Humanities & Social Sciences

Esteemed speakers contributing their insights into human culture, behavior, and societal development

Bennette Baguisa

Bennette Baguisa

2nd year Ph.D. student in Women and Gender Studies

2nd year Ph.D. student in Women and Gender Studies Show more

Pietro Pesce

Pietro Pesce

Dr Pietro Pesce is an instructor of Italian at the University of Arkansas. He holds a PhD in Linguistics from Florida State University, where he also completed a Master's Degree in Italian Studies (Literature and Linguistics). Dr Pesce's research interests center around Acquisition of Foreign Languages and Syntax, and he is actively investigating grammatical processing of complex morphosyntax in second and heritage language speakers of Spanish and Italian. Additionally, Dr Pesce has been involved in the reshaping and redesigning of foreign language courses for several years, focusing his efforts in the renovation of grading systems, the revitalization of contents, and the integration of newer instructional tools in the classroom.

Dr Pietro Pesce is an instructor of Italian at the University of Arkansas. He holds a PhD in Linguistics from Florida State University, where he also completed a Master's Degree in Italian Studies (Literature and Linguistics). Dr Pesce's research int... Show more

Cathy Schlund-Vials

Cathy Schlund-Vials

Cathy J. Schlund-Vials is the Iris Howard Regents Professor in English Literature at the University of Texas, Austin. Prior to this academic appointment, Schlund-Vials was Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in English and Asian/Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut. She is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies (2016-2018) and recently completed her tenure as the president of the American Studies Association (2021-2022).

In addition to numerous book chapters and articles, Cathy has edited and co-edited a number of collections, including Keywords for Asian American Studies (NYU Press 2015), Asian America: A Primary Source Reader (Yale UP 2016), Flashpoints for Asian American Studies (Fordham UP 2017), and The Subject(s) of Human Rights (Temple UP 2019). She is author of two monographs: Modeling Citizenship: Jewish and Asian American Writing (Temple UP 2011) and War, Genocide, and Justice: Cambodian American Memory Work (University of Minnesota Press 2012). Cathy is currently completing three monographs: Militarized Excess: Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, Prosthetic Ecologies: Disability, Environment, and Human Rights, and Planned Obsolescence: The Mediated Rise and Predetermined Fall of Ethnic Studies.

Cathy J. Schlund-Vials is the Iris Howard Regents Professor in English Literature at the University of Texas, Austin. Prior to this academic appointment, Schlund-Vials was Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in English and Asian/Asian American ... Show more

Natalia da Silva

Natalia da Silva

I am an Assistant Professor of Statistics in the Department of Quantitative Methods at Universidad de la República in Montevideo, Uruguay (UDELAR-IESTA). I earned my Ph.D. in Statistics from Iowa State University in July 2017, under the supervision of Di Cook and Heike Hofmann. My research interests include supervised learning methods, prediction, exploratory data analysis, statistical graphics, reproducible research, and meta-analysis.

I co-founded the Latinamerican Conference About the Use of R in R&D, (LatinR,https://latin-r.com), in 2018 and have been serving as co-chair of the event since then. Additionally, I co-founded R-Ladies Montevideo (RLadies_MVD and The R User Group in Montevideo, known as GURU. Most of the courses I teach involve coding in R at various levels. If you want to know more about the R community across Latin America, check R Fordwards post: http://forwards.github.io/blog/2018/02/05/r-in-latin-america/. During my Ph.D. at ISU, I also co-founded R-Ladies-Ames.

I am an Assistant Professor of Statistics in the Department of Quantitative Methods at Universidad de la República in Montevideo, Uruguay (UDELAR-IESTA). I earned my Ph.D. in Statistics from Iowa State University in July 2017, under the supervision ... Show more

Kanjana Thepboriruk

Kanjana Thepboriruk

Dr. Kanjana is a linguist and an historian. She is an associate professor of Thai language in the Department of World Languages & Cultures and is a research affiliate at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University. Her work examines the notion of "Thainess" and how Thais define, perform, understand, transmit, and regulate "Thainess" both in Thailand and in the US diaspora, in the past and in the present, including the role(s) that the Thai language may or may not have in these processes.

Dr. Kanjana is a linguist and an historian. She is an associate professor of Thai language in the Department of World Languages & Cultures and is a research affiliate at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University. Her work... Show more

Amanda Kavner, PhD

Amanda Kavner, PhD

Dr Amanda Kavner is a cognitive neuroscientist with a research focus on mapping cognitive processes using neurocognitive measurements and machine learning algorithms.

