IAFOR > The Paris Conference on Arts and Humanities (PCAH) > PCAH2023 Overview

PCAH2023 Overview

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Join us in Paris (and online) for PCAH2023!

June 16-19, 2023 | La Maison de la Chimie, Paris, France

The-Paris-Conference-on-Education-PCE2022-Eiffel-TowerBienvenue à Paris!

Paris has always been a city driven by strident ideas, where discussions and debates are lively, open and frequently heated, overspilling into protests, strikes and even revolution. As such, the French capital is among the world’s most important cultural and intellectual centers, and a city of great history and energy.

“Liberty, equality and fraternity” was the 18th century revolutionary call to arms and battle cry that was soon adopted and institutionalised, as the driving motto behind a new country that would throw off the shackles of absolutist aristocratic rule and commit to a new future for the country, based on enlightenment ideals and new understandings. These would have enormous ramifications within France and beyond as the concepts of liberty, equality and fraternity have spread around the world as a slogan, philosophy, aesthetic and political goal. During this period of revolution violence and competing ideologies, radical ideas and ideals around meritocracy and democracy emerged and were implemented in ways that still influence today, from the study, practice and policies of education, and the heuristic that education is for all, to artistic, design, and cultural production.

Over the course of its history, Paris has been the venue for real and intellectual battles over ideas, ideals and ideologies; between conservative and reformist, secular and religious, multicultural and national, East and West, and all shades of left and right. The French educational system and its fiercely independent, highly vocal, and hugely influential teachers and lecturers are always at the centre of national and indeed international politics and policy. Added to this vigorous public intellectual arena are politicians, writers, journalists, artists, and filmmakers, each bringing a wide variety of perspectives and experience.

What resonates globally, and in this time of globalisation is the openness and rigour of the debates in Paris, and which underlines the continued relevance of this open intellectual space, when in many other places around the world ideas are stifled or banned, any form of opposition is dangerous, and open discussion can be seditious. Paris, city of light, therefore has an enormous and special intellectual place in the heart of all educators and free thinkers regardless of nationality, and especially in today’s uncertain global social-political context.

New Revolutions

As the world recovers from the huge disruptions wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been forced to undergo a period of revolution in the ways in which we engage as professors and students, and teachers and learners. The pandemic has shown that the notions of freedom, equality and fraternity have been brutally called into question by curfews, school or university closures, travel restrictions, and lockdowns. This highlighted and exacerbated the digital divide, where rich countries were able to innovate solutions thanks to solid and reliable technological infrastructure, enabling communication both within and between countries, but also raising worrying questions about the power and reach of government and private enterprise reliance and surveillance. The deep and lasting impact on our expectations and our practices in terms of communication and education is only beginning to be understood, as are the benefits, limitations, and dangers of technology.

Welcome back. We’ve missed you.

We meet in Paris, as countless scholars have done in difficult times before, to consider the future and the education of future generations with apprehension, but also with great hope. We come together as educators and colleagues, as researchers and friends, and with the goal of breathing new life into the global and international academic community that is IAFOR.

Human contact, interaction and communication is what drives us, and for many of us over the past couple of years, we have been unable to meet our colleagues, students, teachers, collaborators and even family.

We look forward to seeing you again, and to your active participation in the event.

PCAH2023 will be held alongside The Paris Conference on Education (PCE2023). Registration for either conference will allow delegates to attend sessions in the other.

– The PCAH/PCE2023 Programme Committee

Dr Grant Black, Chuo University, Japan
Professor Georges Depeyrot, French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), France
Dr Joseph Haldane, IAFOR, Japan
Professor Donald Hall, Rochester University, United States
Professor Barbara Lockee, Virginia Tech, United States
Professor Ljiljana Markovic, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Professor Haruko Satoh, Osaka University, Japan
Dr Krisna Uk, Association for Asian Studies (AAS)

Key Information
  • Venue & Location: La Maison de la Chimie, Paris, France
  • Dates: Friday, June 16, 2023 ​to Monday, June 19, 2023
  • Early Bird Abstract Submission Deadline: January 14, 2023*
  • Final Abstract Submission Deadline: March 24, 2023
  • Registration Deadline for Presenters: May 05, 2023

*Submit early to take advantage of the discounted registration rates. Learn more about our registration options.

