Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference

The Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference (EQRC), formerly known as the Ethnographic and Qualitative Research in Education Conference, originated in 1988 at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The conference was created to provide a forum for the dissemination of qualitative research studies. It subsequently moved to Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City. Thereafter, the conference was hosted at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. EQRC moved to the State University of New York at Albany in 2004. In 2005 and 2006, the conference moved to [Page 287]Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio, and plans are to continue hosting it there for several more years. Information regarding the past and present conferences, including electronic proceedings, remains posted on the respective university websites.

Moving EQRC to Ohio helped make the conference more accessible to potential participants from midwestern U.S. institutions. Located just outside of Dayton, the current location also is within driving distance of Cincinnati and Columbus airports. Consequently, accessibility is optimal with respect to both driving and air transportation.

The conference historically has been held around the first or second weekend in June. This allows professors to finish their semesters—and also to complete write-ups of papers they have developed over the course of the academic year. The conference has been hosted on university campuses, rather than in hotels, to make the experience feasible for graduate students and other researchers with limited travel funds.

EQRC draws more than 100 presenters annually. Papers are presented both in oral formats and via poster presentations. Presenters are drawn from a wide spectrum of institutions, ranging from Ivy League faculty members to graduate students. Results from doctoral dissertations and master's theses are presented regularly. Research projects are shared from all traditions of qualitative inquiry as well as conceptual and methodological papers.

Following the 2005 and 2006 conferences, selected peer-reviewed papers were published in a book by Cambridge Scholars Press under the title Ethnographic and Qualitative Research in Education (Vols. 1 and 2). A new peer-reviewed (print) journal has been established for publishing future selected EQRC papers. It is titled the Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research.

In sum, EQRC has a distinguished history and has become a place both to hear paper presentations of cutting-edge research and to network with other qualitative researchers. The 2-day conference now provides a publication forum for scholars to place their research articles into print. The call for papers typically is issued in February on the EQRC website (http://www.cedarville.edu/eqre).