In 1954, the Comparative Education Society (CES) was formally established, having evolved from conferences held at New York University. Through a series of democratic practices, the CES became today’s Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) in 1968. The Society’s Historian, Prof. Elizabeth Sherman Swing has divided the growth of the CIES into some strategic periods. The period from 1960-1975, she names Organization Building, and from 1975-1990, that of Growth and Consolidation. Best characterizing these periods was the untiring quest to make the field of comparative and international education a truly transnational area of scientific enquiry in the US. The Society serving as space for learning, sharing, collaborating, and above all, stimulating the rich interchange between ‘scholars and scholar-practitioners.’

During what has been named the Contentious Issues and Systemic Change Period, 1990-2006, the Ad Hoc status of three committees was changed into Standing Permanent Committees. Among the committees advocating permanent status were under-represented minorities, who in 1987 at Annapolis, Maryland, formally established a group.  Specifically in 2000, with the drive to decentralize the Society in order to more realistically reflect its ever-changing and adaptive nature, the Under-Represented Ethnic and Ability Groups (UREAG) became a Permanent Committee of the CIES through modifications in the Bylaws.

There were some colleagues who assisted in making the changes in the Bylaws reality. A few of these were Professors Vandra Massemann, David Wilson, and Joe Farrell, all of OISE University of Toronto, Susan Peters, Kalil Gezi, Kassie Freeman, Val Rust, Samuel Hinton, Francis Musa Boakari, and Kingsley Banya. Through years of consciousness-raising conversations with the leadership of the Society, it was agreed upon that some level of decentralization was the way to go in order to live up to the growing complexities in the field of international education. The need to pay attention to the practical implications of the historical diversity that has continuously made the CIES what it really is was also being generally accepted by most active members. The significant presence of participants from Africa and Asia at the annual conferences, as well as the fact that an ever-increasing number of presentations at these events, were based upon studies/experiences from these world regions, further strengthened the presence of UREAG. Moreover, the continued active participation of former students from these same world areas serving as  faculty members and researchers at universities in the Global North, strengthened UREAG as another space where more CIES members  could collaborate as “comparativists".

UREAG has organized the International Village Dialogue and special conference presentations at the last few annual conferences. These events have been fueled by the interest to create more opportunities for UREAG sympathizers to discuss issues of interest related to the main conference theme. An evening reception has also been possible at some conferences in order to meet conference participants, especially newcomers, and disseminate the work of UREAG. These gatherings have also served as meeting grounds for conference participants who are international students-faculty, as well as practitioners working in the field in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Another important service UREAG has provided for its sympathizers has been the Annual Conference Travel Grant. Funds are voted by the Board of Directors and channeled through the President-elect and the UREAG Chair. A sub-committee selected by UREAG conference participants in the previous year, administers these funds. The main criteria used to award these funds are: an accepted conference proposal with a theme related to questions that affect under-served ethnic and ability group members; international travel; and justifiable financial needs. Through this activity, UREAG attempts to be academically relevant and of practical importance to the CIES as a whole. 

UREAG continues to be a group that best represents today’s ever-changing reality, marked not only by diversity but ever-disappearing traditional barriers. Through the Under-Represented Ethnic and Ability Groups, the Comparative and International Education Society is able to be a more meaningful professional society. In the past few years, members of UREAG have held important and senior positions at CIES; for example, two former UREAG members were President of CIES and several have been board members of the organization. As UREAG and other such Standing Permanent Committees become more strengthened, so would CIES continue its evolutionary process in becoming a true home-base for all comparativists.   UREAG, like many other organizations, faces a number of challenges, including continuity of membership, leadership issues, etc.  Despite these issues, UREAG remains a vital part of CIES and we can look forward to many years of productive contributions to the success of CIES.

 By Dr. Kingsley Banya,
with contribution from Dr. Francis Boakari.

[back to CIES]