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Speakers

  • Bruce Brown
    Bruce Brown
    Royal College of Art, United Kingdom
  • Georges Depeyrot
    Georges Depeyrot
    French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), France
  • Donald E. Hall
    Donald E. Hall
    University of Rochester, USA
  • Daisuke Utagawa
    Daisuke Utagawa
    Daikaya, United States

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Programme

  • There Is No New Normal
    There Is No New Normal
    Keynote Presentation: Donald E. Hall

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Conference Committees

Global Programme Committee

Dr Joseph Haldane, Chairman and CEO, IAFOR
His Excellency Professor Toshiya Hoshino, Osaka University, Japan
Professor Barbara Lockee, Virginia Tech., United States
Professor Donald E. Hall, Binghamton University, United States
Dr James W. McNally, University of Michigan, United States & NACDA Program on Aging
Professor Haruko Satoh, Osaka University, Japan
Dr Grant Black, Chuo University, Japan
Professor Dexter Da Silva, Keisen University, Japan
Professor Gary Swanson, University of Northern Colorado, United States
Professor Baden Offord, Curtin University, Australia
Professor Frank Ravitch, Michigan State University, United States
Professor William Baber, Kyoto University, Japan

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Conference Programme Committee

Dr Grant Black, Chuo University, Japan
Professor Georges Depeyrot, French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), France
Dr Joseph Haldane, IAFOR, Japan
Professor Donald Hall, Rochester University, United States
Professor Barbara Lockee, Virginia Tech, United States
Professor Ljiljana Markovic, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Professor Haruko Satoh, Osaka University, Japan
Dr Krisna Uk, Association for Asian Studies (AAS)

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IAFOR International Academic Advisory Board

Arts & Humanities Section

Professor Umberto Ansaldo, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Dr Yutaka Mino, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan
Dr Thanassis Rikakis, University of Southern California, USA
Dr Linda Schwartz, Ambrose University, Canada
Dr Richard Donovan, Kansai University, Japan
Professor Donald E. Hall, Binghamton University, United States
Professor Anne Boddington, Kingston University, UK
Lord Charles Bruce, Japan Society of Scotland, UK
Professor Chung-Ying Cheng, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, USA
Professor Georges Depeyrot, French National Center for Scientific Research, France
Professor Said M. Faiq, American University of Sharjah, UAE
Dr Alfonso J. García Osuna, Hofstra University, USA
Dr A. Robert Lee, Nihon University, Japan (retd.)
Professor Jeffrey Sommers, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA
Dr Drago Štambuk, Croatian Ambassador to Iran
Dr Brian Victoria, Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, UK

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PCAH2023 Review Committee

Dr Grant Black, Chuo University, Japan
Professor Georges Depeyrot, French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), France
Professor Donald Hall, Rochester University, United States
Professor Barbara Lockee, Virginia Tech, United States
Professor Ljiljana Markovic, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Professor Haruko Satoh, Osaka University, Japan
Dr Krisna Uk, Association for Asian Studies (AAS)

IAFOR's peer review process, which involves both reciprocal review and the use of Review Committees, is overseen by conference Organising Committee members under the guidance of the Academic Governing Board. Review Committee members are established academics who hold PhDs or other terminal degrees in their fields and who have previous peer review experience.

If you would like to apply to serve on the PCAH2023 Review Committee, please visit our application page.