As a professor, Kavner has always focused on the understanding, utilization, and teaching of current and upcoming technological innovations that are positioned to become a mainstream tool for her students' future lives, which is what has brought her to blockchain technology and NFTs.

Dr Amanda Kavner is a cognitive neuroscientist with a research focus on mapping cognitive processes using neurocognitive measurements and machine learning algorithms. As a professor, Kavner has always focused on the understanding, utilization, an... Show more

Marianna Lyulchenko

Marianna Lyulchenko

Marianna Lyulchenko is interested in identifying the key factors associated with school readiness and long-term school success from early childhood through elementary and beyond. Lyulchenko is regularly engaged in research that collects surveys, direct assessments, standardized test scores, and observational data linked to children and classrooms along with qualitative data from sources such as interviews, focus groups, and extant document reviews.

Marianna Lyulchenko is interested in identifying the key factors associated with school readiness and long-term school success from early childhood through elementary and beyond. Lyulchenko is regularly engaged in research that collects surveys, dire... Show more

Liliana Castillo -Neira

Liliana Castillo -Neira

I'm Liliana Castillo Neira, a Colombian-Mexican historian and Sr. UX Writer at Mercado Libre, working in the Cross Border Trade business unit. I'm also pursuing a master's degree in Digital Humanities, focusing on various fields such as data visualization, data painting, museums and imaginary archives, metaverse architecture, and developing digital tools for teaching history to different communities, including indigenous people and seniors.

As a content writer, I constantly strive to innovate and explore new methods to create engaging content. I believe that exploring theories from various disciplines, such as philosophy, anthropology, design, physics, and astronomy, can enrich our work and make it more interesting and productive.

In my free time, I enjoy traveling, visiting museums, painting, rock climbing, fishing, spending time with my dogs, exploring fashion, and learning new languages.

I'm Liliana Castillo Neira, a Colombian-Mexican historian and Sr. UX Writer at Mercado Libre, working in the Cross Border Trade business unit. I'm also pursuing a master's degree in Digital Humanities, focusing on various fields such as data visualiz... Show more

Caroline Kikisch

Caroline Kikisch

Caroline ist Kultur- und Sozialwissenschaftlerin, arbeitet als Coach, Mediatorin und Organisationsberaterin und unterstützt Menschen und Systeme dabei, für sich einzutreten und miteinander ins Gespräch zu kommen.

Caroline ist Kultur- und Sozialwissenschaftlerin, arbeitet als Coach, Mediatorin und Organisationsberaterin und unterstützt Menschen und Systeme dabei, für sich einzutreten und miteinander ins Gespräch zu kommen. Show more

Jodee Gibson, MA | PCC

Jodee Gibson, MA | PCC

Jodee Gibson, PCC is a leading expert on healing leadership. As a professional coach and speaker, she has created massive change and generated millions of dollars for her clients including Keller Williams Realty, National Institute of Health, the University of Michigan and the International Coaching Federation. Jodee has built award winning cultures and recently published her first book, Healing Your Map, encompassing developmental trauma.

Her holistic approach is deeply layered in developmental psychology, NLP, neuroscience, consciousness, trauma, intention, levels of energy, professional coaching and the law of vibration. This unconventional approach emerges from pairing her often tumultuous experiential education with her extensive formal education. The intersection she creates with these is beyond fascinating. Jodee resides in Oakland County, Michigan. She coaches and speaks worldwide. www.jodeegibson.com

Jodee Gibson, PCC is a leading expert on healing leadership. As a professional coach and speaker, she has created massive change and generated millions of dollars for her clients including Keller Williams Realty, National Institute of Health, the Uni... Show more

Luis Cásedas

Luis Cásedas

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (University of Granada), where I recently completed my PhD studies under the supervision of Prof. Juan Lupiáñez. Currently, my research aims to advance our understanding of the neurocognitive and affective mechanisms underpinning mindfulness-related meditation practices, and of their effectiveness in enhancing cognition and emotion. For more information, please visit my personal webpage: www.lcasedas.com

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (University of Granada), where I recently completed my PhD studies under the supervision of Prof. Juan Lupiáñez. Currently, my research aims to advance our understanding o... Show more

Jaqueline Santos de Souza

Jaqueline Santos de Souza

She is Benjamin's Mom, Brazilian of Salvador city, Artist and Teacher. Graduated in Languages at UCSAL, Master in Language and Culture and PhD Student in Applied Linguistics at UFBA. She has taught in a public school for 15 years and develops research in teaching and learning languages from a decolonial perspective. She currently records English classes for TV and publishes technical and literary texts. Member of Kunhã Asé - Network Women in Science and Network of the Black Researchers in Language Studies (REPENSE).

