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Call for Papers "Debate in the Neighborhood: Community Outreach Through Debate" Interdisciplinary Conference International Debate Education Association (IDEA) Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas (Lithuania) 7-9 November 2007 __________________________________________________ This academic conference is part of IDEA Exchange 2007, which will take place in Kaunas, Lithuania, on November 7-9, 2007. The topic of the conference is "Debate in the Neighborhood: Community Outreach Through Debate." We welcome presentations of academic papers, reports, reports on debate programs and projects related to the topic of the conference. Deadline for abstracts is extended to October 15, 2007. Conference topics are related to many fields, therefore, conference papers can be on any of the topics below, but are not limited to them: Educational Neighborhoods: - Using Debate to Create a Classroom/School Neighbourhood - Debate as a Tool for Youth Empowerment - Debate for language learning - Learning Critical Analysis through Debate and Debate-related Activities Youth, Ethnic, and Gender Relations and the Neighbourhood: - The Postcolonial European Neighbourhood - Community Building for a Diverse (Age, Ethnicity, Gender, Language) Neighbourhood - Women in the Neighbourhood The Queer Neighbourhood The International Neighbourhood: - The Notion of the Neighbour in an International Context - The EU as (or not as) a Neighbourhood - I Don?t Know My Neighbours: Is Intercultural Awareness important? - Leaving the Neighbourhood: Migration and Movement - Ethnic Minorities and Neighbourhood - The Post-Soviet Neighbourhood - The Nation as an Imagined Neighbourhood Community, Family, and Social Groups: - The Role of the Neighbourhood in Contemporary Society - Conflict Resolution in Neighbourhoods, Families, and the Workplace - Bridging the Generation Gap - Improving Intercultural Communication - The Sociology of the Neighbourhood - Sociological Studies into Neighbourhoods - The Psychology of a Neighbor Youth, Ethnic, and Gender Relations and the Neighbourhood: - The Postcolonial European Neighbourhood - Community Building for a Diverse (Age, Ethnicity, Gender, Language) Neighbourhood - Women in the Neighbourhood - The Queer Neighbourhood Mass Media and the Neighbourhood: - Representations of the Neighbourhood and Neighbourhood Problems in the Mass Media - Neighbourhood Building through Media (Newspapers, Radio, and Television) Literature/Art/Music and the Neighbourhood: - Fictional/Artistic/Musical representations of Neighbours and the Neighbourhood - Authors/Artists as Folk from the Neighbourhood - The Fragmented/Unified Neighbourhood in Literature/Art/Music The language of the conference is English, but separate panels will be in Russian or Lithuanian. The papers at the conference could deal with a variety of topics, such as the benefits and drawbacks of introducing debate in the neighborhoods; the specific debate methodologies to be used for Debate in Neighbourhood; reports on similar projects in other countries, public debate and others. These topics will focus on the idea of promoting debate through neighborhoods, communities, schools, etc. The general theme includes ideas of encouraging and motivating youth to engage in debate-related activities in a variety of ways. Presenters are not limited in their approach. All perspectives are encouraged. The papers will be peer reviewed by experts from Vytautas Magnus University and University of Amsterdam. Debate in the Neighborhood (DIN), as a concept, has developed from a project started by IDEA in the Netherlands. Neighborhood is the most immediate space where people of different ages, ethnic and educational backgrounds meet and live together. Sadly, in many countries people, especially youth in the neighborhoods are divided by class, ethnicity and age, so that some of them are not involved in the decision making processes in their neighborhood or in the country as a whole. Many neighborhoods are homes and meeting places for disadvantaged youth, who remain in the margins of democratic processes and are affected by decisions they did not participate in making. The introduction of debate in the neighborhoods aims to provide youth in disadvantaged neighborhoods with skills and knowledge necessary to understand the democratic participation, and have the means to participate in the decision making processes. Ultimately, the introduction of debate methodologies in the non-formal education of youth in the neighborhoods, together with debates on actual topics aims to stimulate tolerance and communication between different age and ethnic groups in the neighborhoods; to improve the participation of disadvantaged groups in the democratic processes in the society; and to improve social cohesion within neighborhoods. Contact: Jurate Motiejunaite IDEA Netherlands Molukkenstraat 200 1098 TW Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel/Fax: +31(0)206927299 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.idebate.org/exchange/ __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org
