The Washington Consortium for Comparative and International Education and Training
Re-examining Education and Peace in a Divided World - Deadline for Submission - January 23rd, 2026
Conference program coming soon.
2026 Annual Graduate Student Research Conference of the Washington Consortium for Comparative and International Education
February 28, 2026, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM
Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University
(1957 E St NW, Washington, DC 20052)
Join us for the 2026 Annual Graduate Student Research Conference (SRC) organized by the Washington Consortium for Comparative and International Education (WCCIET). The conference will take place on Saturday, February 28, 2026, from 9 AM – 1:00 PM. This conference is an opportunity for graduate students and emerging scholars to present their work and engage in meaningful discussion about the forces that shape the field of international education.
Call for Proposals - Re-examining Education and Peace in a Divided World
The Washington Consortium for Comparative and International Education, including American University, George Mason University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland invite proposals for the Annual Graduate Student Research Conference. The theme is Re-examining Education and Peace in a Divided World. Proposals must be submitted via the conference website, which requires a title and an abstract of no more than 300 words (see an example). Proposals can be based on a class paper, thesis, dissertation, group project, or other scholarly work, and need not be related to the theme. This is an opportunity to gain experience submitting to and presenting at a friendly and encouraging academic conference where your work will be welcomed and supported. The deadline for submitting proposals is January 23, 2026.
The 2026 SRC conference is inspired by the theme of the 70th Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), to be held in-person on March 28-April 1, 2026, in San Francisco, CA: Re-examining Education and Peace in a Divided World. The introduction of the CIES 2026 Conference states the aim of the conference to be the following:
We encourage a broad range of submissions that reflect diverse perspectives, and aim to foster meaningful dialogue and critical reflection. Through these contributions, we hope to generate thought-provoking discussions that advance the goals of global peace, social cohesion, and justice (CIES, 2025).
This theme calls for critical reflection on how education must be revisited to promote social justice amid escalating global conflict and social polarization. In the current climate, where policies and institutions systematically marginalize communities at multiple levels, the role of education in promoting peace and healing has become particularly pertinent. Re-envisioning peace education in a divided world requires moving beyond the pursuit of negative peace, which emphasizes the mere absence of explicit violence and conflict. Instead, it demands situating peace within the sociopolitical and historical inequalities that produce and sustain harm, while fostering critical awareness and collective solidarity. Through this conference, we seek to create space for dialogue that rethinks the potential of educational theories, policies, and practices as catalysts for conflict-mitigation and transformative peacebuilding.
The WCCIET Student Research Conference welcomes any of your academic papers. This is a platform of peers where we can test our theories, our projects, and our hopes to make a difference in Comparative and International Education. Your paper or your research project may be strongly, loosely, or not at all related to the theme, but SRC remains an invaluable venue to receive and give feedback in a friendly environment where your peers can help you think through and strengthen your project. SRC strongly encourages you to take advantage of this opportunity to network, to share your academic endeavors (at any stage of their development), and to learn of your colleagues’ research projects as well.
Deadline for proposals: January 23, 2026
To submit a proposal, click here.
Excerpt: If you require any special accommodations or have further questions about the submission process, please reach out to the Conference Co-chairs, Ainara and KJ, at wcciet.conference@gmail.com. Please allow 2-3 days to receive a response.