The 2024-25 Dean's Distinguished Speaker Series aims to facilitate conversation with preeminent scholars in education about the connections between Community, Schools, and Identity. As schools face existing and emerging challenges, they weigh shifting opportunities for educating and nurturing the students and communities they serve. Each of their choices stands to impact students' senses of who they are and where they belong. In an increasingly complex and interconnected world, schools need committed, knowledgeable, ethical, and innovative partners to support, inspire, and sustain them in these crucial endeavors.
The speaker series builds on historic University of Illinois efforts related to community and public engagement, and the increasing expectations of addressing issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools and society. Ultimately, the speaker series reimagines our role as university actors, catalysts, and social change agents. By coming together to exchange ideas, we spark new ways to take accountability, engage in advocacy, and take action amidst the challenges and opportunities of building a more equitable, just, and empowered institution and world.
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