CFP: Pathos and Education. Rethinking emotions in the past and present of Pedagogical Thought

The first two decades of the 21st century have been characterised by a significant acceleration of the pace of life, both individual and collective, as well as by a progressive technologisation of existence. Aside from many different effects, this process also influences the emotional side of life. Not only are we increasingly witnessing discourses focused on managing emotions within a technocratic and performative framework, which leaves little or no room for forming an aesthetic consciousness. So too, our everyday practices seem to revolve around “regulating” emotions increasingly.

Given the central role of emotions in education, this changing horizon confronts educational reflection and practice with crucial questions about its nature, historical meaning, and purpose.

Researchers and practitioners involved in educational environments are witnessing how these changes simultaneously affect the object of study, the practices of studying, and the role of teachers. Consequently, all the cardinal determinations of the educational relationship are confronted with crucial questions.

In this situation, it is becoming increasingly urgent to critically think about the educational experience and the passions it entails, overcoming its reduction to the mere transmission and reception of knowledge and information. That is, to analyse and question if and to what extent we can conceive education as a living and lived experience that allows for an embodied and affected/affective understanding of the object of study, of oneself, and of the world that limits and opens horizons of meaning.

This shift asks us to reconsider the role of pathos, affections, feelings, and passions as crucial elements of the educational experience, as elements that act and leave their mark in the lifetime of conscious and unconscious (dis)encounters with oneself, others, and the world. To think about these critical issues, requires that educational researchers and practitioners consider, among others, the following questions: How does the technologisation of life change and affect educational relationships? How has the emotional-affective side of educational practices been accounted for in the history of pedagogical thought? Can emotions have a normative function in the current pedagogical discourse and practices? Is it possible, and how, to narrate the history of education from an emotional-affective dimension?

The International Conference ‘Pathos and Education. Rethinking emotions in the past and present of pedagogical thought’, organised by the Seminari Permanent de Qüestions i Mètodes del Pensament Pedagògic and the Grup de Recerca en Pensament Pedagògic i Social Contemporani (GREPPS) of the Faculty of Education of the University of Barcelona (UB), puts these questions at the centre of the debate during two days of encounter and dialogue, on 26th and 27th June 2025. For this purpose, we call for papers that approach the subject of pathos (broadly understood), from an interdisciplinary perspective, focusing on one of (or combining) the following themes of pedagogical thought:

A) Philosophical: Proposals that investigate the role of pathos in the educational experience, both about the object of study and the interrelationship between educator and learner. Any theoretical approach to the subject is accepted, based on any author or relevant question that sheds light on the subject. What place does pathos have in the educational relationship? How can philosophical thought be instrumental in rethinking the affective dimension of education?

B) Historical: Proposals analysing the role of pathos and emotions in the history of pedagogical thought and practices, with two possible connotations. That is, either as research into the role attributed to emotions in a past movement (emotions in the history of pedagogical thought), or into the presence of emotions in the historiographical narrative of pedagogical thought (history of emotions and history of education). Can pathos in education be studied historically and, consequently, can historical periods be established based on its development (in education)?

C) Aesthetics: Proposals that question pathos and emotions as part of the educational experience through and in the arts, literature, body, space, etc. Papers focused on concrete practices and formative proposals that use art and passions as a vehicle for educational experience will also be accepted. If we understand education as an aesthetic experience, what are the implications for our pedagogical thinking and practices?

D) Political: Papers aimed at identifying questions or normative proposals related to the presence or absence of pathos and emotions in the construction and transmission of educational discourses in public debate, both in the past and present. Proposals may also analyse the question in a synchronic or diachronic way, based on concrete local or international contexts. Can sympathy, antipathy, apathy, empathy, etc. be understood as political concepts with socio-educational relevance? How can we approach the affective dimensions of dynamics of oppression, resistance, and emancipation in education?

The deadline for submission (in English, Spanish, or Catalan) is 21 March 2025. Proposals should be submitted as an abstract of about 300 words, followed by a maximum of 5 keywords. They should be sent anonymously, together with a document with the title, the chosen theme, the name of the authors, and their affiliation, to the following e-mail address:

[email protected]

The scientific committee will communicate the eventual acceptance by 30 April 2025.