Thursday,
April 27 - Friday April 28 2017
Henry
B. Gonzalez Convention Center | Room 5
Conference Theme:
Creative Democracy - The Task Before Us in the
Era of Clinton v. Trump
Founded in
1935, when American education was under attack from the right, the Society aims
to keep alive John Dewey's commitment to critical and reflective intelligence in approaching
pressing problems in education and culture. It is fitting, then, at the
beginning of the presidency of Donald Trump, that we come together to reflect
on its implications for democratic life.
What are the challenges to a vibrant and healthy
democratic life? In an essay late in life, “Creative Democracy – The Task
Before Us” John Dewey argued that democracy was more than a political
institution; it was a way of life - as dependent upon communication and
mutuality within families, friendships, schools, churches, workplaces, and
other strands of civil society as on the government.
Today, in many countries including our own,
democracy is under attack. Anti-democratic leaders at home and abroad stir the
pot of mistrust and hate among social groups. The Secretary of Education
promises to undo our commitment to the common school. It is appropriate,
therefore, to return to Dewey and consider anew how democratic life and
democratic education can be reclaimed.
Thursday, April
27
Pre-Conference Workshop | 8am-12pm
Session
1: Theorizing Democratic Education (Roudy Hildreth, Chair) | 8am-9:45am
This
workshop discussion explores how we might theorize democratic education in the
current political and educational situation. Recent events have renewed our
focus on the relationship between democracy and education. The positive
connections between democracy and education are under strain. We have witnessed
how social media preys on Americans’ low levels of political knowledge,
creating narrow channels for the flow information, and increasingly,
disinformation. We have witnessed increasingly polarized political discourse
and the rise of anti-democratic sentiments, as well as attacks on public
education. This workshop gathers outstanding scholars who will offer insights
on the role of civic learning, broadly understood, in this current context.
What should be the goals of civic learning? What qualities do we want young
people, college students, and professionals to develop? What is the
relationship between civic learning and broader social institutions? What are
the best methods to meet these individual and social goals? And finally,
underscoring these questions, what is the relationship between theory and
practice in theorizing democratic education?
Panelists:
Walter Parker, University of
Washington
Paula McAvoy, University of Wisconsin Madison
Kathleen Knight Abowitz, Miami
University, Ohio
(Other
panelists to be announced)
BREAK
Session
2: Teaching About Democratic Education (Amy Shuffelton, Organizer) | 10am-11:45
am
The panel
discusses approaches to teaching about “democracy and education” and works
towards some common insights. While each panelist engages with John Dewey’s
ideas, the workshop focuses upon democracy and education, not Dewey’s book by
that title. This workshop engages with what it means pedagogically to treat creative democracy as the task before us in
higher education. While developed against the background of Trump v. Clinton,
and addressing current events, workshop concerns extend beyond the recent
election cycle.
Panelists:
Sue Ellen Henry, Bucknell University
Kathy Hytten, University of North Carolina Greensboro
Amy Shuffelton, Loyola University
Sarah Stitzlein, University of Cincinnati
Kurt Stemhagen,
Virginia Commonwealth University, Chair and Discussant
BREAK
Regular Annual JDS Meeting Sessions
JDS
Symposium:
Creative Democracy: Democratic Education in the
Era of Clinton v. Trump | 12noon - 145pm
The panelists, all leading educational thinkers,
consider the lessons to be drawn from the recent election and Trump presidency and
the tasks before us in reconstructing democratic education.
Panelists:
Peter Levine, Tufts University
Walter Parker, University of Washington
Winston Thompson, University of
New Hampshire
Diana Hess, University of Wisconsin
BREAK
School
and Society Forum (Kyle Greenwalt, Chair) | 2pm-3:45pm
Communities in Schools San Antonio (CISSA) and
the John Dewey Society are proud to host the seventh annual School &
Society Forum. The forum is a public space embracing dialogue, interaction, and
deliberation concerning school and society issues across multiple
stakeholders—P-16 teachers, policymakers, administrators, scholars, parents,
students, community educators, & interest groups—drawing upon John Dewey’s
commitments to democratic schooling. Students, parents, and CISSA organizers
will lead a panel discussion about issues facing the San Antonio community.
Kyle Greenwalt, John Vasquez, Lauren Geraghty, & Jessica Landgraf, Organizers
BREAK
JDS
Dewey Lecture: Harry Boyte | 4pm-5:45pm
Harry Boyte is
one of today’s most prominent democratic theorists and activists. He has worked with many foundations, and
non-profit educational, and citizen organizations in the United States and
abroad concerned with community development, citizenship education, and civic
renewal. In the 1960s, he worked for the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a
field secretary with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the Civil
Rights Movement.
Boyte is the
author of nine books on citizenship, democracy, and community organizing, and
his writings have appeared in more than 100 publications including the New York Times, Perspectives on Politics, Kettering
Review, and the Wall Street Journal.
BREAK
JDS
Reception | 6pm - 7:30pm
****
Friday, April 28 2017
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center | Room 5
Meetings and Working Sessions | 8am-12 noon
Emerging
Scholar Working Session (Melissa Bradleyi) | 8am-9am
Education and
Action Working Group (Kathleen Knight Abowitz and Harry Boyte) | 9am-10:30am
JDS Executive
Board and Directors Meeting (Leonard Waks and Peter Nelsen) | 10:30am–11:45 am
Regular Conference Sessions
Dewey and Philosophy Panel I (A.G. Rud, Chair)| 12noon -1:45pm
Creative Integration and Pragmatist Optimism:
Dispositions for the Task Before Us
Barbara S. Stengel, Vanderbilt University
Creative Democracy, Equality, and Religion:
Bhimrao Ambedkar’s Pragmatic Reconstruction of Buddhism
Scott R. Stroud, University of Texas at Austin
Mindfulness and Creative Democracy
Kyle Greenwalt and Cuong Nguyen, Michigan State University
The (Im)Possibilities of Realizing Dewey’s
Vision in the Age of Trump: Towards More Creative Democracy
Roudy Hildreth, University of Colorado Boulder
BREAK
Dewey through the Generations Panel (Jessica Heybach, Chair) | 2pm
-3:30pm
Challenges for Democracy: New Developments and
Tendencies
The Secularism that Divides Us: Reframing
Dewey’s Conception of Moral Education
Alexander T. K. Elnabli, Graduate Teaching Fellow, Fordham University
In the Surge of
Authoritarianism: Democratic Faith
Chanhee Lee, Vincennes University
Respondent: Gregory Pappas, Texas A&M University
BREAK
Dewey and Philosophy Panel II (A.G. Rud, Chair)| 3:45pm - 5:15pm
Dewey’s Pragmatism and Contemporary Challenges
of Media and Democracy
Lance E. Mason, Indiana University Kokomo
Dear Democracy, The 2016 Presidential Election,
Love Philosophy
Daniel A. Lilly, Florida State University
Creating the Conditions for a Creative,
Democracy: John Dewey and D.W. Winnicott on Democratic Living
Jane Blanken-Webb, University of Eastern Finland
JDS
Business Meeting | 5:20pm- 6:30pm
