International Research Seminar Series: Making School in the Age of the Screen
Sponsored by the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain (PESGB)
First seminar: Liverpool Hope University, 30th September to 1st October 2016
http://www.philosophy-of-education.org/about/north-west-branch.html
In this seminar series we explore how present changes in cultural and societal conditions, and in particular the ubiquity of digital media, affect the way in which we look at education, and the ways in which we give shape to educational practices. Our main concern is to ask whether it is still possible to ‘make school’ when our relation to others and the world is increasingly mediated by screens.
The guiding questions for the seminars are:
- Is it still possible to realize the goals that schooling traditionally served (initiation into and exposure to a world, attention formation, offering free space and time, etc.)?
- If so, what kind of digital architecture is required? What kind of virtual spaces do we need to make school in the (digital) future, and how should these spaces be structured and given shape?
- What is involved in terms of media conditions: what does it mean to relate to and to be involved with a subject matter/study material when it appears on a screen?
- With respect to the gestural and bodily dimensions of schooling: what does it mean to be together with others, with a master, with things on-screen? What does it means to point to things, to draw attention, to touch upon something interesting, etc. under these altered conditions?
This three-part seminar series is built around three themes: attention, presence, and the public role of (school) education. During the first seminar (at Liverpool Hope University, UK, Friday 30th September-Saturday 1st October) we will explore and discuss the theme of attention. Our invited speakers are Norm Friesen (UBC) and Torsten Meyer (University of Cologne). Both will give a public lecture and conduct a master class. We will also discuss two seminal texts (Goffman on the public lecture, and Manovich on the archaeology of the screen) and see a film (Wang Bing, Father and Sons [2014]). There is also space in the programme for the presentation and discussion of individual papers.
We will continue our discussion during two follow-up seminars (20th – 21st January 2017 in Ghent, Belgium, and 26th – 27th May in Liverpool), on presence and the public dimension of education, respectively. The results of this seminar series will be published in an edited volume with Routledge.
Participation in these seminars is free, but the number of places is strictly limited. If you are interested in attending this seminar, please contact Joris Vlieghe (vlieghj@hope.ac.uk).
For more information, contact the organizers, Nancy Vansieleghem (nancy.vansieleghem@luca-arts.be) or Joris Vlieghe (vlieghj@hope.ac.uk).