Featured Events

Carrying on the legacy left by CIES 2022 Provocations Series, this new series offered below by CIES 2023 focuses on inspirational ideas on Improving Education for a More Equitable World by inviting various CIES Standing Committees and Special Interest Groups.

Snacks and beverages will be served!

Inspirations #1 | Why Politicize Education in a Climate Crisis?

Wed, Feb. 15, 2:30 to 3:30 PM (EST)

Livestream to all registered CIES 2023 attendees (online and onsite) through Online Meeting Hub

Inspirers: Caroline Hickman (University of Bath), Marcia McKenzie (University of Melbourne), Blanche Verlie (University of Sydney)

Chair and Moderator: Aaron Benavot (State University of New York at Albany)

Climate change education and communication (CCEC) refer to efforts in education institutions and social media to understand climate change and act in ways that promote climate mitigation and adaptation. However, in some contexts, increasing interest in CCEC has resulted in increased politicization and polarization. Scholarly disagreements over climate science are highlighted, corporate efforts to stymie public debate are intensifying, dubious climate information and data are circulated, and the legitimacy of journalistic accounts is questioned. This session will discuss how and why public views towards CCEC have become divisive and what steps can be taken to address on-going politicization and polarization.

Inspirations #2 | Improving Education through Inclusion?

Sun, Feb. 19, 1:30 to 2:30 PM (EST) – Independence Ballroom A, Floor: Independence Level (5B), Grand Hyatt Washington

Livestream to all registered CIES 2023 attendees (online and onsite) through Online Meeting Hub

Inspirers: N’Dri T. Assié-Lumumba (Cornell University), Henan Cheng (Columbia University), Kazuo Kuroda (Waseda University), Gerard Postiglione (University of Hong Kong), Axel Rivas (University of San Andrés)

Chair and Moderator: Ruth Hayhoe (University of Toronto)

How is Comparative Education positioned to promote substantive equity and inclusion? At the higher education level, governments may remove barriers faced by underrepresented student groups, yet fail to support universities in proactive steps to improve opportunities for access and success. If we consider special needs education, inclusion needs to be seen not only as an equity and human rights strategy but also as a quality learning strategy. In the global village discourse, a critical issue is whether the same opportunities are offered to all communities, groups and individuals. Indeed, inclusion requires equal access of members, recognition of their respective agencies, and actualization of permanent corrective measures to continually promote equality.

Inspirations #3 | What is Racial and Gender Justice in Comparative Education?

Mon, Feb. 20, 1:30 to 2:30 PM (EST) – Independence Ballroom A, Floor: Independence Level (5B), Grand Hyatt Washington

Livestream to all registered CIES 2023 attendees (online and onsite) through Online Meeting Hub

Inspirers: Kassie Freeman (African Diaspora Consortium), Relebohile Moletsane (University of Kwazulu-Natal), Salvador Vidal-Ortiz (American University)

Chair and Moderators: Karishma Desai (Rutgers University) and Rachel Silver (York University)

This session takes stock of CIES as an institution and comparative and international education as a community. Drawing insights from recent reflections on the state of our field and the call to engage with race centrally, we examine the nexus of race, gender, and power within CIE, broadly, and in gender-focused spaces. From a feminist standpoint, we consider the continuous struggle to take serious racial and gender justice seriously within comparative education within the field, and in the Society. We consider what it might mean to enact truly equitable scholarship and praxis. We engage with panelists’ diverse experiences, research, and professional vantage points to imagine what it would take to meaningfully shift scholarship and practice and centers feminist principles of gender and racial justice.

Inspirations #4 | How do Africa’s Education Systems Build and Sustain Resilience?

Tue, Feb. 21, 1:30 to 2:30 PM (EST) – Independence Ballroom A, Floor: Independence Level (5B), Grand Hyatt Washington

Livestream to all registered CIES 2023 attendees (online and onsite) through Online Meeting Hub

Inspirers: Damtew Teferra (University of Kwazulu-Natal and Association of African Universities), Koumba Boly-Barry (Education Sector at ICESCO), Halimatou Hima (University of Cambridge and the World Bank), Joel Samoff (Stanford University)

Chair and Moderators: Tutaleni I. Asino (Oklahoma State University) and Joan O. Oviawe (Edo State Commission of Education)

The declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic in March 2020 led to the disruption of learning in schools around the world, affecting an estimated 297 million schoolchildren in Africa. Most countries closed schools to combat the pandemic. The disruption made the children, especially girls, more vulnerable to physical and psychosocial abuse, heightening the risk of school dropouts, and unplanned pregnancies. However, despite the documented struggles of providing education during the pandemic, there were notable successes too. Some African governments reprogrammed available resources innovatively to better respond to current and future challenges. It is important to understand and learn from successful responses in these African countries. During the CIES 2023, the Africa SIG will explore how African education systems can build resilience, with a focus on successful responses, as well as the role of CESA 16-25 in providing countries with long-term strategies for building resilience.

