VCSS2026 Overview

VCSS2026

November 13-17, 2026 | Austria Center Vienna, Vienna, Austria & Online

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International, Intercultural, Interdisciplinary

The Vienna Conference on the Social Sciences (VCSS2026) will be hosted alongside The Vienna Conference on Arts and Humanities (VCAH2026) as a part of the IAFOR European City Conference Series. Registration for either of these conferences will allow delegates to attend any joint plenary session or parallel sessions as desired.

Willkommen in Wien! Welcome to Vienna!

Vienna is a wonderful and vibrant city, and a great central European cultural centre. Previously the capital of the Habsburg Austro-Hungarian Empire and now the capital of Austria, Vienna has a long and storied history reflecting its geographical position at the very heart of the European peninsula. A meeting place of peoples and ideas for centuries, Vienna is today constitutionally and permanently committed to neutrality. The city serves as one of the world’s most important hubs for global diplomacy and multilateral cooperation, and the headquarters to several UN agencies.

Vienna is a global centre for the arts and design, with a diverse and beautiful cityscape, including wonderful examples of Baroque, Secessionist, and modernist architecture. Its world-class galleries boast renowned collections of European art throughout the ages, including those dedicated to the Viennese artists Klimt and Schiele. However, it is for music that ‘The City of Music’ is most famous and celebrated, as it is home to the world’s greatest classical composers, including Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and Mahler. Vienna continues that musical tradition today, from public street performances and waltzes to opulent performance halls such as the Opera House and the Musikverein, the home of the renowned Vienna Philharmonic.

Alongside its artistic and musical heritage lies a great intellectual and academic tradition, which have influenced and inspired each other for centuries. Home to great and prestigious universities and academies, Vienna is perhaps best known for its coffeehouse tradition; spaces which became informal centres of learning through social and intellectual exchange, and where people engaged across the lines of nation, culture, but most importantly discipline, as the city and university intersected. During Vienna’s golden age, the interplay of politics, philosophy, psychology, and the arts fostered an environment that shaped some of the twentieth century’s most brilliant minds — among them Freud, Adler, Wittgenstein, Popper, Hayek, and Loos — and whose ideas in turn continue to influence and define modern thought.

We look forward to being inspired by the international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary traditions of Vienna, and to contributing to its intellectual life through our conference. This event will bring together hundreds of scholars from around the world to exchange ideas, research, and perspectives as we bring our International Academic Forum to Vienna. Join us!

I look forward to seeing you in Vienna!

For and on behalf of the IAFOR International Academic Board

Dr Joseph Haldane, Osaka University, Japan & University College London, United Kingdom
Chairman and CEO, IAFOR

Professor Jun Arima, University of Tokyo, Japan
President, IAFOR

Professor Anne Boddington, Middlesex University, United Kingdom
Executive Vice-President and Provost, IAFOR

Key Information
  • Location & Venue: Austria Center Vienna, Vienna, Austria & Online
  • Dates: Friday, November 13, 2026 ​to Tuesday, November 17, 2026
  • Early Bird Abstract Submission Deadline: May 21, 2026*
  • Final Abstract Submission Deadline: July 30, 2026
  • Registration Deadline for Presenters: September 10, 2026

*Submit early to take advantage of the discounted registration rates. Learn more about our registration options.

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Programme

To be announced

  • Digital Humanism in a More-Than-Human World
    Digital Humanism in a More-Than-Human World
    Keynote Presentation: Christoph Thun-Hohenstein
  • Arts in Crisis Settings: Rethinking Health, Education and Protection
    Arts in Crisis Settings: Rethinking Health, Education and Protection
    Keynote Presentation: Albane Buriel
  • The Forum
    The Forum
    Come share your thoughts and experiences as global educators and researchers.

