OISE and LHAE Hosts a Successful CASAE Conference

On June 1-3, 2023, OISE, University of Toronto, hosted the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education Conference (CASAE/ACÉÉA), this years conference was organized by AECD faculty members Jennifer Sumner, Lance McCready, Derya Tarhan, and Katherine Entigar. This year's Keynote Speaker was Dr. Jorge Sousa from the University of Alberta; his talk was entitled Building Adult Educations Through Community and Solidarity: Theory, Practice, and Hope. His talk explored the ways of conceptualizing the relationship between adult education and community development and the challenges of understanding the relationship, as well as discussing how the relationship can be reconceptualized to move beyond the instrumental.

Conference co-chair Katie Entigar commented, “The conference was a great success and a huge learning experience. Three years of not meeting in person made this year’s meeting extra special, and we were very proud to be able to represent OISE and UofT by hosting established and emerging scholars from all over the world in person. The theme of “Returning to / Creating / Encountering Community” ended up being quite apt; we hadn’t shared space IRL for a long time, and folks had lots of energy and lots of questions! The single biggest factor in the conference’s success, in my opinion as well as that of my co-chairs, was the hard work, leadership, and energy of our student volunteers. Each and every one of them showed up in so many ways, welcoming participants from all over the world and creating a meeting that was warm, engaging, and deeply inspiring. I came out of this experience with nothing but gratitude for our bright and brilliant students, as well as for my colleagues and for the community we built together this year at CASAE. Can't wait to see what next year holds!"