Apply to Join the Review Committee

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IAFOR Research Centre (IRC) – “Innovation and Value Initiative”

The IAFOR Research Centre (IRC) is housed within Osaka University’s School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), and in June 2018 the IRC began an ambitious new “Innovation and Value Initiative”. Officially launched at the United Nations in a special UN-IAFOR Collaborative Session, the initiative seeks to bring together the best in interdisciplinary research around the concept of value, on how value can be recognised, and measured, and how this can help us address issues and solve problems, from the local to the global.

Learn more about the Innovation and Value Initiative

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Bruce Brown
Royal College of Art, United Kingdom

Biography

Bruce Brown was educated at the Royal College of Art in London where he is currently Visiting Professor. Until 2016, Bruce was Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Professor of Design at the University of Brighton. For twenty years previously he was Dean of the university’s Faculty of Arts & Architecture. In 2018 Bruce was appointed by the University Grants Committee of the Hong Kong Specialist Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China to Chair the assessment panels for Visual Arts, Design, Creative Media in the Hong Kong Research Assessment Exercise 2020. Prior to this he was appointed by the UK Funding Councils to Chair Main Panel D in the 2014 UK Research Excellence Framework. Prior to this he chaired Main Panel O in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. Bruce served as a member of the Advisory Board of the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council and has advised international organisations including the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation and the Qatar National Research Fund. Bruce chaired the Portuguese Government’s Fundação para a Ciência ea Tecnologia Research Grants Panel [Arts] and was one of four people invited by the Portuguese Government to conduct an international review entitled Reforming Arts and Culture Higher Education in Portugal. He has served as Trustee and Governor of organisations such as the Art’s Council for England’s South East Arts Board, the Ditchling Museum and Shenkar College of Design and Engineering, Tel Aviv. Bruce is an Editor of Design Issues Research Journal (MIT), an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art and a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Keynote Presentation (2023) | TBA
Georges Depeyrot
French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), France

Biography

Georges Depeyrot is a monetary historian at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris. He began his scientific career in the 1970s studying coin finds and joined the CNRS in 1982. After some years he joined the Center for Historical Research in the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) and is now a professor at the École Normale Supérieure. After his habilitation (1992), he specialised in international cooperative programs that aim to reconsider monetary history in a global approach. He has directed many cooperative programs linking several European countries, including those situated at the continent’s outer borders (Georgia, Armenia, Russia, and Morocco). Professor Depeyrot is the author or co-author of more than one hundred volumes, and is the founding director of the Moneta publishing house, the most important collection of books on the topic of money. Professor Depeyrot is a member of the board of trustees of the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique.

Keynote Presentation (2023) | TBA
Donald E. Hall
University of Rochester, USA

Biography

Donald E. Hall is Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Binghamton University (SUNY), USA. He was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering at the University of Rochester, USA, and held a previous position as Dean of Arts and Sciences at Lehigh University, USA. Provost Hall has published widely in the fields of British Studies, Gender Theory, Cultural Studies, and Professional Studies. Over the course of his career, he served as Jackson Distinguished Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English (and previously Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages) at West Virginia University. Before that, he was Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English at California State University, Northridge, where he taught for 13 years. He is a recipient of the University Distinguished Teaching Award at CSUN, was a visiting professor at the National University of Rwanda, was Lansdowne Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Victoria (Canada), was Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Cultural Studies at Karl Franzens University in Graz, Austria, and was Fulbright Specialist at the University of Helsinki. He has also taught in Sweden, Romania, Hungary, and China. He served on numerous panels and committees for the Modern Language Association (MLA), including the Task Force on Evaluating Scholarship for Tenure and Promotion, and the Convention Program Committee. In 2012, he served as national President of the Association of Departments of English. From 2013-2017, he served on the Executive Council of the MLA.

