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Programme

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*Please be aware that the above schedule may be subject to change.

Tuesday, September 19, 2023Wednesday, September 20, 2023Thursday, September 21, 2023Friday, September 22, 2023Saturday, September 23, 2023

14:30-16:30: Conference Cultural Tour | Sagrada Familia
This is a ticketed event

Location: Hotel Barcelona Condal Mar Affiliated by Meliá

09:00-10:00: Conference Registration (coffee & light snacks provided) | Basement Foyer Area

09:55-10:00: Welcome Announcements | Sants, Gràcia & Eixample (Basement)

10:00-10:30: Welcome Address & Recognition of IAFOR Scholarship Winners
Joseph Haldane, The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
Sue Ballyn, University of Barcelona, Spain
Anne Boddington, Middlesex University, United Kingdom

10:30-11:00: Keynote Presentation | Sants, Gràcia & Eixample (Basement)
There Is No New Normal
Donald E. Hall, Binghamton University, United States

11:00-11:30: Keynote Presentation | Sants, Gràcia & Eixample (Basement)
Digital Literacy and Digital Inclusion: Reading the Digital World
David Mallows, UCL Institute of Education, United Kingdom

11:30-11:45: Conference Photograph

11:45-13:15: Lunch Break (lunch provided) | Mediterranean Restaurant

13:15-13:45: Keynote Presentation | Sants, Gràcia & Eixample (Basement)
Old Age in the Spotlight: Towards an Anti-ageist Theatre in the Times of the ‘New Normal’
Núria Casado-Gual, University Lleida, Spain

13:45-13:50: Short Break

13:50-14:35: Panel Presentation | Sants, Gràcia & Eixample (Basement)
Contemporary Cultural Representations of Ageing: Deconstructing Ageism
Raquel Medina, Aston University, United Kingdom
Inesa Shevchenko, University of Lleida, Spain
Kateřina Valentová, University of Lleida, Spain

14:35-14:50: Coffee Break (coffee provided)

14:50-15:20: Keynote Presentation | Sants, Gràcia & Eixample (Basement)
Want Happiness? Become an Artist
Daniel Lutz, Purrple, Spain

15:20-15:25: Short Break

15:25-15:55: Keynote Presentation | Sants, Gràcia & Eixample (Basement)
I Shall Be Brief: Spare Thoughts on Literature and Care
Isabel Alonso-Breto, University of Barcelona, Spain

16:00-17:00: Conference Poster Session & Welcome Reception | 1st Floor Presentation Rooms

20:00-22:00: Conference Dinner | Pulpería Can Lampazas
This is a ticketed event

Location: Hotel Barcelona Condal Mar Affiliated by Meliá

09:00-09:30: Onsite Registration

09:30-11:10: Onsite Parallel Session 1
Room: Sant Sebastia | Concerns & Students Perceptions in Education
Room: Nova Icaria | Learning Experience, Student Learning & Learner Diversity
Room: Gotic | Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis
Room: Eixample | Arts & Performing Arts Practices
Room: Gracia | Art, Design & Development in Education
Room: Sants | Workshop Session

11:10-11:25: Coffee Break

11:25-12:40: Onsite Parallel Session 2
Room: Sant Sebastia | Development in Education
Room: Nova Icaria | Learning Experience, Student Learning & Learner Diversity
Room: Gotic | Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis
Room: Eixample | Film Studies
Room: Gracia | Educational Policy, Leadership, Management & Administration
Room: Sants | Workshop Session

12:40-13:40: Lunch Break

13:40-15:20: Onsite Parallel Session 3
Room: Sant Sebastia | Professional Development in Education
Room: Nova Icaria | Learning & Teaching Experiences
Room: Gotic | Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis
Room: Eixample | Media Studies
Room: Gracia | Culture & Diversity in Education
Room: Sants | Workshop Session

