Keynote Speech I: “Breaking Barriers: A Dialogue on Leadership, Diversity, and Change in Higher Education

Group Submission Type: Special Session

Description of Session

In this Keynote Conversation titled “Breaking Barriers: A Dialogue on
Leadership, Diversity, and Change in Higher Education” Oren PizmonyLevy engages with Thabo Msibi to explore issues of diversity, agency and
social justice.
Thabo Msibi Msibi is the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Teaching and
Learning and Professor of Curriculum Studies in the School of Education
at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is a PhD holder from the
University of Cambridge, has a Master’s degree from Teachers College,
Columbia University, and undergraduate degrees from the University of
KwaZulu-Natal. Thabo’s research interests centre on critically theorising
diversity, particularly gender and sexual diversity, and what this means
for education, the agency of students, and the curriculum. Thabo has
written extensively in these areas as an advocate for social justice,
seeking ways to subvert and disturb various hegemonies which result in
the marginalisation of individuals in society.
Oren Pizmony-Levy is an Associate Professor in the Department of
International and Transcultural Studies at Teachers College, Columbia
University. Pizmony-Levy is the Founding Director of the Center for
Sustainable Futures and is an affiliated faculty at the Columbia
Climate School. Trained as a sociologist, he specialized in the study of
global educational movements, including test-based accountability
and international large-scale assessments, LGBTQ+ education, and
environmental sustainability education. His current projects include
studies of teacher engagement with climate change education,
and the international landscape of organizations active in climate
education and communication.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Supriya Baily, George Mason University

Keynote Speakers

• Oren Pizmony-Levy, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Thabo Msibi, University of Kwazulu-Natal