Keynote Speakers

We are pleased to confirm our keynote speakers. Please note, the titles of the talks are indicative at this time, and have not yet been finalised by the presenters.

Dr John Y. H. Bai

Developments in digital technologies and artificial intelligence applications in higher education

John Y. H. Bai is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. He completed his PhD in Psychology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, where he worked as a Research Fellow and Lecturer. In collaboration with the international team at the Center for Open Education Research (COER), he is currently working on the project “Prospects for the Future of Learning: Artificial Intelligence Applications in Higher Education”, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation and The Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture. This international project aims to collect perspectives of higher education faculty to contribute to the interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder discussion on AI and society. His research interests include artificial intelligence, research design, and the interaction between individuals and their environments.

 (Dr. John Bai // Universität Oldenburg (uol.de)

Professor Manuela María Guilherme

Global debates, local challenges: interculturally responsible academia 

Manuela Guilherme has been a senior researcher at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra since 2002. She was awarded a PhD degree in Education by the University of Durham (2000) and the Birkmaier Award for doctoral research by the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages and The Modern Language Journal. She later completed a 2-year postdoctoral programme at the University of São Paulo, Brazil (2016). She has coordinated several international projects funded by the European Commission, from whom she was also awarded a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Outgoing Research Fellowship (2014-2017). The main sites where she carried out academic research were in the USA (1990s), Europe (2000s) and South America (2010s). She was born and lived in Mozambique, where she became plurilingual in Portuguese, Shona, Lomué, English, French and German, before taking a degree in German and English Philology at the University of Lisbon. Her most recent project GLOCADEMICS (http://www.ces.uc.pt/projectos/glocademics ) was carried out both in Brazil and Portugal. She has published internationally. (http://www.ces.uc.pt/en/ces/pessoas/investigadoras-es/maria-manuela-guilherme )

(Maria Manuela Guilherme (uc.pt))

Professor John O’Regan

Global English, political economy, and linguistic ideologies

John O’Regan is Professor of Critical Applied Linguistics and Vice-Dean (International) at IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, University College London. He is also Deputy Director of the International Centre for Intercultural Studies (ICIS) and the Programme Director of the MA Intercultural Communication. In his research John specialises in English as a global language, intercultural communication and critical discourse analysis, and has wide interests in political economy, critical social theory and international history. John was Co-Chair of the International Association for Languages and Intercultural Communication (IALIC) (2004-8) and a member of the IALIC Board (2000-16). He also edited the association journal Language and Intercultural Communication from 2008-15. John has published more than 75 research papers, as well as four books: Travelling Languages: Culture, Communication and Translation in a Mobile World (O’Regan, Wilkinson & Robinson, 2014), Intercultural Dialogue: Questions of Research, Theory and Practice (Holmes, Dooly & O’Regan, 2016), Education and the Discourse of Global Neoliberalism (Gray, O’Regan & Wallace, 2021), and Global English and Political Economy (O’Regan, 2021). 

John O'Regan Profile | University College London (ucl.ac.uk)

Cross-Government Languages Group 

The importance of a multilingual approach to the business of the UK Government (a strategic cross-Departmental group linked to Civil Service Languages Network - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk))

More information to follow.