Enkidu Magazine, the International Society for Cultural History and Cultural Studies (CHiCS) in Mexico City in cooperation with the National Human Rights Commission of Mexico (CNDH) and the Human Rights Commission of the Mexican Federal State of Morelos (CDHEM) is organizing a special conference cycle/ research seminar in the cities of Mexico and Cuernavaca in 2008 dedicated to otherness in education and invite the global academic community to reflect on how Otherness is being assessed in schools and universities around the world.

A special conference cycle in three acts:
Mexico and Cuernavaca, 2008 - 2009

Act 1: Mexico City, 3 - 7 July, 2008
Deadline for paper proposals: 15 May 2008

Act 2: Cuernavaca, 9 - 11. August, 2008
Deadline for paper proposals: 15 May 2008

Act 3: Mexico City, 16 - 18. October, 2008
Deadline for paper proposals: 15 July, 2008

Conclusion: Roundtable discussion and presentations of conclusions and final conference report at the Queer Studies Easter Symposium 2009, Monday, 13. April 2009

- Paper proposals are being accepted in the following languages: English, Castilian, German, French and Nahuatl
- Conference languages: English and Castilian
- Conference homepage:
http://enkidumagazine.com/eventos/identities07/sessions/SC_03_08.htm

The first session in this Conference cycle will take place in Mexico City between 3rd and 7th of July, 2008 during Enkidu Magazine's Fifth Summer Conference for the Humanities: "Border cultures, Multi-Culturalism, Diasporas and Cosmopolitanism". A second session will take place in the city of Cuernavaca (1 hour to the south of Mexico City by public transportation) between 9th and 11th of August 2008. The final session will be held in Mexico City between 16th and 18th of October, 2008 during Enkidu Magazine's annual Chimalpahin Conference dedicated to colonial and post-colonial studies .

We encourage an open discussion about otherness in educational theories, processes and practices. Our aim is to generate a dialogue on how to assess otherness in diverse educational sites and spaces in an increasingly globalized world. We welcome global, local and transnational perspectives. How is otherness lived, embodied, represented, taught, experienced and transgressed in schools and universities throughout the world and how are these topics dealt with in educational sciences and literature? How can educational programs encourage awareness and sensitivity of diversities and otherness among students, faculty and staff?

Themes such as pedagogical practices, cultural and linguistic diversities, youth cultures, gender issues, sexual diversities, space, embodiment, sexualities and gender constructions, activism, disabilities and age will be discussed from multiple disciplinary perspectives, such as education, anthropology, cultural studies, LGBT studies, literature, sociology, psychology, women's studies, youth studies and history.

Papers from researchers, students, practitioners and all those interested in the field of education and otherness addressing a broad range of teaching and learning issues as well as theoretical issues are welcome. The conference committee welcome papers with a variety of empirical, theoretical and methodological perspectives, data-based, conceptual as well as speculative and provocative papers.

We welcome submissions from all branches of the educational sciences, the social sciences, humanities, as well as the arts. Graduate students are encouraged to participate. Papers will be considered on related themes and topics from a wide range of perspectives. Presenters are encouraged to interpret the themes of the conference broadly. Interdisciplinary perspectives are especially welcome.

The sessions will consist of presentations, participant-facilitated discussions on classroom teaching methods, and roundtable discussions on teaching strategies across multiple disciplines.

Participants will also be introduced to research resources that may be used in the classroom. Participants who have taught courses dealing with topics relevant to the conference, are encouraged to share syllabi with the other participants before the conference. Syllabi will be distributed by e-mail in advance to facilitate discussion of successful teaching strategies during the conference.

The conference proceedings and the conclusions of the conference will be presented to the presidents of the Human Rights Commissions of Mexico in a special session at the Annual Queer Studies Symposium in Mexico City in April 2009. .

Selected papers from the Conference will be published as part of an edited volume with chapters in English and Castillian.

* Paper and panel proposals

500 word abstracts of paper proposals should be submitted to the organizing committee in English, Castilian, Nahuatl, German or French by 15. May 2008 if you would like to participate in Mexico City in July 2008 or in Cuernavaca in August 2008. If you would like to present a proposal for the session in Mexico City in October 2008, deadline to submit proposals is 15 July 2008.

The conference languages will be English and Castilian.

Papers should be of approximately 20 - 30 minutes duration (circa 8 - 10 pages). Other forms of presentation, for instance workshops, panel debates and poster sessions will be considered on request.

* Proposals for panel sessions

Typically, a panel of academic papers should include 3 (maximum 4) speakers and 1 moderator (session chair). Each session will last for 2 hours allowing for 30 minutes for each speaker and a further 30 minutes for questions and discussion.

Proposers should submit:

(1) Session title and a session intro (ca 100 words),
(2) Paper titles,
(3) Abstracts for each paper (500 words),
(4) Short biography for each participant and the panel chair (ca 100-150 words),
(5) Institutional affiliation and address for each participant,
(6) Audio-visual and other technical requirements.

If you would like to propose a panel session, and want assistance in finding speakers and/or a session chair, we can publish a call for papers for your panel session on the conference web site and distribute it in our newsletter. If you have an idea for a thematic panel session and would like us to publish a call for papers on the conference website, please send us a proposal by e-mail to info@enkidumagazine.com

* Proposals for individual papers

Abstracts are to be submitted along with the presenter’s name, short bio, address, telephone, email, and institutional affiliation. It is recommended to use the form here, when submitting an abstract:http://enkidumagazine.com/eventos/identities07/registration.htm However, abstracts will also be accepted as e-mail attachments to info@enkidumagazine.com.

All correspondence for this conference will be conducted via email. You will be notified by e-mail whether your proposal has been accepted or rejected.

We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted within few days. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to resend your abstract and resubmit your registration form, and if possible, suggest an alternative e-mail address. In particular delegates using hotmail or yahoo accounts to receive conference related e-mails often experience problems receiving conference information by e-mail.

E-mails from the conference organisers are often delivered to your spam folder and not to your inbox, unless you remember to add the following e-mail addresses: info@enkidumagazne.com and liowlb@enkidumagazine.com to your safe-list.

The first address is the general e-mail address of Enkidu Magazine and will be used to send conference newsletters and general information. The second, is the e-mail address of the academic coordinator of the conference and will be used for individual communication with delegates.

Please forward this CFP to any colleagues or friends who might be interested in participating in this conference cycle.