The Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) met in Chicago, Illinois, for its 69th annual conference. Held at the historic Palmer Hotel, the conference brought together educators and practitioners who focus on educational issues worldwide to explore the theme of Envisioning Education in a Digital Society. The conference had strong representation from the College of Education at Illinois, broaching topics such as the relationship between education and cultural processes, democratization, globalization, economic development, and political conflict. This blog post highlights a few key aspects of the excellent scholarship presented by Illinois students, staff, faculty, and affiliates.
The conference kicked off Saturday, with graduate student Lu Xu and Nevine El Souefi of Edupedia introducing the Global Studies of Education program’s IGlobal project via their presentation titled “Developing Culturally Responsive Teachers Through Virtual Global Engagement”. Just next door, graduate student Shafagh Hadinezhad chaired a panel on “Technology in inclusive education”, and also discussed her research in a presentation titled “Is my app accessible? A UDL-based evaluation of a Persian language learning app.” On Sunday, College of Education alumna and CGS Global Intersections recipient Ananya Tiwari, now faculty at Texas A & M, led a workshop on “Building a Culturally Responsive and Expansive Girls’ Education Ecosystem: Demonstrating a participatory Community-Driven Approach”, and also chaired the Gender Symposium. International Studies Research Lab guest speaker Rosalind Raby, Director of California Colleges for International Education, chaired a highlighted session for the Study Abroad and International Students Special Interest Group (SIG), featuring Grace Cleary, Assistant Director of Gies Global, who presented “From “virtual” to “reality”: Comparative study on student experiences on a hybrid exchange program.” Illinois’ strong showing was also highlighted through a highly engaging Provocations session chaired by College of Education faculty Nathan Castillo, who led an interactive discussion on “How can we improve the impact of research on learning with digital solutions through dissemination efforts?” The format of this dynamic session allowed attendees to engage deeply with the conference theme and foster collaboration and camaraderie through discussion.
Over the week, Illinois students, faculty and staff engaged in thought-provoking topics and rich discussions, including CGS faculty affiliate Melissa Goodnight, who presented on “Caring about consequences: Considerations for designing large-scale assessments to monitor foundational learning (SDG 4.1.1a)” in the session on “Educational assessments: insights from using various digital and quantitative approaches”. Payal Arora of Utrecht University, who presented a talk on her new book “From Pessimism to Promise” for CGS in February, delivered the distinguished Kneller Lecture, compelling the audience to rethink the future of digital spaces. Center for African Studies and College of Education graduate student Maiga Muga participated in a roundtable on “Safeguarding in a digital society: Opportunities and challenges”, discussing “Bridging the Digital Divide in Africa: Navigating Challenges and Harnessing Opportunities in Tanzanian Higher Education.” Former CGS Visiting Scholar Melissa Whatley of William and Mary was a contributing author present at the book launch for “The Bloomsbury Handbook of Method in Comparative and International Education.” CGS FLAS Fellow Armando Jose Torres presented on “Transformative Learning in Formal and Nonformal Global Contexts: Place-Dependent Instantiations of Sustainability Education” and also “Community-based Digital Empowerment: A Liberatory Learning Model for Transformative Community Development” with other UIUC students. CGS Visiting Scholar Hany Zayed took part in the panel session on “Navigating digital education landscapes: Exploring the EdTech expansion in Brazil and Egypt,” and CGS Associate Director Donna Tonini led a discussion on “Student Assessment in a World of Gen AI: Balancing Ethics and Intellectual Engagement with Blogs”.
Illinois students, staff and faculty had a strong presence at the 2025 CIES, presenting important research and advancing scholarship in the field of comparative and international education. The next CIES conference will be in San Francisco, exploring the apt theme of reexamining education and peace in a divided world. CGS looks forward to future Illinois contributions to the next CIES conference in 2026.