15:20-15:35: Coffee Break

15:35-17:15: Onsite Parallel Session 4
Room: Sant Sebastia | Professional Training, Development & Concerns in Education
Room: Nova Icaria | Learning Experience, Student Learning & Learner Diversity
Room: Gotic | Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis
Room: Eixample | Interdisciplinary Arts, Media & Culture
Room: Gracia | Education, Sustainability & Society
Room: Sants | Workshop Session

Location: Hotel Barcelona Condal Mar Affiliated by Meliá

09:00-09:30 Onsite Registration

09:30-11:10: Onsite Parallel Session 1
Room: Sant Sebastia | Education & Difference: Gifted Education, Special Education, Learning Difficulties & Disability
Room: Nova Icaria | Assessment Theories & Methodologies
Room: Gotic | Development & Assessment using Technology in Education
Room: Eixample | International Education
Room: Gracia | Communication
Room: Sants | Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis

11:10-11:25: Coffee Break

11:25-13:05: Onsite Parallel Session 2
Room: Sant Sebastia | Education & Difference: Gifted Education, Special Education, Learning Difficulties & Disability
Room: Nova Icaria | Curriculum Design & Development
Room: Gotic | Foreign Languages Education & Applied Linguistics
Room: Eixample | Higher Education
Room: Gracia | Literature, Literary Studies and Theory

13:05-14:05: Lunch Break

14:05-15:45: Onsite Parallel Session 3
Room: Sant Sebastia | Adult, Lifelong & Distance Learning
Room: Nova Icaria | Interdisciplinary, Multidisciplinary & Transdisciplinary Education
Room: Gotic | Design, Implementation & Assessment of Innovative Technologies in Education
Room: Eixample | Foreign Languages Education & Applied Linguistics
Room: Gracia | No Session
Room: Sants | Language Development & Literacy

15:45-16:00: Coffee Break

16:00-17:15: Onsite Parallel Session 4
Room: Sant Sebastia | Learning Experiences, Student Learning & Learner Diversity
Room: Nova Icaria | Primary & Secondary Education
Room: Gotic | Educational Research, Development & Publishing
Room: Eixample | Mind, Brain & Psychology
Room: Gracia | Visual Arts

Location: Online

09:00-09:05: Message from IAFOR

09:05-10:45: Online Parallel Presentation Session 1
Room A (Live Stream) | Arts Practices
Room B (Live Stream) | Media Studies
Room C (Live Stream) | Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis
Room D (Live Stream) | Higher Education

10:45-11:00: Break

11:00-12:40: Online Parallel Presentation Session 2
Room A (Live Stream) | Education/Pedagogy
Room B (Live Stream) | Cultural Studies
Room C (Live Stream) | Educational Policy, Leadership, Management & Administration
Room D (Live Stream) | Curriculum Design & Development

12:40-12:55: Break

12:55-14:35: Online Parallel Presentation Session 3
Room A (Live Stream) | Cultural Studies
Room B (Live Stream) | Aesthetics and Design
Room C (Live Stream) | Language Development & Literacy
Room D (Live Stream) | Curriculum Design & Learning Experiences

14:35-14:40: Message from IAFOR

The draft version of the Conference Programme will be available online on August 22, 2023. All registered delegates will be notified of this publication by email.

Featured Presentations

  • There Is No New Normal
    There Is No New Normal
    Keynote Presentation: Donald Hall
  • Digital Literacy and Digital Inclusion: Reading the Digital World
    Digital Literacy and Digital Inclusion: Reading the Digital World
    Keynote Presentation: David Mallows
  • Old Age in the Spotlight: Towards an Anti-ageist Theatre in the Times of the ‘New Normal’
    Old Age in the Spotlight: Towards an Anti-ageist Theatre in the Times of the ‘New Normal’
    Keynote Presentation: Núria Casado-Gual
  • Contemporary Cultural Representations of Ageing: Deconstructing Ageism
    Contemporary Cultural Representations of Ageing: Deconstructing Ageism
    Featured Panel Presentation: Raquel Medina, Inesa Shevchenko, Kateřina Valentová
  • Want Happiness? Become an Artist
    Want Happiness? Become an Artist
    Keynote Presentation: Daniel Lutz
  • I Shall Be Brief: Spare Thoughts on Literature and Care
    I Shall Be Brief: Spare Thoughts on Literature and Care
    Keynote Presentation: Isabel Alonso-Breto