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Speakers

To be announced

  • Anne Boddington
    Anne Boddington
    IAFOR, Japan
  • Albane Buriel
    Albane Buriel
    University Rennes 2, France
  • Michael Menchaca
    Michael Menchaca
    University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, United States
  • Christoph Thun-Hohenstein
    Christoph Thun-Hohenstein
    Future Platform ReGenerativa, Austria
  • Darrel Toulon
    Darrel Toulon
    Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität, Austria

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Conference Committees

The International Academic Board (IAB)

Professor Anne Boddington, IAFOR, Japan (IAB Chair)
Dr Joseph Haldane, IAFOR & The University of Osaka, Japan
Professor Jun Arima, IAFOR & The University of Tokyo, Japan
Professor Virgil Hawkins, IAFOR Research Centre & The University of Osaka, Japan
Mr Lowell Sheppard, IAFOR & Never Too Late Academy, Japan

Professor Umberto Ansaldo, VinUniversity, Vietnam
Dr Susana Barreto, University of Porto, Portugal
Professor Grant Black, Chuo University, Japan
Dr Evangelia Chrysikou, The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London, United Kingdom
Professor Donald E. Hall, Binghamton University, United States
Professor Brendan Howe, Ewha Womans University, South Korea & The Asian Political and International Studies Association (APISA)
Dr James W. McNally, University of Michigan, United States & NACDA Program on Aging

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Conference Programme Committee

Professor Anne Boddington, IAFOR, Japan
Professor Barbara Dobretsberger, Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, Austria
Dr Joseph Haldane, IAFOR, Japan
Dr Rolf Laven, Pädagogische Hochschule Wien, Austria
Dr Ruth Mateus-Berr, Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, Austria
Dr Wilfried Swoboda, Pädagogische Hochschule Wien, Austria

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Conference Review Committee

Professor Jennifer Madonna Dait, Ifugao State University, Philippines
Dr Abdelkrim Dekhakhena, 8 Mai 1945 Guelma University, Algeria
Dr Baraki Haile, Aksum University, Ethiopia
Dr Audrey Hudson, Philadelphia Museum of Art, United States
Dr Anar Ibrayeva, Maqsut Narikbayev University, Kazakhstan
Dr Chani Imbulgoda, Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka
Dr Alvin Joseph, St. George's College, India
Dr Shani Kuna, Sapir College, Israel
Dr Maria Cecilia Laganson, Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology (BISCAST), Philippines
Dr Asem Obied, Palestine Technical University - Kadoorie, Jordan
Dr Rasha Osman Abdel Haliem, The Higher Technological Institute & AMIDEAST, Egypt
Professor Michael Owen, Brock University, Canada
Dr Parichat Pragobmas, Phuket Rajabhat University, Thailand
Dr Kornkanya Ratchaponsit, Phuket Rajabhat University, Thailand


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Digital Humanism in a More-Than-Human World
Keynote Presentation: Christoph Thun-Hohenstein

Digital Humanism is a movement founded in Vienna that is characterised by a critical yet constructive stance towards digitalisation: it posits that digital technologies should serve people, not the other way round, and is based on five fundamental considerations:

  1. Digital technologies change us and our lives.
  2. They must protect people and the environment.
  3. They should strengthen democracy and society.
  4. They are malleable, not fate.
  5. Most importantly, people are not machines.

The rapid developments in AI and the massive ecological crisis call for an urgent update to Digital Humanism. We must embed it within a holistically conceived ‘more- than-human world’, and position nature as humanity’s most important partner in dealing with AI. For humans are part of nature; they are one species among many. Humans would therefore be well advised to abandon anthropocentric thinking and to use powerful technologies such as AI not only for their own benefit, but also consistently for the protection and well-being of our planet. The ultimate goal must be the regeneration of human civilization in future-oriented harmony with nature.

This keynote will introduce a brand new initiative that brings together people, nature, and AI into a groundbreaking shared vision. It will outline a Regenerative Digital
Humanism, through which AI, nature, and we are united as allies for a better world. It will focus on empowering Gen Z, a generation with best prospects of living to see the next turn of the century.
Read presenter's biography

Arts in Crisis Settings: Rethinking Health, Education and Protection
Keynote Presentation: Albane Buriel

Over the past decade, arts, health, and wellbeing have become an increasingly established field of research, practice, and public policy. The WHO scoping review on arts and health (Fancourt & Finn, 2019), the creation of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, and UNESCO’s Framework for Culture and Arts Education reflect a growing recognition of artistic and cultural participation as a matter of public interest.

