(NAME-MCE) 2009 Harvard Graduate School Annual Alumni of Color conference

[TANYAODOM at aol.com]

Greetings everyone,
 
Please see the call for proposals from the Harvard Graduate School Annual  
Alumni of Color Conference committee below.
 
THANK YOU,
Tanya
 
 
 
 
7th Annual Alumni of Color Conference
Harvard Graduate School of  Education
Cambridge, Massachusetts
March 6th-7th, 2009

Call for  Proposals
Crossing Borders:
Exploring Local and Global Perspectives on  Race, Inequality, and Education
Deadline for submissions: December 12, 2008,  5:00 PM EST

I.     GENERAL INFORMATION

The Seventh  Annual Alumni of Color Conference will be held from Friday, 
March 6th to  Saturday, March 7th, 2009, at the Harvard Graduate School of 
Education in  Cambridge, Massachusetts.  The purpose of this annual event is to 
convene  HGSE alumni, current students, and practitioners and scholars concerned 
with  issues of education as they pertain to people and communities of color. 
This  year's theme, Crossing Borders: Exploring Local and Global Perspectives 
on Race,  Inequality and Education is an effort to meet the urgent need to 
create dialogue  between domestic and international contexts of and approaches 
to social justice  and education.

AOCC 2009 has two purposes. First, it will cross  geographic borders to 
explore the commonalities and diversity among groups that  have been historically 
under-represented in or discriminated against by  educational systems in the 
United States and beyond. Second, the conference will  cross racial, cultural, 
language, gender, and class borders among and within  communities of color to 
learn about the many perspectives and identities that  make up these 
communities. 

Underlying this dialogue is the idea that to  cross boundaries in search of 
understanding is not to give up those  characteristics that make groups and 
individuals unique.  It is our hope  that crossing borders will simultaneously 
strengthen group identities and build  bridges across communities of color in 
the U.S. and abroad. We believe it is  possible to create a world in which 
equality, community, freedom and dialogue  are the main drivers of a common human 
endeavor.

For a detailed  explanation of the frames, as well as instructions for 
submitting a paper  proposal, please see the AOCC website: 
_http://isites.harvard.edu/hgse-aocc_ (http://isites.harvard.edu/hgse-aocc)    

We are seeking proposals for papers that speak to one or more of the  
following frames:

Crossing geographic and national  borders
(Im)migration patterns are rapidly changing the demographic and  cultural 
makeup of schools in the United States and in other countries. As  increasing 
numbers of (im)migrant children and their families enter the  educational system, 
these students bring with them important cultural,  linguistic, and ethnic 
traditions. Unfortunately, education systems often  translate this diversity 
into disadvantage. How does the prevailing educational  culture interact with the 
cultural, linguistic, and ethnic traditions of  (im)migrant students? We 
invite work that provides accounts of  parent/student-led interventions, 
community-based endeavors, school-community  partnerships, or school-based approaches 
that have capitalized upon the rich  backgrounds of (im)migrant students to 
challenge their odds within unequal  education systems.

Crossing the border between "the researcher" and "the  researched"
Traditional academic research operates under a framework that  distinguishes 
between the researcher and those researched. Often turned into  "objects" to 
be studied and analyzed, communities of color from all parts of the  world are 
rich in experiences and can produce knowledge to alter social  structures in 
education and beyond. We seek work that challenges existing  frameworks by 
focusing on the co-production of knowledge between the researcher  and those 
traditionally researched, or work that changes the research lens from  documenting 
inequality to subverting it. We are also interested in work that  "studies up" 
to examine systems of privilege. What constitutes a framework or  research 
design whose objective is to challenge inequality? What are  implications of 
these lenses for knowledge production, practice, and advocacy?  

