For the second year in a row, the CIES annual conference was held virtually via Zoom.  With the lessons learned from 2020, the conference organizers were able to provide a very smooth and effective platform for participants from anywhere in the world.  Now that everyone is more experienced with virtual meetings, participants were able to participate in a wide range of activities.

Twenty-four sessions and 61 papers were presented bilingually, involving 27 languages. The conference also offered the annual Film Festivalette, networking opportunities, relaxing and rejuvenating activities during coffee breaks, and a virtual art exhibit, along with the usual workshops and presentations.

The advantages of the virtual format helped offset the lack of personal contact offered by in-person conferences.  If you want to hear particular presenter you can check to see if they are speaking.  You can also initiate private text chats with any other participant who is in the session without disrupting the proceedings – a great way to contact a colleague you haven’t seen in a while.  PowerPoint presentations are clear and easy to read on the screen and, if you use Windows Snipping tool, you can capture slides.  And, of course, you can do other things when your interest wanes, if you mute your audio and video!

CIE at vCIES 2021 – From the Program

The CIE network was once again well represented with more than 30 CIE/IE graduates, current students, and faculty members listed on the program.

Nearly 20 current students were listed on the program as presenters and organizers of panels.  Some of their papers included.

• Public Universities’ Challenges with Implementing Quality Assurance and Accreditation: A Case Study of Afghanistan. Sayed Javid Mussawy (right)
• Ubuntu-centric approaches to in-school pregnancy: Addressing the conflict of pregnancy, policy, and culture.  Pempho Chinkondenji
• Emergence of Public-Private Partnerships in Public Higher Education Institutions of Afghanistan. Hassan Aslami
• Guiding Principles for Catch-up Programs: Pathways for the Return to Learning after COVID-19 and other Education Disruptions. Kayla Boisvert (right)
• Reframing and reimagining refugee self-sufficiency. Mariam Rashid & Nyaradzai Changamire
• Free education and the counter-discourse of human capital in Sri Lanka. Niyanthini Kadirgamar

CIE/IE graduates were well represented with 18 on the program, coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Malawi, Senegal, Zimbabwe, and the US.  Some of their presentations are listed below:

• Negotiating identities: Experiences of Caribbean emigrant-professionals working in US higher education. Nigel Brissett (right)
• Raising social responsibility and accountability to fill the education financing gap in Zimbabwe. Vongaishe Changamire
• Building resilience and promoting recovery through education in conflict-affected South Sudan. Wendy Wheaton
• How is a university in Honduras adapting to policy changes and preparing primary school teachers to teach lectoescritura? Flavia Ramos-Mattoussi (right)
• Language-Minority Children’s Experiences of Early Literacy: A Study of Uzbek and Pashai Children in Afghanistan. Mohammad Javad Ahmadi
• Program shifts and theories of change: Lessons from the DRC in the time of COVID. Mark Lynd
• Bangladesh tele-conversation for healing and playful learning: a promising TPD model during COVID and the new normal. Mohammad Mahboob Morshed

Also on the program were CIE/IE faculty members Ian Barron, Ash Hartwell, Bjorn Nordtveit and associated faculty member Laura Valdiviezo..