She is Benjamin's Mom, Brazilian of Salvador city, Artist and Teacher. Graduated in Languages at UCSAL, Master in Language and Culture and PhD Student in Applied Linguistics at UFBA. She has taught in a public school for 15 years and develops researc... Show more

Amar Natt, PhD

Amar Natt, PhD

Managing Director at Econ One Research, Inc. specializing in econometric modeling of Big Data and helping firms introduce data-guided decision-making. Lecturer at UCLA in the Sociology Department, teaching Data Science and Statistical & Computational Methods.

Managing Director at Econ One Research, Inc. specializing in econometric modeling of Big Data and helping firms introduce data-guided decision-making. Lecturer at UCLA in the Sociology Department, teaching Data Science and Statistical & Computational... Show more

Arthur Doler

Arthur Doler

Arthur (or Art, take your pick) has been a software engineer for 21 years and has worked on things as exciting as analysis software for casinos and things as boring as banking websites. He is an advocate for talking openly about mental health and psychology in the technical world, and he spends a lot of time thinking about how we program and why we program, and about the tools, structures, cultures, and mental processes that help and hinder us from our ultimate goal of writing amazing things. His hair is brown and his thorax is a shiny blue color.

Arthur (or Art, take your pick) has been a software engineer for 21 years and has worked on things as exciting as analysis software for casinos and things as boring as banking websites. He is an advocate for talking openly about mental health and psy... Show more

Yannis Martin

Yannis Martin

Yannis Martin is the founder and CEO of Nistin et OMK, a digital transformation consulting and training company.

With 16 years of experience in project management and transition management, he is a certified consultant and trainer in COBIT® 2019, ITIL® 4, and a PECB Certified Trainer in cybersecurity (ISO27001), and PRINCE2®. His expertise covers governance, IT security, and project management.

EiCnam engineer and sociologist by training, he has been a speaker since 2019. He has participated in numerous international events, including the Agile Tour, Devopsdays, and the IIBA and SMP conferences. He also teaches at the University of Avignon (2021) and EM Lyon (2025).

In 2024, he became a doctoral student at the Université de technologie de Compiègne, Alliance Sorbonne Université, and the COSTECH laboratory. His research focuses on how AI fits into the history of complexity and helps provide principles for approaching it in different domains.

Yannis Martin is the founder and CEO of Nistin et OMK, a digital transformation consulting and training company. With 16 years of experience in project management and transition management, he is a certified consultant and trainer in COBIT® 2019,... Show more

Kristyna Ferris

Kristyna Ferris

Kristyna Ferris is a solution architect at P3 Adaptive. Her experience includes implementing and managing enterprise-level Power BI instance, training teams on reporting best practices, and building templates for scalable analytics. Passionate about participating and growing the data community, she enjoys co-writing on Data on Wheels (dataonwheels.com) and speaking at various events. She also a co-organizer for Lexington Data Technology Group.

Kristyna Ferris is a solution architect at P3 Adaptive. Her experience includes implementing and managing enterprise-level Power BI instance, training teams on reporting best practices, and building templates for scalable analytics. Passionate about ... Show more

Nicole Enders

Nicole Enders

Nicole Enders lives and breathes Modern Work.

As a Microsoft MVP and Evangelist for Microsoft based Solutions, she turns cloud tech into real‑world impact - think Microsoft Teams makeovers and Power Platform magic.

For 15 + years she’s crafted collaboration experiences that stick, blending out‑of‑the‑box features with tailor‑made code until every social intranet or digital workplace feels like it was built just for you.

Catch Nicole on conference stages, in her books, or on her blog, where she shares hands‑on tips and a healthy dose of geeky enthusiasm.

Nicole Enders lives and breathes Modern Work. As a Microsoft MVP and Evangelist for Microsoft based Solutions, she turns cloud tech into real‑world impact - think Microsoft Teams makeovers and Power Platform magic. For 15 + years she’s crafted ... Show more

Johan Smarius

Johan Smarius

Johan has been developing software since 1996 and has worked with .NET since version 1.0. With extensive experience as a lead developer and architect for .NET solutions, he is deeply passionate about clean coding and test-driven development. At JMAC Software Solutions and Bergler, he designs architectures for .NET solutions and coaches and trains developers in the domain of software engineering in general and Microsoft technologies in particular.

Johan has been developing software since 1996 and has worked with .NET since version 1.0. With extensive experience as a lead developer and architect for .NET solutions, he is deeply passionate about clean coding and test-driven development. At JMAC ... Show more

Ankur Roy

Ankur Roy

I am a Solutions Architect at Online Partner AB and a Cloud GDE. I have worked on several projects involving Google Cloud services and Google Workspace along with multiple other technology stacks and platforms.