Crossing borders within and between communities of color 
"People of  color" come from a broad spectrum of backgrounds with varied life 
experiences.  We would like to explore how competing or parallel identities 
(for example:  gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, native language, 
socio-economic  status, or (dis)ability status) play out in the lived 
experiences of people of  color, particularly in different educational settings. What 
are the differences,  similarities, and complexities among "people of color"? 
How do educational  institutions shape or privilege those identities, and how 
do they also affect  students' educational experiences? 
Moreover, it is sometimes assumed that  all communities of color have certain 
shared interests, but historically there  has been both friction and 
collaboration between these groups. We seek  presentations that discuss how different 
communities of color have confronted  the tensions or built bridges between 
them. How have activists and advocates  created educational programs that built 
coalitions between groups that have  historically been under-represented or 
discriminated against in both domestic  and international educational systems? 

Crossing borders beyond social  constructions of "The Other"
The social and political construction of  "others," those who are unlike the 
dominant mainstream, often leads to  educational privilege or disadvantage for 
certain groups. This construction  creates accompanying terms, categories, 
and labels that have real consequences  for how teachers, schools, and societies 
perceive and educate students from  different races, language backgrounds, 
countries of origin, classes, tribes, or  religions. We seek work that 
interrogates the construction of "the other" and  its role in the reproduction of 
inequalities in education systems  internationally and in the United States. We 
inquire into which categories are  used to construct "others" throughout the 
world and how they affect students'  educational opportunities. How do these 
categories influence the way teachers  see and think about students and their 
capacity, motivation, and  aspirations?  How do these perceptions affect teachers' 
and schools' own  sense of efficacy to construct better educational outcomes, 
and how might  educators overcome this way of thinking? 

Crossing linguistic  borders
Language holds a central place in education –  language functions as a tool 
for knowledge and cultural transmission, but within  unequal educational 
systems, choices are often made about language that lead to  forms of oppression. 
Linguistic diversity is an important issue in an  increasingly global society. 
We are interested in exploring language  acquisition, native language use, 
"code switching" between different linguistic  forms, and programs that support 
the languages spoken by people of color. How do  schools and educators address 
the linguistic complexities of their students? How  does the development of 
alternatives and supports for second language learners  or bilingual students 
change assumptions about the role of language within  education?  

II.     PARTICIPATION   

Alumni of color from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) who  
would like to share their work with current HGSE students, alumni, faculty, and  
community members are encouraged to participate. Non-HGSE affiliated 
presenters  may join an alumnus as co-presenters or as invited guests of the AOCC 
Steering  Committee.

Paper Presentations provide the opportunity for individuals to  present 
abbreviated versions of a paper, project, or initiative.  Two or  three individual 
presentations will be grouped by topic for each session.   Each paper panel 
will last 90 minutes, with up to 25 minutes allotted per paper  followed by a 
facilitated discussion.  Individuals whose proposals are  accepted are required 
to submit a copy of their paper to the AOCC by February  16, 2009.  

III.    SUBMISSION  GUIDELINES

1.    A completed submission should include the  following:
1.    A completed Presenter Information Sheet  
2.    An abstract no longer than 100 words of the  presentation you plan to 
make.  The abstract will be used in the conference  program.
3.    A proposal that is no more than 750 words,  which could include the 
purpose and objectives of the presentation, methodology  and/or context, findings 
and conclusions, educational outcomes and implications,  and a list of 
references (not included in word count).   
2.    Completed Presenter Information Sheet and proposals  (with abstract) 
should be submitted via email to _aocc2009 at gmail.com_ 
(mailto:aocc2009 at gmail.com)  by 5:00 PM EST on  December 12, 2008.  Please make the subject line 
'Proposal Submission'.  

Selection Criteria:  The AOCC Proposal Review Committee will use  the 
following selection criteria to review proposals.  We are interested in  work that:

•    Is relevant to the conference theme and  frames outlined in this call 
for proposals;
•    Articulates a  clear purpose with defined outcomes for attendees;
•    Has  implications for innovative approaches to practice, research and/or 
policy;  
•    Is thought-provoking and has the potential to stimulate  active 
engagement of participants; 
•    Appeals to a  culturally, racially, and ethnically diverse audience;  and
•    Adheres to the proposal submission guidelines as  outlined above.

All proposals, abstracts, and Presenter Information  Sheets should be 
submitted by email to _aocc2009 at gmail.com_ (mailto:aocc2009 at gmail.com)   




Tanya M. Odom,Ed.M.
VM:  212.465.2685

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