The Ohio Valley Philosophy of Education Society (OVPES) held its 2026 philosophy education conference September 17–19 at Seasons Lodge in Nashville, Indiana. The theme was “educational loss and hope,” according to the society’s conference announcement. As of October 6, the meeting had concluded. Its program also included a September 17 pre-conference workshop and an opportunity to contribute to a special issue on postdigital education in Philosophical Studies in Education.
The theme gives you a way to consider what education can lose, preserve, and make possible. The next proposal opportunity is the Philosophy of Education Society’s 2027 annual meeting, scheduled for March 4–8 in Fort Worth, Texas, with proposals due November 1, 2026, according to the society’s conference announcement. Comparing themes, participation options, and submission requirements can help you decide which gathering best fits your interests.
Key Takeaways
- The OVPES 2026 meeting, held September 17–19 at Seasons Lodge in Nashville, Indiana, centered on “educational loss and hope,” included a September 17 pre-conference workshop, and offered a separate special issue on postdigital education in Philosophical Studies in Education.
- OVPES’s 2026 registration fees ranged from $60 for attendees earning $30,000 or less to $140 for those earning $100,000 or more, while the $139-per-night Seasons Lodge rate was available through August 16, 2026, with refunds requiring cancellation at least 48 hours before arrival; these rates and terms are historical, not current.
- If you plan to submit to the Philosophy of Education Society’s 2027 annual meeting in Fort Worth, send your proposal by November 1, 2026, and follow the 4,500-word limit, including references, and anonymous-review process; accepted general and concurrent-session papers are published in the quarterly journal Philosophy of Education, but submission does not guarantee acceptance.
- You can compare meeting themes and formats to find the right fit: INPE’s August 11–14 Montreal conference focused on conversations across a divided world, NEPES was scheduled for October 10 around imagination, attention, and aesthetic education, and NAAPE was scheduled for October 16–18 around philosophy’s public role.
- You can connect conference themes to classroom practice through Philosophy for Children, a structured inquiry approach that seeks reasoned, justified answers to important questions and is used in more than 60 countries.
OVPES Put Educational Loss And Hope At The Center
The Ohio Valley Philosophy of Education Society’s 2026 annual meeting took place September 17–19 at Seasons Lodge in Nashville, Indiana, under the theme “educational loss and hope,” according to the society’s conference announcement. As of October 6, 2026, the September meeting had concluded.
The theme gives you a focused way to think about what education can lose. The loss may involve more than buildings, programs, or resources. It can also involve practices, relationships, purposes, or opportunities that people consider worth preserving. Asking what counts as educational loss, and whose judgment matters, makes the theme a philosophical question, not just a description of difficulty.
Hope raises a related question. It can mean expecting improvement, but it can also mean identifying what remains possible and what responsibilities follow. By putting loss and hope in the same frame, the OVPES theme asks you to consider whether hope depends on restoring what has disappeared, protecting what remains, or making something different possible.
That frame leads to the central question for this article: what can philosophy contribute when educators examine educational loss and the possibility of hope? The OVPES theme offers a clear lens for considering that question. Philosophical inquiry can help you clarify what people mean by “loss” and “hope,” examine the assumptions behind those terms, and weigh competing ideas about what education should preserve or pursue. This lens has practical as well as conceptual value: decisions about education depend in part on what people believe is worth protecting and which futures they consider possible.
What The OVPES Program Added
OVPES scheduled a pre-conference workshop for September 17, the opening day of its September 17–19 annual meeting. The workshop was an additional program element, not a separate meeting. It gave you another way to take part in the gathering, alongside its theme-focused sessions. The OVPES conference announcement listed both dates.
The publication opportunity was separate from the meeting’s workshop and the journal’s regular annual issue. OVPES announced a special issue titled “Interrogating Postdigital Educational Conditions” for Philosophical Studies in Education, in connection with the journal’s 50th anniversary. The special issue offered a way to engage with the conference’s educational-theory questions beyond attending the meeting. The OVPES announcement identified it as a special issue.
The 2026 registration form listed fees on an income-based scale, from $60 for attendees earning $30,000 or less to $140 for those earning $100,000 or more. These are historical 2026 rates, not current registration options. The OVPES registration form shows the published fee range, which you can consider alongside the program and publication opportunity when comparing meetings.
OVPES also advertised a Seasons Lodge rate of $139 per night for one to four occupants, available through August 16, 2026. The stated cancellation terms offered a refund for cancellations made at least 48 hours before arrival. The rate and terms applied to the 2026 meeting and are not current booking options. The OVPES lodging information recorded them.
Other 2026 Meetings Broadened The Debate
As of October 6, the International Network of Philosophers of Education’s 20th conference in Montreal, held August 11–14, had also concluded. Its theme, “Initiating New Conversations Across a Divided World,” put disagreement and dialogue at the center of the meeting. According to the INPE conference information, the gathering worked with the John Dewey Society for the first time, with the first two days held jointly. This partnership made the conference a distinct opportunity to explore how philosophical traditions can meet across divisions.
