Teachers College will host “The Work of Education,” its third annual conference on anthropology and education, on Friday and Saturday, October 26th and 27th, in Milbank Chapel.

The conference – the only recurring one of its kind in the field – will include keynote addresses by Thea Abu-El Haj, Associate Professor in Education at Barnard College, Cati Coe, Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University and Ilana Gershon, Associate Professor of Communication and Culture at Indiana University-Bloomington.

Haj’s talk is titled "Education that 'breaks your heart': Learning and Teaching in the Lebanese Conflict Zone." Coe will speak on "The Enchantments of Education: States, Markets, and Transnational Migration in the Constitution of Persons," and Gershon will discuss "The Work of Giving Bad Advice: Instruction, Translation, Standardization."

TC President Thomas Bailey will deliver opening remarks.

“We are very proud that, for the third year in a row, we have attracted speakers who are major figures in the field and who are willing to work with us to define the future of anthropology in education,” said conference chair Hervé Varenne, Professor of Anthropology & Education.

The conference defines “the work of education” broadly to include “parents struggling with infants (and their own parents, pediatricians, etc.)…the elderly (and their children, neighbors, etc.) figuring out who does what in the crowd treating them—and who is to pay for them” and even “poets reading to their audience.” Speakers will also consider “the educative work involved in urban and/or globalized settings of performance, oral traditions, the court of law, youth recruitment” and more.  

Visit the conference’s website to register and see a full listing of sessions and presentations.