2016 Annual Conference

The annual conference is one of the most important functions of any professional association. Adult education conferences have been conducted for 90 years. Two AAACE presidents will discuss the recent rich history of conferences and their contributions to the field. Conference programs, brochures, photos, and other memorabilia will be shared.

Everyone, but especially the young at heart, the wise elders, and all adult education history buffs!

This session is being presented for four reasons. First, We have been presenting a concurrent session on the history of adult education in general and AAACE in particular for the past five years. This year we are focusing on recent national conferences, to note their importance and how they provide an historical indicator of adult education directions and actions.
Second, we presented a presentation of past conferences last year. However, the interest and discussion resulted in our presenting conferences up to 1969. We now want to present the conferences from 1970 to the present.
Third, this session is being presented by the History and Philosophy of Adult Education Special Interest Group. We are wanting to make the SIG more active, and this presentation is a example of what this SIG can contribute. We will be briefly discussing the role(s) of this SIG at the end of this session.
And fourth, referring to George Santayana’ famous quote, "those who forget history are doomed to repeat it," a discussion of any association’s history should be periodically conducted in order that the present and future leadership are aware of what has occurred in the past, and what impact the past has on the present and future.