created a more intellectually and culturally integrated environment that raises new considerations for the work force. Our education system has begun to adapt in order to prepare individuals to respond to these challenges. Effective government initiatives, such as the 100,000 Strong initiative, have increased the number of US students studying abroad to achieve a record high of close to 300,000 US students who studied abroad for academic credit and over 886,000 international students who came to the US to study in the 2013-2014 school year, an eight percent increase from the previous school year.

Global education is no longer just a concept for discussion – it has become a reality that impacts all of us, regardless of age or occupation. This creates new opportunities, from international economic collaboration to artistic exchange, but also challenges we must be prepared to face. We can begin by considering the creation of a global curriculum, the participants in the global education system, and the construction of the system itself.

Education has been the means to empower develop, and build the capacities of individuals, institutions, and communities to make them part of mainstream society. Access to equitable and affordable educational opportunities has gradually enhanced opportunities for children and youth, yet we have more work to do. The conference will create the space for us to discuss and share our research, experiences, thoughts, ideas, and work about the theme within the broad context of our educational systems, organizations, and communities. MWERA would encourage submissions from a range of intellectual, practical, and activist perspectives to produce meaningful dialogue and disseminate high quality research. The various themes unifying the educational discipline would provide insights into theory, practice, methodology, or field work on contemporary research practices.

The conference will start with workshops in the afternoon on Wednesday, October 21, 2015. It will continue early Thursday morning at 8:00 AM with a variety of sessions. We are honored to host Dr. Francis Godwyll, Professor and Chair in the Department of Research and Advanced Studies and Director of Doctoral Programs, College of Education and Professional Studies, University of West Florida, for his Presidential Keynote Address – which will be delivered on Thursday, October 22, 2015, at 11:00 AM in the Hinman Auditorium.

Our luncheon keynote address will feature Dr. Conrado “Bobby” Gempesaw, President of St. John’s University in New York. He previously served as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. Dr. Gempesaw obtained his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the Pennsylvania State University and M.S. in Agricultural Economics from West Virginia University. His address will focus on the conference theme and is titled, “Trends and Perspectives in the Global Education Market (U.S. and China).” The keynote address will be held on Friday, October 23, 2015, at 12:10 PM in the Grand Ballroom. Dr. Gempesaw will be available immediately after the address to have a follow-up discussion with interested participants.

I invite you to participate in this conference to renew and establish friendships as well as enrich your professional knowledge. Please visit with me during the conference if there is anything that I can do to enhance your experience.

Cordially,
Aimin Wang, Ph.D.
MWERA Vice president and Program Chair of 2015 Annual Conference


MWERA Wishes to Thank the EHS College and the Office of Global Initiatives at Miami University for Their Generous Donation to Help Sponsor the 2015 MWERA Annual Meeting






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