Potentially Interesting CFP

CALL FOR PAPER
Annual Meeting of the Society for Values in Higher Education
Elmhurst College (Illinois)
July 22-26, 2009

The Academy and the Marketplace

The university is an institution that functions within a marketplace yet often finds itself in tension with the values of the marketplace. This tension has existed for centuries. In the 19th century, John Henry Newman famously grappled with this tension in The Idea of a University, a work that has shaped greatly the conversation about higher education in Europe and the United States. Newman juxtaposed university education to education in professional skills, claiming that faculty should teach universal knowledge not simply vocational skills. This juxtaposition remains at the heart of American colleges and universities, manifesting itself in tensions between the humanities and professional education, between aesthetic values and instrumental rationality, and between the liberal arts education (often represented through the General Education program) and specialized majors.



For 2009, the Society for Values in Higher Education (an interdisciplinary organization committed to the role of higher education in promoting citizenship and the common good) is organizing two afternoon working groups for scholars, educators, and civic and business leaders to present work that both discerns the nature of these tensions in higher education and constructively poses solutions to them. Working groups will meet for 1.5 hours each afternoon for three days and will deal with one of two sets of questions:

· What are the practical consequences of thinking of higher education in market terms? Are there any viable alternatives or will some form of instrumental rationality always determine decision making in higher education? Do consumer culture and its associated values threaten liberal education? If not, why not? If so, can anything be done to preserve liberal education within the predominant consumer culture?
· What are the successes and failures of revolutionary or radical pedagogy in the 20th century? What are the prospects for alternative pedagogies for the future, and how do they challenge traditional ideas about educational experience and its assessment?

Proposals for papers should be sent to Eric Bain-Selbo, Department Head, Philosophy and Religion, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd., Bowling Green, KY 42101. Inquiries may be made to eric.bain-selbo@wku.edu. Proposals should not exceed 1000 words in length. Proposals are due by December 15, 2008 NOW FEBRUARY 1, 2009. In keeping with the mission of the SVHE, interdisciplinary and/or practice-oriented proposals are especially encouraged.

Awards
Each participant in a working group will have the $200 registration fee waived for the 2009 Fellows Meeting. In addition, the program committee of the SVHE will select three papers for special recognition at the meeting. To be eligible for an award, completed drafts of the papers must be submitted by June 1, 2009 and authors must attend the SVHE meeting to present their papers. Each winning author will receive $500.

Distribution and Publications
Participants will have the option to post their completed work on the SVHE website. They also will be encouraged to submit their manuscripts for possible publication in Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal.

For more information about the Society, visit us at www.svhe.org.