Important Information Emails

All registered attendees will receive an Important Information email and updates in the run-up to the conference. Please check your email inbox for something from "iafor.org". If you can not find these emails in your normal inbox, it is worth checking in your spam or junk mail folders as many programs filter out emails this way. If these did end up in one of these folders, please add the address to your acceptable senders' folder by whatever method your email program can do this.

Attendee Guide

Please carefully read the Attendee Guide.

Final Programme

The online version of the Conference Programme is now available to view below via the Issuu viewing platform. Alternatively, download a PDF version. The Conference Programme can also be viewed on the Issuu website (requires a web browser). An Issuu app is available for Android users.

Click to download as a PDF

The Conference Programme contains access information, session information and a detailed day-to-day presentation schedule.

Pre-Recorded Virtual Presentations

A number of presenters have submitted pre-recorded virtual video presentations. We encourage you to watch these presentations and provide feedback through the video comments.

Virtual Video Presentations

Previous Programming

View details of programming for past BCE conferences via the links below.

BCE2022 BCE2021 BCE2020
There Is No New Normal
Keynote Presentation: Donald 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.

Read presenter's biography
Digital Literacy and Digital Inclusion: Reading the Digital World
Keynote Presentation: David Mallows

In his presentation, Professor David Mallows reflects on the notion of literacy in our contemporary digital world. The talk begins by discussing digital literacy as an extension of ‘traditional’ or ‘pen and paper’ literacy, underlining its importance but also its potential to increase already existing inequalities.

Professor Mallows draws on the work of the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, in particular his concept of reading the world before reading the word, to suggest that acquiring digital literacy should be viewed as a potentially transformative act, and that becoming digitally literate is necessary in order for adults to interact with and impact on their surroundings.

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Old Age in the Spotlight: Towards an Anti-ageist Theatre in the Times of the ‘New Normal’
Keynote Presentation: Núria Casado-Gual

The disempowerment of older people and their stereotypification as extremely vulnerable or, even worse, expendable human beings, are probably among the most disturbing features of the global crisis experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Especially in the Western world, characterised by highly individualistic, production-oriented and youth-obsessed societies, the need to re-construct intergenerational bonds and, in particular, the urgency to re-value old age as a rich stage of the life cycle, can be regarded as important consequences of the lessons learnt during the pandemic. As a collective artistic form with social impact, the theatre constitutes an inspiring cultural domain whereby these lessons can be addressed and even put into practice. Through a variety of genres and performance styles, plays and shows that revolve around the theme of ageing have the potential to both represent old age as a complex source of identity and to signify interdependence among different generations as a sign of progress and social justice.

Contemporary theatre (more significantly, the theatre written or produced around or in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic) has clearly started to give old age a prominent space both in dramaturgical and production-related terms, hence paving the way for a more inclusive dramaturgy in the times of ‘the new normal’. The increasing number of plays on ageing, which has been evident in the last theatre seasons in Catalonia as well as in the international scene, has noticeably given more visibility to old age on the stage from a variety of discursive and theatrical angles. However, neither the presence of older actors in a show or the inclusion of the theme of old age in a play necessarily entail the promotion of alternative narratives of ageing whereby ageist stereotypes can be undermined. As amply proved by the interdisciplinary field of ageing studies, our societies still need to generate (or, in the best cases, strengthen) an age-based form of literacy and activism, in the same way that we have learnt to detect and counteract other forms of inequality or injustice based on other signs of identity.

