Great Talk Inc and The Alexander Grass Humanities Institute JHU present How To Educate Our Children For Their Best Future In A Changing World. This panel discussion will take place on Wednesday, October 4 at 7pm, at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center for Physics & Astronomy, Room 272 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD. Registration is free for both in-person or Livestream.
Panel
JOSHUA L. GLAZER, Associate Professor, Education Policy, George Washington University.
Dr. Glazer’s research and teaching examine multiple approaches to improving under-performing schools in high-poverty, urban environments. He recently directed two multi-year studies into school turnaround. The first examined the Tennessee Achievement School District, in which the state removed underperforming schools from local control and then authorized charter schools to develop and implement designs for improvement. The second study investigated the efforts of Shelby County Schools to improve 25 schools that ranked near the bottom of the state in academic performance. In addition, Dr. Glazer was the principal investigator for program of research looking at research-practice partnerships in two urban centers. This research examined the extent to which these partnerships promoted learning and improvement among the participating districts, and the social and political factors that shaped these efforts.
Dr. Glazer has published on a wide range of topics, including the replication of effective school improvement models, the role of external interveners in large-scale reform, the challenges confronting charter management organizations that operate neighborhood schools, the dynamics of race and class in state takeover of schools, and the structure and dynamics of the teaching profession. He is a co-author of Improvement by Design, which examines three prominent comprehensive school reform programs in the U.S., and co-editor of Choosing Charters: Better Schools or More Segregation? His work has been featured in op-ed pieces, newspaper articles, television news, and blogs. He is currently working on a book examining 10 years of school reform efforts in Memphis.
Prior to joining the faculty of the George Washington University, Dr. Glazer worked for five years at the Rothschild Foundation in Jerusalem, Israel as a program officer and program director in the education division. Dr. Glazer holds a B.A. in European history from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
RAIN PRYOR, Entertainer, Writer, Director, Playright, Educator and Activist.
Rain Pryor is an entertainer, director, writer, playwright, speaker, activist, Osun priestess, wife and mother. Pryor wants to assist you in finding and living out your desires, and, breaking down racial biases. Rain, has lead panel discussions on diversity in education and in the entertainment industry to groups around the world including: Princeton University, The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Cannes. Pryor has also received honors for her commitment to arts education by the Business Women of Baltimore and the Baltimore Department of Education.
Rain’s leadership skills began back in the early 90’s when she was part of a gang ceasefire in Los Angeles. She was also a substance abuse dual diagnosis counselor and helped to establish treatment protocols for two rehabs in Los Angeles. Rain used all of her experiences to run for local office in Baltimore MD in the 3rd District in 2019. She is currently a Schusterman Fellow, developing her leadership skills and participating in panel discussions on race and intersectionality. She’s also on the board of the Columbia Arts Festival and Jewish Women’s International.
Rain is a truly brilliant performer. Her performances are considered thought provoking through truthful storytelling and mimicry. She won an NAACP award for her irreverent, often sold out, solo show Fried Chicken & Latkes and for her role as the evil stepsister in the Michael Jackson produced musical Sisterella. She was nominated for the prestigious ADELCO Awards for her Off Broadway run at the National Black Theatre in Harlem. Her writing and performance in her award-winning solo show lead to a television development deal with Norman Lear, the creator of The Jefferson’s and All In The Family. And she is currently writing and creating pitches for a new television series, to be filmed in Baltimore MD, and Nigeria.
Pryor was nominated for the African American Literary Award in 2007 for her biography, Jokes My Father Never Taught Me, Life Love & Loss With Richard Pryor. She has won numerous Black Short film awards for That Daughter’s Crazy documentary. She is also a director, who is known for her superior work ethic, and integrity.
OLIVER SONG, Student Rights Advocate, Environmentalist, and Activist.
Oliver Song is a rising freshman at Harvard University and plans on studying Environmental Science and Public Policy.
An avid environmentalist, activist, and student rights advocate, Oliver has spent much time working with students, staff, administration, and his local school board to improve student communication and representation. Elected as Student Body President during the pandemic era of virtual learning, Oliver led a COVID-19 Student Town Hall where students shared their experiences in the school system with elected officials.
From 2022-2023, Oliver was elected President of the Howard County Association of Student Councils, the county-level student government and the only recognized student voices organization in Howard County. He led efforts to increase student representation from underrepresented groups and ages, aiming to equip students with the habits of heart and mind to serve as engaged and informed citizens.
An avid advocate for the environment, Oliver also serves as the co-hub coordinator of the Howard County Sunrise Movement and Certified Youth Ambassador at the Youth Climate Institute. Through testimony and lobbying, Oliver has advocated for much green legislation at the local, state, and national levels.
CONOR P. WILLIAMS, Senior Fellow at Century Foundation, Researcher and Writer Covering Educational Equity & School Diversity.
Conor P. Williams is a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, where he writes about education, immigration, early education, school choice, and families’ work-life balance challenges. He is an expert on American educational inequity, English learner students, dual immersion programs, urban education reform, and the history of progressivism.
Williams was previously a senior researcher in New America’s Education Policy Program, a senior researcher in its Early Education Initiative, and the founding director of its Dual Language Learners National Work Group. He has taught postsecondary courses at Georgetown University, George Washington University, and American University. He is a member of the Children’s Equity Project and the National Conference of State Legislatures’ State Policy and Research for Early Education (SPREE) Working Group.
Williams is a regular columnist at the 74 Million. His work has also been published by the New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, Washington Post, The New Republic, Dissent, Commonweal, The Daily Beast, Vox, TIME, Talking Points Memo, and elsewhere.
Williams holds a PhD and MA in government from Georgetown University, an MS in teaching from Pace University, and a BA in government and Spanish from Bowdoin College. Before beginning his doctoral research, he taught first grade in Brooklyn, New York. Williams attended public schools for his K–12 education, and has three children enrolled in public schools in Washington, D.C.
MODERATOR: WILLIAM EGGINTON, Director of the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute
Bill is the Decker Professor in the Humanities at the Johns Hopkins University, Director of the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute, and Chair of Modern Languages and Literatures at Johns Hopkins University.
He is the author of How the World Became a Stage (2003), Perversity and Ethics (2006), A Wrinkle in History (2007), The Philosopher’s Desire (2007), The Theater of Truth (2010), in Defense of Religious Moderation (2011), and The Man Who Invented Fiction (2016). He is co-author with David Castillo of Medialogies (2017). He is also co-editor with Mike Sandbothe of The Pragmatic Turn in Philosophy (2004), translator and editor of Lisa Block de Behar’s Borges, the Passion of an Endless Quotation (2003), co-editor with David E. Johnson of Thinking With Borges (2009), author of The Splintering of the American Mind (2018), and most recently The Rigor of Angels: Borges, Kant, Heisenberg, and the Ultimate Nature of Reality (2023).