Yet, in contexts of crisis, conflict, and displacement, the purposes and conditions of arts-based practice require particular attention. Violence, displacement, disrupted education, weakened social ties, and the loss of cultural spaces affect not only individual wellbeing, but also collective memory, cultural continuity, participation, and possibilities for peace. This keynote draws on multi-sited research and practice in Syria, Iraq, and other crisis-affected contexts to examine how arts-based programmes operate across health, education, and protection.

Proposing a typology of existing approaches, this talk distinguishes between programmes primarily oriented towards health and psychosocial support from those focused on education in emergencies, while also identifying hybrid approaches that connect cultural participation, protection and community life. These practices include visual arts, theatre, music, storytelling, participatory, and biographical approaches, often developed in collaboration with local artists and communities.

The keynote argues that artistic practices should not be understood solely through therapeutic outcomes or individual wellbeing. Their potential lies also in creating conditions for expression, recognition, collective meaning-making and social connection. However, such effects are neither automatic nor inherent to art itself. They depend on facilitation, meaningful participation, cultural legitimacy, and the quality of relationships between artists, educators, health professionals, and humanitarian actors. The presentation concludes by considering the ethical, professional, and evaluative challenges facing this emerging field.

Read presenter's biography
The Forum
Come share your thoughts and experiences as global educators and researchers.

The Forum is a plenary session designed as a platform for international, intercultural, interdisciplinary – and inclusive – discussions, joining experts and practitioners alike in an open dialogue format. Come share your thoughts and experiences as global educators and researchers.

The Forum will take place in two separate formats.
The Forum (Onsite) will be held at the venue and is exclusively for Onsite participants

The Forum (Online) will take place on the Online Day and is open to all Conference participants and IAFOR Members.

Overviews of the ideas, conversations, and key takeaways generated from the discussion at these sessions are recorded and archived in the Conference Report and Intelligence Briefing (ISSN: 2759-4939)

Anne Boddington
IAFOR, Japan

Biography

Professor Anne Boddington is Executive Vice-President and Provost of IAFOR, and oversees the academic programs, research and policies of the forum.

Anne Boddington is Professor Emerita of Design Innovation and has held executive and senior leadership roles in Higher Education including as Dean of Arts & Humanities at the University of Brighton, Pro Vice Chancellor for Research, Business & Innovation at Kingston and Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at Middlesex University.

In 2022, she concluded chairing the Sub Panel (32) for Art & Design: History, Practice & Theory as part of the Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) and has extensive experience in the governance and conduct of peer review, research evaluation and assessment in REF2014 (Sub Panel Deputy Chair and Equality Diversity Advisory Panel [EDAP]) and RAE2008. A former member of AHRC’s Advisory Board, she is the current Chair of the Advisory Board for the UKRI’s National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) programme (£30M), Deputy Chair and a Trustee of the Design Council, the government’s strategic advisor for design, and a member of both the InnoHK Scientific Committee (Hong Kong) and the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ).

Since the 1990’s Anne has worked across the UK and internationally with a wide range of quality assurance, professional, statutory, and regulatory bodies in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Hong Kong, and India.

As an independent consultant she now works as a strategic advisor and mentor and is committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in practice, developing effective governance, supporting career development, reducing bureaucracy, and improving organisational design, integrity, and productivity in the changing workplace.

Panel Presentation (2026) | TBA
Albane Buriel
University Rennes 2, France

Biography

Dr Albane Buriel is an associate researcher in Education Sciences at University Rennes 2, France, within the Centre for Research on Education, Learning and Didactics (CREAD), and the founder and president of Art to Face, an international NGO dedicated to culture and arts education in emergency, conflict, and post-conflict settings. Her work lies at the intersection of research, humanitarian practice, and cultural action. She specialises in arts-based approaches across mental health and psychosocial support, education, and community participation, examining how artistic and cultural practices can support agency, recognition, collective meaning-making, and social cohesion in contexts of violence and displacement.

