Mission Statement

The ancient Greek Agora has long represented the ideal of a public space: a place of exchange and interaction, a site of public debate, and a site of personal conversation. It was a place where not only the citizens of Athens but visitors from around the world gathered to discuss their concerns. It was the site of many of Plato’s dialogues, and is closely linked with the ideal of dialogue. It is therefore, for us in philosophy of education, the perfect metaphor for the kind of center for debate and scholarship we want to build here at Illinois.

Using core funding provided by the C.D. Hardie endowment, the Agora will sponsor activities in which students and faculty in the philosophy of education program at Illinois can interact with each other, with colleagues from across the college and across the campus, and with visiting students and scholars from other countries. It will help us address important educational problems, present and support exemplary research, and develop, inform, and shape wider scholarly trends within the field of philosophy of education.

Toward this end, the Agora will sponsor conferences, panel discussions, and workshops; host visiting scholars and lecturers; and work with journals and professional societies in the field, all with an eye toward increasing the impact and quality of philosophical work in education.

Beyond this, we see the Agora as a place where philosophy of education can fruitfully engage and influence prevailing issues of educational research, policy, and practice. It is meant to demonstrate that philosophy of education is not an esoteric discipline but can make valuable contributions to these wider educational debates. We regard the Agora as a space for dialogue between philosophers and non-philosophers around these shared educational concerns.

Our hope is that the Agora will be a boon not only to the opportunities of students and faculty in philosophy of education here at Illinois, but a resource to the field more widely. Through its conferences, workshops, and sponsored publications, the Agora seeks to represent and promote the very highest standards of scholarship and professional interchange.