Donovan Livingston is a Ph.D. Candidate in Educational Leadership at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A native of Fayetteville, NC, Donovan is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Columbia University, Harvard University – where he recently earned a masters degree in Learning & Teaching. Throughout his career, Donovan has worked to increase access and equity in higher education, serving first-generation and low-income high school students in pursuit of college admission. In his journey, Donovan has used the art of spoken word poetry as a tool for reflection, healing, and highlighting injustices in education.

Lightning talk - Countdown to Lift Off: Launching toward Democracy in Education

Using non-traditional methods and creative tactics, Dave Meslin spent twenty years as a social and political entrepreneur leaving a trail of non-profit start-ups, campaign victories, viral videos, new magazines, and public space interventions in his path. An urbanist, community organiser, author and trainer, Meslin inspires us to invert the traditional pyramid of hierarchy by creating meaningful opportunities to engage our employees, our members, our students. His thesis is simple: We’re stronger and smarter when we’re all involved. Transforming top-down leadership into bottom-up collaboration is the true challenge of the 21st century.

Lightning Talk - Teaching Apathy: How we culturally discourage leadership - and how we can turn that around

Alaa Murabit is a UN High-Level Commissioner for Health Employment and Economic Growth, one of only 17 Sustainable Development Goal Global Advocates appointed by the UN Secretary General and a MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow. Her TED Talk, “What my religion really says about women” was “Talk of the Day” & one of four “moving TED Talks to watch right now” by New York Times. At the young age of 15 Alaa completed high school and moved from Saskatoon, Canada to Zawia, Libya. It was there that she completed medical school and, driven by her desire to create inclusive processes and institutions, founded VLW in 2011 at the age of 21.With a strong focus on challenging societal and cultural norms and utilizing traditional and historical role models Alaa champions women’s participation in peace processes and conflict mediation. Her programs, such as the groundbreaking “Noor Campaign” have been replicated internationally. Nicknamed “The Libyan Doogie Howser” by Jon Stewart and applauded for her innovative and inclusive approach to security, Alaa is a champion for inclusive peace processes, and acts as advisor to numerous international security boards, governments and organizations, serving as aboard trustee for International Alert and Keeping Children Safe. An Ashoka Fellow, Alaa is the youngest Marisa Bellisario International Humanitarian Award recipient, New York Times “International TrustWomen Hero 2014”, Newsweek’s “25 under 25 to watch”, a BBC “100 Top Woman” and SAFE Global Hero.

Lightning talk - The Power of Compassion

Ansgar is a Lecturer in Education at the University of Sheffield, UK. His research investigates the unquestionable ‘goods’ of education and remains open to the possibility that education in all its forms, even where it appears most benign, is a form of violence. His work offers a history of its ‘good’ intentions.

Lightning talk - Cynical about Education

Prof. Leandar Litov graduated from the Faculty of Physics of Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski” in 1980, majoring in nuclear and particle physics. He worked for 10 years at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) – Dubna. In 1990 he returned to Sofia University, where he lectures since then in quantum and particle physics. He has been conducting investigations at the Serpukhov accelerator and – since 1992 – at the accelerator complex at CERN. Founding member of the CMS collaboration and Team Leader of the Sofia University team involved in the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider. He is author and co-author of over 600 scientific papers, and laureate of a number of national and international scientific awards. He is also Chair of the Institution Board of RPC CMS Collaboration, member of European Commission for Future Accelerators (ECFA) and of the CERN Council.

Lightning talk - Knowledge and creativity - the cornerstone of the modern democratic society

Dounia Bouzar holds a doctorate in French anthropology. Author of many books, she became interested in the process of radicalisation in 2006. Former qualified person of the French Muslim Council, appointed by the Prime Minister in the Observatory of secularism, she currently leads the Prevention Center against Sectarianism related to Islam (CPDSI).

Salim Daccache S.J., Lebanese Jesuit, is since 2012 Rector of Saint-Joseph University in Beirut. After studying theology, philosophy and political science at LSU and at the Centre Sèvres in Paris between 1970 and 1982, he obtained a doctorate in 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne on the problem of the creation of the world in the kalam of Maturidi al (1989) and another defree in Education Sciences at the University of Strasbourg on Pluralism, Citizenship and Living Together in Lebanon (“Pluralisme, Citoyenneté et Vivre-Ensemble au Liban : le salut  vient-il de l’école ?”, 2010). He is editor of the al-Machriq review and was director of the Collège Notre Dame de Jamhour.

Lightning talk - How can the University, in a pluralistic context, educate for democracy and equality? Five theses.