GATEWAY TO JUSTICE :
Meeting the Moral Challenges of Social Inequality
November 4-6, 2010
Chase Park Plaza
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Conference Website
Call for Proposals (pdf)
EXTENDED DEADLINE
April 1st, 2010
CONFERENCE THEME
The 2010 meeting of the Association for Moral Education will explore the intersection of individuals' moral development and the many faces of social inequality and injustice. Fostering the development of moral agents capable of dealing productively with social injustice requires honing two important capacities. The first involves teaching and learning practices that effectively promote the processes of moral reflection, perspective taking, and action. The second involves nurturing the skills to interpret the various levels of complex social systems and understand the many sources from which social inequalities may emerge. These sources can be described at the level of social structures that unfairly withhold access to educational and employment opportunities or at the level of individually held attitudes and beliefs that promote discrimination and intolerance to diversity. Discerning the differences between these levels and where to properly locate the social and psychological sources of inequality is a complicated, and often controversial, enterprise - one that demands a critical dialogue on the broad historical and political currents that shape societies, as well as careful analysis of the individual factors that affect people in their day-to-day personal interactions.
The 2010 conference will provide a forum to address these issues and the many hurdles that must be overcome in order to meet the moral challenges of social inequality. The conference will include invited speakers, breakout sessions, workshops, and poster presentations that examine the moral implications of privilege and difference through a variety of lenses, including race/ethnicity, social class, gender/sexuality, orientation, ability, and religion. Although conference submissions may be on any topic related to education and moral development, the conference organizers encourage submissions that will:
- Identify teaching and learning practices that simultaneously promote moral growth and
an understanding of the social conditions leading to inequality;
- Present research findings that clarify the complexity of relations between social
structures, unjust social practices, and/or individually held attitudes and beliefs;
- Describe how the creation of social identities and memberships impact moral reflection
and action;
- Analyze how such systems as family, religion, sports, media, and other cultural institutions
have influenced moral issues related to diversity, equality, and social justice;
- Foster a moral commitment to diversity and equality in education and other
related disciplines.
CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS
Wolfgang Althof, University of Missouri/St. Louis
Bryan Sokol, Saint Louis University
Sponsored by:
University of Missouri-St. Louis
Saint Louis University
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Washington University in St. Louis
Lindenwood University
KOHLBERG MEMORIAL LECTURE
James P. Comer, MD, is the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine's Child Study Center in New Haven, Connecticut. He is known nationally and internationally for his creation in 1968 of the Comer School Development Program (SDP), the forerunner of most modern school-reform efforts. He is the author of nine books, including Maggie's American Dream and Leave No Child Behind. His pioneering work in school restructuring has been featured in numerous newspapers, magazines, and television reports, and published in many academic journals. He is a co-founder and past president of the Black Psychiatrists of America, and has served on the board of several universities, foundations, and corporations. He was a consultant to Children's Television Workshop and has served as a consultant, committee member, advisory board member, and trustee to numerous local and national organizations serving children. He is currently co-chair of the NCATE National Expert Panel on Increasing the Application of Knowledge About Child and Adolescent Development in Educator Preparation Programs.
A member of the Institute of Medicine of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Comer has received 46 honorary degrees, including three in 2008 from Harvard University, Lesley University, and Sacred Heart University. He has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including the John & Mary Markle Scholar in Academic Medicine Award, Rockefeller Public Service Award, Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education, Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in Education, Heinz Award for the Human Condition, John Hope Franklin Award, and, most recently, University of Louisville 2007 Grawemeyer Award for Education.
CONFERENCE LOCATION
The Chase Park Plaza
212 N. Kingshighway Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63108
USA
The 2010 AME conference will be held in the historic Chase Park Plaza in the heart of St. Louis, Missouri. This recently renovated landmark offers beautifully furnished rooms, fitness facilities, and a fivescreen cinema, in addition to comfortable meeting facilities. The location of the Chase lends itself to easy exploration of St. Louis, from the Central West End just outside the door with its restaurants and entertainment to Forest Park across the street with its museums, zoo, and golf course. The Gateway Arch, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and other St. Louis attractions are just minutes away. Check the conference website in October 2009 for details on room rates for conference participants.
Meet AME in St. Louis!
