“Anthropology, Education, Comparison”

5^th Biennial Conference on Anthropology and Education

October 10 & 11, 2025

Milbank Chapel

Teachers College, Columbia University

Call for Papers

Comparison has shaped anthropological thought from the beginning of the discipline. This comparative stance has always been controversial, possibly never more so as it has become in the 21^st century. The stance has been challenged by those who pointed out that, even now, most comparisons proceed from a Euro-American point of view.  This may be all the more true of the anthropology of education that remains determinedly focused on Euro-American political and ideological concerns.  The stance has also been challenged by those who wish to work with the classical general anthropological take on humanity but now hail from beyond the usual roots of the discipline, whether they hail from the worlds of what were for a time colonies of Euro-America, in India, China, Africa and beyond, or from the worlds now deemed indigenous. However, comparison continues to serve multiple essential functions for anthropologists. It helps them question taken-for-granted assumptions by revealing alternative social arrangements. Comparison also illuminates patterns and variations in human practices across societies, enabling researchers to develop and test theories about social organization and processes. Finally, by examining how similar phenomena manifest differently in various contexts, anthropologists gain deeper insights into the specific systems they study.

It is now time to discuss further the place of comparison in anthropology, and particularly in the anthropology of education.  In this Fifth Biennial Conference, we imagine how to maintain a comparative perspective in the conditions all anthropologists now face.

We look for papers strongly grounded in the kind of ethnographic research in diverse settings that opens the way to:

• Meaningful cross-cultural comparisons that challenge dominant theoretical frameworks
• New methodological approaches that respect both specificity and comparisons
• Insights that balance universal patterns with local particularities
• Critical examination of power dynamics in educational research
• Perspectives from scholars working within non-Eurocentric or indigenous traditions
• Applications that demonstrate the continued relevance of comparative approaches
• Reflections on how comparison can transform anthropological theory and practice

Interested parties please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words at Abstract Submission

Submissions must be received by April 30th, 2025 11:59 pm

Conference Organizers: 

Amina Tawasil, PhD & Hervé Varenne, PhD

Please contact anthroevents@tc.columbia.edu with any questions.