October 28-November 1, 2020
Grand Hyatt, San Antonio, Texas

Submission Deadline: May 1, 2020 (11:59 pm PST)

Historically and contemporarily, various communities have a complicated relationship with education. For some, education has been an institution of opportunity, liberation and freedom. For others, it has been the source of deculturalization, institutionalized racism, and oppression. As we move into a new decade, it is time to critically reflect on the revolutionary educational practices of the past and (re)imagine revolutionary practices for the future that are culturally sustaining and inclusive.

The American Educational Studies Association (AESA) has a rich history of providing critical spaces for academics, teachers, researchers, and community members to discuss and share critical perspectives and praxis of formal and informal education. Gathering in San Antonio, on the ancestral homelands of the Payaya people for the 2020 annual meeting, provides a unique opportunity to critically reflect on the significance of land, borders, settler colonialism, and the formal and informal ways that we educate/have been educated. The land is rich with the stories of our ancestors, and healing from the wounds of our colonial past and present is important as ever.

This year’s conference theme, Healing the Mind/Body/Soul: Revolutionary Education for Liberation, builds upon previous themes that center critical community building, love, memory, and cross-cultural and interdisciplinary activism for justice. Participants are encouraged to think about revolutionary practices in education that are healing—that restore connections within ourselves, amongst one another, and with the natural world. Related questions include:

• What informal and formal educational practices contribute to the healing of the mind/body/soul and justice in communities?

• What can we learn from our ancestors to inform the future of more radical and revolutionary education?

• What can we learn from community activism and justice work that lends itself to restoring the whole person?

• How can schools and communities rethink partnerships for greater justice?

• How does liberatory education look and feel? Is it possible in systems of schooling?

• How might education be reimagined across K-12 and Higher Education contexts for greater justice and liberation?

Proposals related to educational studies that are not specific to this theme are also welcome.