The Eight International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry will take place at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign from May 16-19, 2012. The theme of the 2012 Congress is 'Qualitative Inquiry as Global Endeavor'. The 2012 Congress will offer scholars the opportunity to debate these issues, to foreground qualitative inquiry as a shared, global endeavor, while engaging the politics of advocacy, pro and con, to form coalitions, to engage in debate on how qualitative research can be used to advance the causes of social justice, while addressing racial, ethnic, gender and environmental disparities in education, welfare and healthcare.