While bigger conferences might cost hundreds of dollars, small conferences like the Forum offer lower registration fees making them a budget-friendly way to engage with cutting-edge scholarship. And the Forum will offer both food for thought, and for the belly, including coffee and refreshments.

Meet like-minded scholars, peers, and practitioners in a more intimate environment that fosters genuine connections and meaningful conversations.

Engage with leading experts who are often more approachable at smaller conferences like the Forum, allowing for deeper discussions about their work. Keynotes in 2025 include Anthony Jack, Bianca Baldridge, C.J. Pascoe, and Erica O. Turner. Their thoughtful work will serve to frame our conversations on democracy, education and ethnography in powerful ways.

Ethnography excels at capturing the depth and complexity of human experiences in the real world. It allows researchers to immerse themselves in communities, offering a nuanced understanding of social dynamics, cultural practices, and everyday interactions that might be otherwise missed. Immerse yourself in profound discussions about how these approaches can inspire your own studies.

Conversations at the Forum often include advice on navigating graduate school, managing research, and building an academic career.

For those ready to share, small conferences like the Forum provide a less intimidating venue for presenting your research and receiving constructive feedback. But even if you are not presenting yet, it is still a valuable space to discuss your initial thinking on complex ideas.

Participating in discussions and seeing your peers in action helps you better understand expectations in academic life, and your place within the field.

Not familiar with ethnography? What is practitioner inquiry about? Discover emerging trends and unique approaches that you can apply in your own work.

The Forum is a casual setting intended to make it easier to meet senior scholars, who can offer guidance and wisdom on an academic career. This is our 43rd meeting of the Forum - we know what we're doing here.

Engaging in meaningful dialogue across a variety of spaces and media! Yes, over 175 presenters will be offering traditional academic presentations, but we will also have live performances, excerpts from documentaries (including conversations with the filmmakers), and data consultations (where current graduate students workshop their data with scholars in the field).