Democracy and Diversity in Education – Conference
Buskerud University College, Norway
12-13 March 2013
Conference website: http://www.hibu.no/citizenship/conference

The Faculty of Education at Buskerud University College, Norway invites you to participate in an international conference which will bring together researchers, teacher educators, policy-makers and practitioners to examine education for democracy and diversity.

Our keynote guest speaker will be Professor Dr James A Banks from the University of Washington in Seattle, USA. Dr Banks is the world’s leading scholar in the field of multicultural education and he will be making his first visit to Norway.
Overarching interest
Our overarching interest in this conference is: How are democracy and diversity (and specifically the relationship between these concepts) understood in society and in school?
The conference aims to bring together existing research in these fields and consider ways in which education for democracy and democratic citizenship might be strengthened in the context of diversity.
About the conference
We invite papers from scholars in Norway and internationally on the themes of democracy and diversity in education, and particularly the intersection between these two areas of scholarship. Papers may address theoretical and/or empirical research in this field. Proposals for practice-based workshops from those working in NGOs, schools and public services are also welcomed. Our aim is to rethink how policy and practice might more effectively incorporate education for living together within multicultural communities and a multicultural nation-state.
The conference language will be English. Parallel sessions will be conducted in either English or Norwegian and proposals for papers in either language are welcome.
Submission of abstracts
Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words, including the tile and up to 4 key words. Those intending to present a paper in Norwegian should submit the abstract in both languages. Abstracts are welcome on (but not restricted to) the following topics:
–       education for democratic citizenship and human rights;
–       young people’s perspectives on schooling;
–        education against racism and extremism;
–       democracy and diversity in teacher education;
–       comparative studies on democracy and diversity;
–       developing multicultural/ intercultural perspectives in the curriculum.

Timetable
October 2012: call for papers
20 November 2013: deadline for abstracts – send these to banks@hibu.no
10 December 2012: decision on abstracts
13 February 2013: deadline for submission of final papers – send these to banks@hibu.no
Programme, conference fee and registration:
Click here for a draft programme.
Information about conference fee, registration, hotels and transport will be posted on the conference site shortly.
Persons who register their interest will receive this information per e-mail.
Buskerud University College is situated in Drammen, which is one hour by train from Oslo Airport Gardermoen.  Further enquiries to: banks@hibu.no