A Community Celebration | Body, Mind and Comparative Learning: Inspirations from Kung Fu

Mon, Feb. 20, 6:30 to 7:30 PM (EST) – Independence Ballroom A, Floor: Independence Level (5B), Grand Hyatt Washington

Livestream to all registered CIES 2023 attendees (online and onsite) through Online Meeting Hub

Coaches: Alexander King (DragonGateD.C.) and Xiaolin Lu (O-Mei Wushu Center)

Performers: DragonGate DC and O-Mei Wushu Center

Chair: Wen Wen (Tsinghua University)

Kung Fu (or Wushu) in North America is inspired by philosophical ideas from Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism in China. It promises opportunities for self-refinement, physical artistry, mind-body-learning connection, and support of general health, wellness, and spiritual growth. Learning Kung Fu empowers young learners and educators as well as to balance a healthy life of physical development, intellectual and spiritual enrichment through cross-cultural learning in North America. In this special event, Youth students of DragonGateD.C. will perform traditional empty hand and weapons routines of Shaolin “Liu He” (Six Harmonies), coached by American Shifu (Master) Alexander King. Then, students of the O-mei Wushu Center led by Chinese American Shifu Xiaolin Lu will demonstrate multiple Wushu skills learned about barehand, short weapons (straight sword and broad sword), long weapons, and shell. This event will demonstrate how Kung Fu is learned and practiced by younger generations in North America as a cross-cultural example of body-mind integration with spiritual empowerment through comparative learning.

D.C. Night | CIES Special Gathering!

Mon, Feb. 20, 7:30 to 11:00 PM (EST) – Independence Ballroom A, Floor: Independence Level (5B), Grand Hyatt Washington

Chairs: M. Najeeb Shafiq and Vanessa Sperduti (Office of the Executive Director)

Be sure to mark your calendar for CIES’s D.C. Night, which can’t be missed. Please join us for an exciting evening of music, dancing, and dessert! We’re thrilled to feature the Bachelor Boys Band, a group sure to excite with live music across genres and decades. Capture the evening with friends and colleagues in the onsite photo booth. We look forward to seeing you at this special CIES evening reception!

Complimentary sweets and beverages will be served, and a cash bar will be available for drinks.

2023 State of Society Business Meeting

Tue, Feb. 21, 8:00 to 9:15 AM (EST) – Independence Ballroom A, Floor: Independence Level (5B), Grand Hyatt Washington

Livestream to all registered CIES 2023 attendees (online and onsite) through Online Meeting Hub

Chair: Supriya Baily (CIES President)

Complimentary light meals and beverages will be served.

Closing Ceremony | Celebration of CIES 2023 Together!

Wed, Feb. 22, 5:00 to 6:00 PM (EST) – Independence Ballroom A, Floor: Independence Level (5B), Grand Hyatt Washington

Livestream to all registered CIES 2023 attendees (online and onsite) through Online Meeting Hub

Chair: Jun Li (CIES 2023 Chair & President)

As the last event of CIES 2023, the Closing Ceremony will celebrate everyone’s successes of CIES 2023 in multiple ways, with those who have contributed to the annual gathering in different stages in the past year. Together with earlier sessions, it makes our 2023 gathering online and in Washington D.C. an unforgettable celebration of the global CIES community.

Social Hours | Networking with the CIES Community

Tue, Feb. 14, 9:30 to 10:30 PM (EST) – Online

Hosts: Mark Ginsburg (University of Maryland at College Park), Ruth Hayhoe (University of Toronto), Stephen P. Heyneman (Vanderbilt University), Steven J. Klees (University of Maryland at College Park), Henry Levin (Columbia University), Natasha Ridge (Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation)

Wed, Feb. 15, 9:30 to 10:30 PM (EST) – Online

Hosts: Ruth Hayhoe (University of Toronto), Stephen P. Heyneman (Vanderbilt University), Henry Levin (Columbia University), Tejendra Pherali (University College London), Natasha Ridge (Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation)

Music Break | Balancing Work and Life

Sat, Feb. 18, 7:00 to 7:30 PM (EST) – Independence Foyer

Sun, Feb. 19, 4:15 to 4:45 PM (EST) – Independence Foyer

Mon, Feb. 20, 4:15 to 4:45 PM (EST) – Independence Foyer

Tue, Feb. 21, 4:15 to 4:45 PM (EST) – Independence Foyer

Performers: CIES Musicians

A healthy balance between our work and life is key to the joy of CIES 2023. Between sessions on the four consecutive Onsite Days, our own members will enliven the breaks with their musical talents. Big thanks to CIES Musicians, we are able to enjoy the varied sounds brought from around the globe, in this first ever showcase of CIES musical talent.