Lunch & Keynote by Kari Grain: Provost's Symposium √ § Ͼ
At the Provost's Teaching and Learning Symposium!
Location
University Center : 301 (Ballroom)
Date & Time
September 19, 2025, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm
Description
This year’s keynote, described below, will be given by Dr. Kari Grain.
Keynote: Critical Hope as a Catalyst for Transformative Pedagogies
Higher education offers a context in which students can gain what Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire, called “education in hope” – a forward-looking and action-oriented understanding of the complexities that affect oneself and one’s society. But just as hope can be a vital foundation for the construction of possible futures, its utopian ideals can sometimes alienate those experiencing despair or disappointment. With such duality in mind, this keynote examines the foundations of “critical hope” (Freire, 1994; Grain, 2022) and explores how it might be taken up through teaching and learning practices in higher education. Specifically, we explore experiential and transformative pedagogies that offer vibrant possibilities for educators and learners alike.
Dr. Kari Grain is the author of Critical Hope: How to Grapple with Complexity, Lead with Purpose, and Cultivate Transformative Social Change (North Atlantic Books, 2022) and teaches in the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Education, where she leads the Adult Learning and Global Change (ALGC) Master’s of Education Program. She also serves as a research consultant with Simon Fraser University’s Community Engaged Research Initiative (CERi). Grain’s scholarship on social justice, experiential learning, hope, and climate emotions has been featured in peer reviewed journals, books, and podcasts. Dr. Grain works with school districts, universities, and non-profit organizations to engage practices of critical hope toward systemic and personal transformation. Kari lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, on unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories.
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR LUNCH! PLEASE CLICK "Going" BELOW BY THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 TO REGISTER FOR LUNCH.
This registration is ONLY for the lunch & keynote from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. For information on the full symposium, including an agenda and program, please see this post.
Lunch will be provided to all registered participants, please click “Going” below to reserve your seat for this session. Please email fdc@umbc.edu to note any dietary restrictions (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, food allergies, etc.) by Thursday, September 11. The deadline to register for this event is the earlier of Thursday, September 11 or when the event reaches capacity. Please email fdc@umbc.edu to be added to a wait list if the event is full. If you have registered and find that you can no longer attend, please kindly release your spot so that others may attend.
Graduate TAs are welcome to attend.
Ͼ CIRTL graduate students are invited to attend
√ Counts toward the ALIT Certificate
§ Counts toward the INNOVATE Certificate
Please note that only the keynote presentation counts toward the ALIT or INNOVATE Certificate.
Keynote: Critical Hope as a Catalyst for Transformative Pedagogies
Higher education offers a context in which students can gain what Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire, called “education in hope” – a forward-looking and action-oriented understanding of the complexities that affect oneself and one’s society. But just as hope can be a vital foundation for the construction of possible futures, its utopian ideals can sometimes alienate those experiencing despair or disappointment. With such duality in mind, this keynote examines the foundations of “critical hope” (Freire, 1994; Grain, 2022) and explores how it might be taken up through teaching and learning practices in higher education. Specifically, we explore experiential and transformative pedagogies that offer vibrant possibilities for educators and learners alike.
Dr. Kari Grain is the author of Critical Hope: How to Grapple with Complexity, Lead with Purpose, and Cultivate Transformative Social Change (North Atlantic Books, 2022) and teaches in the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Education, where she leads the Adult Learning and Global Change (ALGC) Master’s of Education Program. She also serves as a research consultant with Simon Fraser University’s Community Engaged Research Initiative (CERi). Grain’s scholarship on social justice, experiential learning, hope, and climate emotions has been featured in peer reviewed journals, books, and podcasts. Dr. Grain works with school districts, universities, and non-profit organizations to engage practices of critical hope toward systemic and personal transformation. Kari lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, on unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories.
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR LUNCH! PLEASE CLICK "Going" BELOW BY THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 TO REGISTER FOR LUNCH.
This registration is ONLY for the lunch & keynote from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. For information on the full symposium, including an agenda and program, please see this post.
Lunch will be provided to all registered participants, please click “Going” below to reserve your seat for this session. Please email fdc@umbc.edu to note any dietary restrictions (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, food allergies, etc.) by Thursday, September 11. The deadline to register for this event is the earlier of Thursday, September 11 or when the event reaches capacity. Please email fdc@umbc.edu to be added to a wait list if the event is full. If you have registered and find that you can no longer attend, please kindly release your spot so that others may attend.
Graduate TAs are welcome to attend.
Ͼ CIRTL graduate students are invited to attend
√ Counts toward the ALIT Certificate
§ Counts toward the INNOVATE Certificate
Please note that only the keynote presentation counts toward the ALIT or INNOVATE Certificate.
