Now accepting submissions to the 2014 PTO Conference!

PTO Feature - PTO2014 CFP

20th Annual Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed Conference

REVIEW, REFLECT, REIMAGINE:
Where have we been?
Where are we?
Where are we going?
(And HOW?)

At University of Nebraska at Omaha
in Omaha, Nebraska, USA June 26 – 29, 2013

We’re so excited to announce that the 20th Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed (PTO) Conference will return to Omaha, Nebraska, where the organization began nearly twenty years ago. As PTO approaches two decades of generating dialogue about oppression and liberation, we feel it is crucial that we take time to consider three important questions:

Where have we been?
Where are we?
Where are we going?
(And HOW?)

WE are change-makers, educators, global activists, local leaders, artists, organizers, advocates, rabble-rousers, hair-raisers, instigators. WE are working in performance, literature, education, politics, advocacy, organizing, social work, healthcare, communities. WE are people who have come a long way and have a long way to go, coming together to review, reflect and reimagine.

The 20th Annual PTO Conference is:

  • A celebration of what we have done, a look at where we are, and a challenge to move forward.
  • An opportunity to gather with experienced artists, activists, teachers and friends, and a challenge to expand our efforts and our community.
  • An opportunity to share our experience, and a challenge to develop new ways of dismantling systems of oppression and promoting critical thinking and social justice through liberatory theatre and popular education.

For twenty years Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed conferences have been a place to gather, dialogue, explore, express, share, learn, teach, develop and build community. In this exciting moment the history and significance of our work in education, in theatre, in combating local and global oppression, in political struggle, in social justice, in community organizing, in scholarship, in performance certainly deserves critical review and celebration.

But even more, we need to know HOW to move forward—how to modify, extend, and apply theory and practice of Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Theatre of the Oppressed to challenge both old and ever-changing forms of oppression, and how to transform dehumanizing systems into those that move toward social and economic freedom and justice.

We are asking you to consider these questions and shape these important dialogues by submitting proposals, papers, discussions, performances, workshops, debates, you name it, for presentation at the conference. Share your techniques, report on your projects, explore ideas for the future, seek assistance in meeting challenges, get constructive critique of your efforts, and raise new questions about the where’s and how’s of the struggle against oppression through theatre and education.

Come to the Conference in Omaha—yes, back in Omaha where this all started twenty years ago!—and engage in the celebrations and struggles, through practical workshops, physical explorations, learning opportunities, keynote presentations, performances, and countless discussions of our most pressing questions.

The power to transform the world lies with us—let’s multiply that power when we gather together for the 20th Annual PTO Conference!

Learn more about submitting a conference session proposal. 

ptoweb.org/conference/proposals