Dr Buriel has conducted multi-sited fieldwork in Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Eastern Europe, working alongside local communities, artists, educators, NGOs, and international organisations. Her research draws on ethnographic and participatory methodologies, including participant observation, arts-based and biographical devices, and collaborative knowledge production.

She teaches humanitarian action, MHPSS, and arts-based education in several universities. Her work critically examines both the potential and the ethical tensions of arts-based practice, including questions of power, representation, emotional exposure, care, and sustainability. Through Art to Face, she is currently developing the International Observatory on Culture and Arts Education in Crisis and Post-Conflict Contexts.

Keynote Presentation (2026) | Arts in Crisis Settings: Rethinking Health, Education and Protection
Michael Menchaca
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, United States

Biography

Dr Michael Menchaca is a Professor at the Department of Learning Design and Technology at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, United States. He specialises in distance education, and has designed, implemented, and coordinated online and hybrid programmes for over 20 years. He was an IT specialist for many years in the public and private sector. As an educator, he teaches and conducts research in the areas of online learning, technology integration, and social justice with technology. He currently serves as editor for the IAFOR Journal of Education: Technology in Education Edition.

Christoph Thun-Hohenstein
Future Platform ReGenerativa, Austria

Biography

Christoph Thun-Hohenstein is cultural manager, curator, and author at the interface of fine art, media art, design, architecture and ecology, climate, regeneration as well as digitalisation and artificial intelligence / superintelligence. He is Artistic Director of the Future Platform ReGenerativa, Austria.

After studying law, political science, and history of art at the University of Vienna, Austria, Dr Thun-Hohenstein worked for the Austrian Foreign Ministry and held posts in Abidjan, Geneva, and Bonn. He was Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum New York from 1999 to 2007. From 2022 to 2025, he was Director General for International Cultural Relations at the Austrian Foreign Ministry. From 2007 to 2011, he served as Managing Director of departure, the Creative Industries.

Agency of the City of Vienna. Dr Thun-Hohenstein also served as General Director and Artistic Director of the MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna from 2011 to 2021. He then founded the Vienna Biennale for Change, which he directed from 2014 until 2022. Most recently, he initiated the Vienna Climate Biennale and chaired the Advisory Board of the Vienna Climate Biennale.

Dr Thun-Hohenstein has published several books. His most recent book, Zukunftsmutig (Kremayr & Scheriau 2026, in German), was released earlier this year.

Keynote Presentation (2026) | TBA
Darrel Toulon
Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität, Austria

Biography

Darrel Toulon is an artistic researcher, practitioner, and educator at the Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität, Austria. He is also a cultural manager, an artist supported by Arts and Health Austria, and the Founding Artistic Director of 'the alpha group’, based in Vienna. His projects align with the university's Third Mission, addressing issues such as the consequences of migration and war, intersectionality and identity, and long-term unemployment. His primary area of research is the development of docu-dance-theatre as a transdisciplinary tool using participatory artistic interventions for personal growth, trauma transformation, and societal change, with marginalised, stigmatised, and silenced populations.

Toulon has headed projects in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Uganda, and was a featured artist at Künstlerhaus Wien (SUBSTANZ Exhibition, 2024-25). Other international projects include the intergenerational/interethnic Peace-Building with Performance Arts Residency at Mindanao State University, Philippines. His projects also target young adults with migration backgrounds and NEET status, and individuals living with their Lebensborn family inheritance.

In 2002, he was awarded the First Austrian Dance Production Special Prize. His community dance project “THROUGH THE OPEN DOOR” (2015), created with unaccompanied minor refugees residing in Graz, Austria, was nominated for Place of Respect 2016. He was awarded the Styrian Golden Cross of Honour in 2016.

Keynote Presentation (2026) | TBA