Character Caught,
Taught, and Sought
Theories and Evidence
8th-10th January 2026
Oriel College, Oxford
Character Caught, Taught, and Sought
Theories and Evidence
January 8th – 10th 2026
The original conceptualisation from the Jubilee Centre’s framework of dividing strategies of character development into ‘taught’, ‘caught’ and ‘sought’ has found resonance with theorists and practitioners alike, and those terms are now emblazoned on walls in many schools and colleges, within and outside of the U.K. However, the time has come to revisit this conceptualisation and subject it to further scrutiny. Various questions beckon, such as: Is this conceptualisation theoretically rigorous and exhaustive of possible characterological strategies, or does it miss something important? How exactly are these strategies related; would it, for instance, be possible to teach character productively in an institution where it is not caught from the ethos also? How is the ‘sought’ element related to the development of practical wisdom (phronesis) that is currently witnessing renewed interest? Is learning from role models a case of ‘taught’, ‘caught’ or ‘sought, or perhaps all three at once? How does the empirical evidence for the effectiveness of those three strategies – individually and collectively – stack up? What is the role of the individual practitioner in implementing those strategies and how much of the responsibility for implementation rests with the leadership team?
The main aim of this conference is to bring discourses about those questions closer together by exploring how current agendas in virtue ethics, moral psychology, professional ethics and character education offer resources, theoretical as well as empirical, to move these discourses forward and further consolidate – or revise – the tripartite conceptualisation.
The aim of the 2026 Jubilee Centre annual conference is to bring together experts from a range of disciplines to explore those questions and many more. Can theorists from philosophy, moral and developmental psychology, education, professional ethics, sociology, theology and history learn from each other’s work? How can insights from theory and practice be integrated?
Call for Papers
We hereby send out an open call for presentations falling under the broad theme of the conference. While our focus this time is on issues regarding character and virtues in the context of the tripartite conceptualisation, we will also look favourably upon proposals that explore other, more general character-related issues from an educational, social scientific, philosophical, religious, or practice-oriented perspective. There will be parallel sessions devoted to general topics in the area of character, virtue, and character education. We particularly welcome proposals from teachers, professionals, and other practitioners.
We ask interested parties to send us an abstract of about 500 words via the submission portal here before the 4th July 2025.
We will send out notifications of acceptance before the end of July.
The conference fee is £475 and covers full board at Oriel College (2 nights), including the formal conference dinner. Details of how to pay the registration fee will be provided in due course to the selected proposals.
FAQs
Submitting a paper and registering
We ask interested parties to send us an abstract of about 500 words via the submission portal before the 29th June 2025.
We will send out notifications of acceptance before the end of July.
Please ensure you list whether any co-authors on your paper are expecting to attend, and who the primary author would be in the instance we cannot accept multiple authors to the conference.
We will send out notifications of acceptance before the end of July.
If you have not received any correspondence by the end of July, please contact jubileecentrepapers@contacts.bham.ac.uk
You are welcome to submit a paper alongside a colleague/co-speaker. However, due to limited availability of places, It may be that we can only invite one of you to attend, so please clarify who would be your primary speaker.
Please also let us know on any submissions with co-authors, whether they are also interested in attending or are just to be credited in the programme
While our focus this time is on issues regarding character and virtues in the context of the tripartite conceptualisation, we will also look favourably upon proposals that explore other more general character-related issues from an educational, social scientific, philosophical, religious, or practice-oriented perspective. There will be parallel sessions devoted to general topics in the area of character, virtue, and character education. We particularly welcome proposals from teachers, professionals, and other practitioners.
Before registering, you will need to submit a proposal. Once your proposal is accepted, you will be provided details to register. We are currently accepting submissions. To submit a paper, please see the “How to submit a proposal” FAQ.
Successful proposals will receive a link via email to register in due course.
If you did not receive an invitation but are still interested in attending, a waiting list will be available at a later date.
The conference fee is £475
This includes full board (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) at Oriel College from lunchtime Thursday 8th to lunchtime Saturday 10th.
Details of how to pay the registration fee will be provided in due course to those invited.
If you were not invited and wish to be placed on the waiting list, please complete the waiting list form that will be available once registration begins.
Oriel college only allocates single accommodation rooms for the conference. Each registration will only cover a single bedroom for that named guest.
Our focus is on any ongoing and future global challenges to healthy character development. We welcome proposals discussing AI, mental health, and environmental and political issues and will also look favourably upon proposals that explore different character-related challenges from an educational, social scientific, philosophical, religious or practice-oriented perspective. There will be parallel sessions devoted to general topics in the area of character, virtue and character education. We particularly welcome proposals from teachers, professionals, and other practitioners.
If you wish to attend but would not be interested in presenting, you can ask to be placed on a waiting list. We will then offer places as and when they become available.
Please note these places are extremely limited as the majority of places are reserved for speaking participants.
Click here and complete the waiting list form.
Please contact jubileecentrepapers@contacts.bham.ac.uk