I am a Solutions Architect at Online Partner AB and a Cloud GDE. I have worked on several projects involving Google Cloud services and Google Workspace along with multiple other technology stacks and platforms. Show more

Jérôme Urvoas

Jérôme Urvoas

Jérôme is a professional coach, agile coach, facilitator and trainer.
For 19 years, he has been one of the pioneers who have develop an agile culture within Lectra teams. He is now in charge of a team of internal coaches that he created and who support his company in its many changes.
Passionate about human dynamics, he has developed over the years an expertise in the fields of agility, change management and the management of teams and organizations.
Active member of the Agile community and of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council France, he likes to share his experience and his convictions through conferences and training.

Jérôme is a professional coach, agile coach, facilitator and trainer. For 19 years, he has been one of the pioneers who have develop an agile culture within Lectra teams. He is now in charge of a team of internal coaches that he created and who supp... Show more

Hanna Engel

Hanna Engel

Indiana Jones of the cloud technologies. Hanna takes her customer on an amazing journey across the world of Azure and they live their best life riding on the back of the best practices, deciphering networking, fighting wild acronyms and discovering the wonders of Azure administration!

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional, Microsoft Certified Trainer, Quantum computing - evangelist and a Belgian Quantum Circle Representative.
Frequent podcast guest and conference speaker Hanna's main focus is simplifying the complex in the technology world by democratizing access to IT expertise via her social platforms and public speaking.

Hanna is an AI Lead at Azelis, where she manages strategic AI projects and cloud migration initiatives. In addition to her role at Azelis, she freelances as an Azure trainer, delivering technical training sessions. Previously, she served as a Azure Trainer at Microsoft, where she provided live, tailored training for clients across Europe and South America and developed high-quality studio content for widespread educational use.

There is no business without technology. The goal is to bridge the gaps between the two worlds and democratize the knowledge by presenting tech topics in approachable way.

Hanna is based in Brussels, Belgium. Personally, fan of Dungeons&Dragons, couchsurfing and foreign languages.

Indiana Jones of the cloud technologies. Hanna takes her customer on an amazing journey across the world of Azure and they live their best life riding on the back of the best practices, deciphering networking, fighting wild acronyms and discovering t... Show more

Rockford Lhotka

Rockford Lhotka

Rockford Lhotka is VP of Strategy at Xebia. He is the creator of the widely used CSLA .NET open-source software framework, the author of numerous books, and regularly speaks at major conferences around the world. Rockford is a member of the Microsoft Regional Director and MVP programs. For more information go to https://lhotka.net.

Rockford Lhotka is VP of Strategy at Xebia. He is the creator of the widely used CSLA .NET open-source software framework, the author of numerous books, and regularly speaks at major conferences around the world. Rockford is a member of the Microsoft... Show more

Alyssa Nicoll

Alyssa Nicoll

Alyssa is an Senior Developer Advocate for Progress and a Google Developer Expert for Angular. She has spoken at over 50 conferences locally and internationally. She is the host of the Angular Air podcast and emcees ng-conf as well as Monorepo World. She enjoys gaming, scuba diving, and has a little one that fondly goes by "Mr. Milks".

Alyssa is an Senior Developer Advocate for Progress and a Google Developer Expert for Angular. She has spoken at over 50 conferences locally and internationally. She is the host of the Angular Air podcast and emcees ng-conf as well as Monorepo World.... Show more

Hafedh Messaoudi

Hafedh Messaoudi

Hafedh is a professional coach, agile coach, and trainer with over 12 years of experience in guiding individuals and organizations toward resilience, adaptability, and improved performance. With a strong foundation in neuroscience, agility, and human sciences, Hafedh integrates these disciplines to offer a comprehensive approach to personal and organizational development. His work focuses on helping teams and leaders navigate change and foster growth in dynamic environments. Throughout his career, Hafedh has been committed to empowering his clients with practical, science-based strategies for achieving long-term success.

Hafedh is a professional coach, agile coach, and trainer with over 12 years of experience in guiding individuals and organizations toward resilience, adaptability, and improved performance. With a strong foundation in neuroscience, agility, and human... Show more

Jodie Burchell

Jodie Burchell

Dr. Jodie Burchell is the Developer Advocate in Data Science at JetBrains, and was previously a Lead Data Scientist at Verve Group Europe. She completed a PhD in clinical psychology and a postdoc in biostatistics, before leaving academia for a data science career. She has worked for 9 years as a data scientist in both Australia and Germany, developing a range of products including recommendation systems, analysis platforms, search engine improvements and audience profiling. She has held a broad range of responsibilities in her career, doing everything from data analytics to maintaining machine learning solutions in production. She is a long time content creator in data science, across conference and user group presentations, books, webinars, and posts on both her own and JetBrain's blogs.

