Saturday Keynote Speaker: Dr. Darren Lund
Dr. Darren Lund is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary, where his research examines social justice activism in schools and communities. Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he earned a teaching degree and a professional diploma from the University of Calgary, and has studied at the University of Victoria, University of Hawaii, and earned his PhD at the University of British Columbia.
A frequent invited expert on diversity and human rights issues, Darren is a regular keynote speaker, and he has presented at over 250 meetings and conferences. His research and opinions have been featured in hundreds of news stories and radio and television broadcasts, and he has consulted to a wide range of programs and projects. Since the 1980s Darren has published over 250 articles, poems, books, and book chapters. His books with Dr. Paul Carr are The Great White North? Exploring Whiteness, Privilege and Identity in Education (2007, Sense Publishers), and Doing Democracy: Striving for Political Literacy and Social Justice (2008, Peter Lang Publishers). He has another book in press, entitled Duoethnography: Dialogic Methods for Social, Health, and Educational Research (co-edited with Dr. Joe Norris and Dr. Rick Sawyer, Left Coast Press). Darren has held over $300,000 in research grant funding, and won the Educational Research Award from the Alberta Teachers’ Association for his Diversity Toolkit http://www.ucalgary.ca/dtoolkit The popular web-based resource has received over 400,000 hits since its launch. Darren taught high school for 16 years in Red Deer, Alberta. In his first year of teaching, he and his students formed the award-winning Students and Teachers Opposing Prejudice (STOP) program that lasted for 20 years. He has been a board member of the Alberta Multiculturalism Commission, and has served on numerous other academic, community, and government committees and boards. Darren’s ongoing community work against hate speech has resulted in national and international media coverage, and he has been the target of nuisance lawsuits, ongoing hate mail, and death threats against him. Darren has been recognized with numerous awards and honors for his teaching and social justice work, including being named Exemplary Multicultural Educator of the Year, a Peace Hero, and a Reader’s Digest National Leader in Education. He won Alberta’s inaugural Human Rights Award, an Alberta Centennial Medal and a Canada 125 Medal, and was named a “Top Educator of the Century” by the Red Deer Advocate newspaper. Darren is married and a parent to two wonderful children. Source: http://www.ucalgary.ca/dlund/ |
Sunday Keynote Speaker: Barbara Coloroso
Barbara Coloroso is an international bestselling author and for the past 38 years an internationally recognized speaker and consultant on parenting, teaching, school discipline, positive school climate, bullying, grieving, nonviolent conflict resolution and restorative justice.
She has appeared on Oprah, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and NPR and has been featured in the New York Times, Time, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, and other national and international publications. Her uniquely effective parenting and teaching strategies were developed through her years of training in sociology, special education, and philosophy, as well as field-tested through her experiences as a classroom teacher, laboratory school instructor, university instructor, seminar leader, volunteer in Rwanda, and mother of three grown children. She is the author of four international bestsellers: kids are worth it! Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline; Parenting Through Crisis—Helping Kids in Times of Loss, Grief and Change; The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander—From Pre-School to High School, How Parents and Teachers Can Help Break the Cycle of Violence; and Just Because It’s Not Wrong Doesn’t Make It Right—From Toddlers to Teens, Teaching Kids to Think and Act Ethically. Barbara’s latest book is Extraordinary Evil: A Brief History of Genocide…and Why it Matters. She also has two critically acclaimed video programs Winning at Parenting...without beating your kids and Winning at Teaching...without beating your kids. Source: http://www.kidsareworthit.com/Barbara_s_Biography.html |