Drawing from ageing studies as the main conceptual framework whereby an age-centred perspective can be developed from the humanities, and specifically building on theoretical and artistic developments derived from the combination of theatre and age studies, this lecture offers an age-critical overview of some of the recent shows and plays that signal the ‘anti-ageist turn’ of contemporary theatre, both in the Catalan scene and at an international level. By observing their dramatic features and styles of performance, these theatrical texts will be categorised according to the conceptualizations of old age and narratives of ageing they favour. Likewise, the ambivalences detected in some of their approaches will be analysed in an attempt to contribute to an age-critical discourse for (and through) the arts. Resorting to insights gained through the practice of playwriting and theatre-making, the presentation will also reflect on the challenges and possibilities of growth involved in the exploration of old age as dramaturgical material and as source of theatrical creativity, especially if we are to imagine a theatre for all ages that can help transform ‘the new normal’ into a truly anti-ageist era.

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Contemporary Cultural Representations of Ageing: Deconstructing Ageism
Featured Panel Presentation: Raquel Medina, Inesa Shevchenko, Kateřina Valentová

In her work Declining to Decline (1997), Gullette argues that cultural and social conventions significantly shape the perception of the ageing body. Capitalist neoliberal hegemonic discourses play a role in constructing a negative view of ageing, associating visible signs of decay and decline with a sense of negativity that society seeks to conceal and eliminate. This societal context fosters the rise of various industries and practices like gyms, Viagra for sexual activity, tourism, leisure activities, cosmetics, and plastic surgery. These elements collectively support and promote both healthy ageing and the perception of old age as a space for consumerism.

By presenting older people through narratives that emphasise deterioration and by neglecting to represent their experiences in a positive light, culture has strengthened ageism. Ageism refers to a form of discrimination, prejudice, or stereotyping based on a person’s age, typically directed towards older individuals. It involves holding negative attitudes, beliefs, or assumptions about older people solely because of their age. Thus, a third approach to ageing, that of Linn Sandberg (2013), proposes the concept of “affirmative ageing” as a theoretical space to challenge ageism as the binary perspective of ageing as either decline or success. This approach acknowledges and embraces the material realities and unique characteristics of the older body. By embracing affirmative ageing, one can move beyond simplistic categorisations and explore a more nuanced and positive understanding of the ageing process.

This panel focuses on non-hegemonic contemporary cultural representations of ageing that deconstruct ageism from an intersectional approach and through different media. With the intention of contributing to critical discussions of representations of old age and gender on the stage, while at the same time filling in the considerable gap between studies of (demo)dystopia and ageing from a theatrical angle, Inesa Shevchenko focuses on two contemporary plays that feature the topic of ageing at the heart of their chaotic, catastrophic worlds. Raquel Medina discusses female desire and sexuality in old age within and against patriarchal discourses that socially and culturally construct old age in its intersection with sexuality and gender. The films La vida era eso (David Martín de los Santos 2020) and Destino bravío (Ainhoa Rodríguez 2021) show how older women and sexuality or desire are not mutually exclusive terms and can be experienced through the haptic aspects of sexuality. Katerina Valentova´s contribution focuses on representations of ageing in graphic novels which may all successfully contribute to avoiding cultural stereotypes related with ageing. These narratives have a high emotional impact on their readers, enhancing more positive representations of intergenerational relationships.

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Want Happiness? Become an Artist
Keynote Presentation: Daniel Lutz

We all know the stories (nay, warnings!) of the tortured artist, the struggling artist, the artist living constantly on the edge of collapse and ruin. So who in their right mind would suggest that the future of anyone’s well-being lies in becoming an artist…? In this colourful talk, Daniel Lutz explores how in this shifting world we inhabit – in this “new normal” – becoming an artist is increasingly less of a risqué choice and more of a sensible path to happiness.

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I Shall Be Brief: Spare Thoughts on Literature and Care
Keynote Presentation: Isabel Alonso-Breto

In this presentation I intend to briefly share a few spare thoughts on literature and the ethics of care. I should approach these two concepts, constructs, realities, worlds, and medicines, both individually and in connection with each other. On the way, I should also be sharing some poetry pieces. By myself. And/or by others… Briefly. Perhaps.

Read presenter's biography