Dr. Jodie Burchell is the Developer Advocate in Data Science at JetBrains, and was previously a Lead Data Scientist at Verve Group Europe. She completed a PhD in clinical psychology and a postdoc in biostatistics, before leaving academia for a data s... Show more

Kellyn Gorman

Kellyn Gorman

Kellyn Pot’Vin-Gorman is a Database and AI Advocate and Engineer with Redgate, with a long history in multi-platform technology. An Oracle ACE Director alumnus, she has been awarded over the years for her technical contributions and community volunteerism through many organizations, including a recognition as Woman in Tech of the Year for the state of Colorado. She is one of only six women part of the Oak Table, a network for the Oracle scientist. She has extensive experience in environment optimization, cloud migration, automation and architect of robust environments. Specializing in multi-terabyte management of OLAP/DSS systems. A consistent advocate for logical tuning of code and design before hardware solutions. She's recently become known for her expertise in DevOps, AWR, (Automatic Workload Repository) and virtualization of database environments with complex cloud management in Azure and Google Cloud. She's recently been contracted with a number of AI projects, using both relational data and AI services in both data security and architecture. The technical knowledge required to support these features offers great educational opportunities to learn by attending her technical presentations, engaging with her on social media presence as DBAKevlar or reading her blog, dbakevlar.com.

Kellyn Pot’Vin-Gorman is a Database and AI Advocate and Engineer with Redgate, with a long history in multi-platform technology. An Oracle ACE Director alumnus, she has been awarded over the years for her technical contributions and community volunte... Show more

Damian Synadinos

Damian Synadinos

For over 30 years, Damian Synadinos helped “build better software and build software better” through testing. Now, through his company Ineffable Solutions (Ineffable-Solutions.com), he helps “build better people”. As a full-time, international public speaker, he delivers entertaining and educational keynotes, talks, and training that are focused on people, based on experience, and supplemented with research. His career and audiences include many diverse companies and industries including airline, retail, insurance, finance, e-commerce, and commercial realty. Damian also helped organize the "QA or the Highway" testing conference (QAortheHighway.com), performs & teaches improv, authored and illustrated a children’s book (HankAndStellaBooks.com), and draws strangers for fun (IDrawStrangers.com).

For over 30 years, Damian Synadinos helped “build better software and build software better” through testing. Now, through his company Ineffable Solutions (Ineffable-Solutions.com), he helps “build better people”. As a full-time, international public... Show more

Thomas Haver

Thomas Haver


Thomas is presently serving as a Test Automation Architect. He leads a team of testers, ops engineers, and production support analysts in the adoption of DevOps practices. Previously, he led the enterprise automation support of 73 applications at Huntington National Bank that encompassed testing, metrics & reporting, and data management. Thomas has a background in Physics & Biophysics, with over a decade spent in research science studying fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy before joining IT.

Thomas is presently serving as a Test Automation Architect. He leads a team of testers, ops engineers, and production support analysts in the adoption of DevOps practices. Previously, he led the enterprise automation support of 73 applications at H... Show more

Anja Schröder

Anja Schröder

How can digital collaboration work? - Anja Schröder helps companies find the right answer to this question. As a Microsoft Teams Enthusiast and Modern Workplace Consultant she develops individual collaboration concepts together with her customers. Her goal is to build and optimize a company's digital collaboration using Microsoft Teams as a platform and Microsoft 365 Services. As a Prosci certified Change Manager it is also important to her to pay attention to the users, because digital collaboration cannot succeed without knowing users.

How can digital collaboration work? - Anja Schröder helps companies find the right answer to this question. As a Microsoft Teams Enthusiast and Modern Workplace Consultant she develops individual collaboration concepts together with her customers. He... Show more

Els van Vessem

Els van Vessem

Els van Vessem (they/them) works as a Data Engineer and Scrum Master for the House of Representatives in the Netherlands, after some years working as general data specialist and project lead for several healthcare organizations. They focus on topics of diversity, non-data skills needed for data jobs, compassion and mental health. Outside of work they hang out on bluesky (@geekingthething.bsky.social), help events with their code of conduct and harassment/abuse policies, read too many books, and watches political debates for fun.

Els van Vessem (they/them) works as a Data Engineer and Scrum Master for the House of Representatives in the Netherlands, after some years working as general data specialist and project lead for several healthcare organizations. They focus on topics ... Show more

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