The next meeting on the calendar was NEPES on October 10 at Teachers College, Columbia University. Its theme, “Imagination, Attention, and Aesthetic Education,” shifts your focus to how people notice, interpret, and create meaning through education, rather than treating division as the central problem. The North Eastern Philosophy of Education Society conference page lists the date, venue, and theme.
NAAPE scheduled its conference for October 16–18 at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois, making it another upcoming option as of October 6. Its program raises a different question: how philosophy participates in public life. The North American Association for Philosophy & Education conference page provides the meeting dates and location.
Together, these gatherings offer more than variations on the same conference format. INPE foregrounded conversation across a divided world, NEPES focused on imagination, attention, and aesthetic education, and NAAPE offered a setting to consider philosophy’s public role. Your choice of meeting can shape which questions, communities, and approaches to education you encounter.
How Conference Themes Reach The Classroom
A conference theme does not automatically change what happens in a classroom. It becomes relevant to teaching when educators turn it into questions, examine assumptions behind possible answers, and consider how inquiry might shape classroom life.
Philosophy for Children (P4C) offers a concrete example of this process. The International Academy of Education and UNESCO International Bureau of Education describe P4C as structured inquiry that seeks rational, justified answers to important questions without simple answers. Their 2020 publication reports that the approach is used in over 60 countries, showing its reach without suggesting that every classroom applies it in the same way. The publication on Philosophy for Children describes inquiry as a teaching method, not simply a topic for discussion.
You can explore “educational loss and hope” by asking what students and communities consider worth preserving, and what forms of hope can be examined rather than assumed. “Initiating New Conversations Across a Divided World” invites questions about how students can reason together amid disagreement, while “Imagination, Attention, and Aesthetic Education” points to how attention and creative interpretation shape learning. These are possible connections between the themes and inquiry-based teaching, not claims about the content of particular conference sessions.
When evaluating a teaching philosophy conference, consider how its central questions connect educational theory with inquiry and classroom life. Ask whether a theme could lead students to examine reasons, consider different perspectives, and revisit assumptions about what education is for. This approach helps you judge what a conference theme might make thinkable for teaching, without treating the theme itself as evidence of classroom change.
The Next Proposal Window Is PES 2027
The Philosophy of Education Society (PES) has scheduled its 2027 annual meeting for March 4–8 in Fort Worth, Texas, with proposals due November 1, 2026. The PES call centers on courage, a different emphasis from the 2026 meetings focused on educational loss and hope, conversation across a divided world, and imagination and aesthetic education. If courage connects with your research or teaching interests, the theme may help you decide whether this is the right venue for your work, according to the PES annual meeting page.
PES limits annual-meeting paper submissions to 4,500 words, including references, and uses anonymous review. Accepted general and concurrent-session papers are published in the quarterly journal Philosophy of Education. These conditions let you assess whether the word limit suits your argument, whether anonymous review fits your expectations, and whether the journal publication connection is relevant to your plans. The PES conference page describes the process.
When comparing philosophy education conferences, consider more than the theme. PES’s November 1 deadline, 4,500-word maximum, anonymous review, and publication connection give you concrete points to weigh alongside the meeting’s focus on courage. You can then consider how well the questions align with your research and teaching interests, and whether the proposal schedule gives you enough time to prepare your paper.
The listed process describes an opportunity, not an outcome: meeting the submission conditions does not guarantee acceptance.
Track The Next Philosophy Education Conference
The PES proposal deadline is November 1, 2026. Check the PES conference page for the call and submission details, and follow PES and other philosophy-of-education societies for announcements about upcoming themes and proposal windows.
As new calls appear, check whether they describe paper proposals, workshops, joint programming, or publication opportunities. Compare these participation routes and submission requirements with each meeting’s theme before deciding where to focus your time and work.
The most useful philosophy education conference for you depends on the questions you want to pursue, the format you prefer, and the way you want to participate.
Choose A Conference That Fits Your Work
If you are considering a PES submission, start by opening the 2027 conference call and seeing how your project relates to its focus on courage. Write down the central question your paper would answer and why it belongs in a philosophy-of-education discussion. Then check the submission instructions before revising: PES sets a 4,500-word limit, including references, and uses anonymous review.
If your work does not fit the theme, do not force it into the call. Note the questions you want to pursue, such as educational loss, divided societies, or aesthetic education, and monitor OVPES, INPE, NEPES, and NAAPE announcements for a future program that aligns more closely. A good fit means more than sharing a broad subject. The meeting’s theme and format should support the kind of argument or exchange you want to contribute to.
For classroom-focused work, consider whether your question could also be explored through Philosophy for Children or Philosophy for/with Children. UNESCO’s description of structured inquiry can help you distinguish a paper about philosophical ideas from one examining how students reason together. Use that distinction to choose your next step: prepare a PES proposal, develop the classroom inquiry further, or wait for a call that better suits your topic.