His current and forthcoming work examines issues such as professional responsibility and academic community-building, the dialogics of social change and activist intellectualism, and the Victorian (and our continuing) interest in the deployment of instrumental agency over our social, vocational, and sexual selves. Among his many books and editions are the influential faculty development guides, The Academic Self and The Academic Community, both published by Ohio State University Press. Subjectivities and Reading Sexualities: Hermeneutic Theory and the Future of Queer Studies were both published by Routledge Press. Most recently he and Annamarie Jagose, of the University of Auckland, co-edited a volume titled The Routledge Queer Studies Reader. Though he is a full-time administrator, he continues to lecture worldwide on the value of a liberal arts education and the need for nurturing global competencies in students and interdisciplinary dialogue in and beyond the classroom.

Professor Donald E. Hall is a Vice-President of the IAFOR Academic Governing Board. He is Chair of the Arts, Humanities, Media & Culture division of the International Academic Advisory Board.

Keynote Presentation (2023) | There is No New Normal
Daisuke Utagawa
Daikaya, United States

Biography

Born in Tokyo, Daisuke Utagawa first came to Washington, D.C. with his father in 1969 where he attended school in Bethesda, Maryland. Utagawa returned to Japan in 1972 to finish his education, and began an apprenticeship in 1980 where he learned the art of traditional Japanese culinary technique from a master chef. In 1983, Utagawa returned to D.C. and started working as a sushi chef at the original Sushiko before purchasing the restaurant in 1988. Utagawa has since spent many years studying the “Cuisine of Subtraction” and, as the Creative Director, applies what he’s learned to Sushiko’s entire experience. a a US citizen, Utagawa lives in D.C. with his wife and children and continues his work as a renowned restaurateur with Sushiko and his ramen shop and izakaya, Daikaya.

Featured Panel Presentation (2023) | TBA
There Is No New Normal
Keynote Presentation: Donald E. Hall

As we emerge from COVID and the requirements we all endured for masking, distancing, and curtailed travel, we have heard regularly that we have now entered a post-COVID "new normal." That term begs the question, of course, of what "old normal" is being referred to and how precisely we have deviated from it. It further obscures the fact that the queer theorist Michael Warner, in The Trouble with Normal from a quarter-century ago, rejected the whole notion of "normality," arguing that as a term, it has been used primarily as a means to assert control by dominant powers - normalising their interests - rather than to capture a widely common or desirable way of being.

So, was there in the years immediately pre-COVID a static and definable "normal" that then evolved radically into a "new" state over just 24 months or so? To put it bluntly, "no." The U.S.-based Pew Research Center has joined others in addressing this topic directly, concluding that our supposed "new normal" is really only an intensification of trends already present well before the pandemic: worsening social inequality, deepening mistrust of authority, science, and fact, and a turn toward authoritarianism as populations reject diversity, inclusion, and demands for social justice. Yes, we may have seen an appreciable uptick in remote work and online delivery of education, but even those simply meant more isolation and less immediate interaction with those unlike ourselves, and therefore worsened all of the social threats just mentioned.

To proclaim a "new normal" is at best a form of wishful thinking that a definitive break has occurred with a past that is viewed most often with nostalgia but at other times with distaste or condescension. It absolves us from reckoning with long-standing injustice and our own culpability in entrenched patterns of violence against the disenfranchised. It allows us to see ourselves and our quotidian lives as having endured something cataclysmic, emerging then phoenix-like, changed irrevocably. If we are living in the "new," then we no longer have to reckon with the "old," including long-standing and continuing crimes against others' selfhoods. The concept of a "new normal," in effect, absolves us of responsibility.

Instead of wasting time by celebrating or reviling a "new normal," we should work instead to document the trends that the pandemic magnified and trace down the intensified threats to civil society and economic security that have arisen because of or in response to the pandemic. This does not hinge on the concept of anything radically "new," rather it posits an incrementalist model of deepening fears of difference and desperate reassertions of old ideologies—a toxic, continuing normalisation of intolerance and indifference. As U.S. politicians wage renewed war on transgender youth and what they deride as "critical race theory" and "woke" culture, the old norms seem very much alive and all too present.