Transformative Scholarship and Pedagogy Unit

1. “Critical Issues in Transformative Pedagogy: Insights From 50 Years into the Future”

Imagine it is the year 2076. What does it look like to pursue pedagogy fifty years in the future? What role, if any, do educators still play in fostering transformative experiences for students and communities in this new landscape? How have societal shifts influenced the development of education? How, if at all, has artificial intelligence changed the labor of researchers and pedagogues who strive to connect scholarship with social change? What are the mechanics of teaching and learning? Which critical issues are at the fore? And, how do researchers think about the pedagogical norms and trajectories of 2026? In line with this year’s presidential theme, we invite proposals for papers and panels that stage a conversation with this imagined future in order to (1) cast a vision for aspirational possibilities, (2) bring attention to potential risks yet under-appreciated, and/or (3) critically reflect on today’s pedagogical landscape from the vantage point of future generations. 

2. “Evolving Methods in Community-Engaged Research and Pedagogy”

While “sage on the stage” is a heavily critiqued pedagogical model, the same critique has not been extended to the “sage on the page” approach to research and writing—at least not as explicitly. Yet, one may find the seeds of such a criticism in the growing number of teacher-scholars practicing the crafts of teaching, learning, researching, and writing in partnership with communities outside of formally academic institutions. Despite this momentum, it is still relatively uncommon to find community-engaged methods practiced in the classroom. We invite proposals for papers and panels that articulate and critically reflect on methods for community-engaged research and pedagogy. We especially invite proposals (1) from teacher-scholars actively partnering with a community on research projects that are mutually designed and equitably led, (2) on projects leading to concrete action for justice in the community, and/or (3) on research incorporated into a class that invites students into the research. 

3. Colonizing Decolonialization: Has “Decolonize the Academy” been Co-opted by the Academy?

In recent decades, decolonial theory and practice have become increasingly incorporated within academic institutions as an effort to recognize the immense degree to which the academy is both constructed through colonialism and perpetuates colonial domination. This awareness is now accompanied by an increasing emphasis on the ethically urgent task of decolonizing the academy. As is always the case, however, a common strategy of power structures for preserving themselves is to co-opt the language of liberatory movements for its own purposes. We invite proposals for papers and panels that consider whether and specifically how the language of “decolonizing the academy” is vulnerable to such cooptation, what the ramifications are (especially for those who are already significantly disenfranchised within academia), and how the work of decolonization can continue effectively amidst this kind of obfuscation.

4. Transformative Psychology of Religion (Co-Sponsored with Psychology, Culture, and Religion Unit)

Once criticized as reductionistic in its study of religion, the psychology of religion has more recently pivoted toward more lively and transformative approaches to practice with lived experience, communities, and pedagogy. This co-sponsored session invites proposals that highlight how research insights in the psychology of religion translate into transformative practice, public engagement, and caregiving contexts. Of particular interest are proposals that utilize psychological theory to help strategize concrete practices and interventions for political organizing and resisting oppression. Both individual papers and organized panels are encouraged for submission.