A South African History conference on miracles and mirages

The Historical Association of South Africa's 2018 conference will be held in Thaba Nchu

The call is open for abstracts to present at the biennial conference of the Historical Association of South Africa (HASA). This conference is not to be missed, even if you are not a full-blooded historian. The conference theme of Miracles and Mirages: 'The fall of the oldest and rise of the newest South Africa... and beyond' should spark interest from all South Africans and even people beyond our borders. And if this is not enough, look at the list of sub themes that the conference participants will address during cold winter days of 20-22 June at the Black Mountain Leisure & Conference hotel in Thaba Nchu. Although it is summer now and South Africa is sizzling, this part of the country can get extremely cold in winter time - just what is asked for to keep all indoors and glued to their seats while listening to these:

Themes  for this years' conference include:
Free falling education on the South African education systems;
The bang-bang club on defence, security and crime;
In all fairness on identity, equality, reconciliation;
Law, order and anarchy on Justice and ethics;
Talking (none)cents on economics and industry;
Drizzles, deserts and diamonds on water, ecology, poaching, pollution and preservation;
In a heartbeat on healthcare;
Food for thought on agriculture and farming;
Count your words on freedom of speech, media and communication;
From a different angle on art music, sport, literature and social history;
Politics and other tricks on just that;
Preserving history on museums, statues, parks and places, heritage tourism and the 'platteland'; Scripture, saints and sinners on religion, theology and belief systems;
Just a though on methodology, philosophy, oral history and mind-shifts.

Documentary films will also be accepted as presentations at the conference. The final date for abstracts (including those on films) is 22 February 2018.  Early bird conference fee is R2800 and the University of the Free State will be hosting this years' event.

International conference on Critical thinking

We love Hilton and we enjoy Double Tree because we are addicted to the cookies! This is the Double Tree in Seattle. 

All academics need to be critical thinkers. We also try to develop critical thinking skills in our students, build it in to our courses and assessment tasks and for me the most difficult part, to incorporate critical and active thinking into my daily life in order to counter emotional or instinctive reactions to life. 

The 38th annual International Conference on Critical thinking will take place between 16 and 20 July 2018 at the Double Tree Hotel in Rohnert Park, California, USA. The conference theme is Critical thinking throughout education and across the professions - in every classroom, every boardroom, every business, every government, in every country around the world. The call for proposals is open until 26 February and early registration discount is available until 16 June 2018.  There are four types of conference sessions available: focus sessions, plenary sessions, concurrent sessions and round-table discussions.  The focal session presenters include well known critical thinkers Linda Elder, Gerald Nosich, Brian Barnes and Paul Bankes. 

The conference venue is northern California, in the Sonoma wine district, home to more than 400 wineries. The hotel situated between two golf courses  and within easy reach of a night out to a musical performance at the Green Music Center. You can also see the Redwoods from a zip line or visit the rugged Bodega Coastline. Or you can go hiking, biking or boating. And for those of us from outside the USA, other local attractions include the Golden Gate Bridge and the Sonoma State University.  So do make sure that your booking includes a few extra days before or after the conference. 

Although accommodation is not included in the registration fee, the block is good and available until 15 June. I always like to stay in the conference hotel where the buzz is and you can network over a cup of coffee or dinner or in the garden.