Summary - INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LITERACY, CULTURE, AND LANGUAGE EDUCATION (ICLCLE)

In a time marked by intensifying debates about language, curriculum, identity, and educational equity, the theme Language, Literacy, and Belonging invites scholars, educators, and community partners to critically examine how literacy practices shape — and are shaped by — questions of inclusion, power, and participation. As classrooms continue to become increasingly multilingual and culturally complex, the field of language and literacy faces urgent questions about whose language practices are legitimized, whose stories are centered, and how belonging is cultivated or constrained within educational systems.

This conference calls for research and practice that interrogate the relationships among language, literacy, and social membership across PK–12, higher education, and community contexts. We seek work that advances theoretically grounded, empirically rigorous, and practice-informed perspectives on multilingualism, representation, policy, and partnership in today’s shifting educational landscape.

Subthemes include:

· Multilingualism and Linguistic Diversity – Expanding asset-based and raciolinguistic perspectives; translanguaging and biliteracy development; heritage language maintenance; and pedagogies that sustain linguistic identities.

· Curriculum, Texts, and Representation – Critical and culturally sustaining approaches to curriculum design; the politics of text selection; representation and counter-storytelling; and literacy as a site of identity formation and resistance.

· Families, Communities, and Partnerships – Community-engaged scholarship; family literacy initiatives; reciprocal partnerships; and models that position communities as knowledge producers and co-constructors of belonging.

· Policy, Assessment, and Research – Analyses of language policy, accountability systems, and assessment practices; methodological innovations; and research that challenges deficit framings and advances justice-oriented literacy scholarship.

Through presentations, symposia, roundtables, and collaborative dialogue, ICLCLE will create space for rigorous inquiry and generative exchange at the intersections of research, policy, and practice. Together, we will consider how language and literacy can function not merely as tools of academic achievement, but as foundational pathways to recognition, agency, and belonging in educational communities.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We acknowledge that Purdue University is located in the traditional homelands of the Woodland People. We honor and appreciate these indigenous caretakers which include the Bodéwadmik (Potawatomi), Lenape (Delaware), Myaamia (Miami), and Shawnee people.

The conference takes place at Purdue University Friday October 2 -3, 2026 where it will continue to support local and global dialogue by providing space for the exchange of ideas and experiences, research-to-practice connection, and collaboration among practitioners and scholars.

You have reached the paysite for registering for the conference.

The conference fee covers breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, lunch on Saturday, and a Saturday Reception, along with onsite parking while attending the conference.

Conference Fees:

*Student Fees

Early Bird through August 7 - $149

August 8- September 8- $169

September 9 - Day of Conference - $189

*K-12 Educators/Administrators

Early Bird through August 7 - $199

August 8- September 8 - $219

September 9 - Day of Conference- $229

*Faculty and Other

Early Bird through August 7 - $249

August 8- September 8 - $269

September 9 - Day of Conference- $289

Refunds available by written request only and within the following guidelines: 100% refund by August 7, 2026, 50% refund by September 8, 2026, No refunds will be issued after September 9, 2026, as we need to confirm catering and materials.

Please visit the conference website for the program details including the 'call for abstracts.'

Stewart Center

Stewart Center