Comparative and International Education Society | 66th Annual Conference

Illuminating the Power of Idea/lism
April 18 - 22, 2022

The CIES 2022 theme Illuminating the Power of Idea/lism arises from the intersection of two immutable realities of our time and the impact both are having on the field of comparative and international education. The first is our global experience with the COVID-19 pandemic. The second is the rise of nativism and fundamentalism representing both ideological rigidity and political divisiveness. The CIES 2022 theme seeks to find ways to address these challenges by bringing forward new ideas with a sense of idealism in the work we do as educationists.

As we plan for CIES 2022, hoping to gather in person after a three-year gap, our theme is grounded in the context of time, place, and possibility. The context of time refers to the global pandemic that has upended the practice of education for learners in all environments. The context of place refers to Minneapolis, a city at the crossroads of global and local, a place of refuge for new arrivals to the U.S., but also at the forefront of racial justice protests since the 2020 murder of George Floyd. The context of possibility returns to the notion of ideas where at this time and in this place, we seek to foster dialogue, while anticipating gathering as practitioners, academics, and students - indeed, a global community of idealists.