The University of Notre Dame will host the 8th annual conference of the Sociology of Development section of the American Sociological Association. The conference will be held October 17-19th, 2019, at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana. The theme of the conference is “Development in Dialogue: Engaging Practitioners and Other Disciplines.”

The conference will explore points of connection as well as tension between sociologists of development, scholars of other disciplines, and development practitioners. In the public eye, the development field has been largely dominated by economists, policy analysts, donors, and practitioners. Recently, however, there has been a surge in research that that uses the unique tools of sociology to understand the problems and dilemmas of development. This conference will generate  deeper dialogue between sociological research and other perspectives in the field of development. We will consider opportunities for (and barriers to) broader communication and exchange across disciplines, and address the challenges involved in connecting the insights of systematic sociological research with the experiences of practitioners.

We are seeking thought-provoking presentations and engaging conversations on numerous topics, spanning a wide range of perspectives, approaches, scales, regions, and disciplines. The University of Notre Dame is pleased to provide development scholars with an outstanding venue in which to exchange ideas and engage in dialogue that bridges disciplinary and practice boundaries.  We will draw on numerous units and centers of expertise at Notre Dame in the areas of development, democracy, peacebuilding, health, education, religion, environment, engineering and other fields, while engaging the insights of sociologists and other disciplinary scholars from around the world.

A series of plenary sessions and invited keynote speakers will focus on selected conference themes, but other sessions will be organized entirely based on papers that are accepted through this open call. We encourage all scholars with interest in development, including scholars from fields other than sociology, to consider attending. The conference is open to all, whether you are presenting or not.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: MAY 25th, 2019

Please go to here to complete the application form and submit a 500 word abstract.

More information can be found here or at the Development Conference Website.