Conference to Restore Humanity! 2023
Breaking the Doom-Loop
Breaking the Doom-Loop
Breaking the Doom-Loop
Conference to Restore Humanity! 2023 is a designed for virtual conference featuring 4 keynotes, 3 learning tracks, and 20+ sessions building human-centered, engaging systems for educators & young people.
Conference to Restore Humanity is an invitation for K-12 and college educators to engage in a human-centered system reboot: centering the needs of students and educators toward breaking the doom-loop. The traditional conference format is costly to attend, environmentally unfriendly, and it doesn't allow everyone to engage or have a voice in the learning community.
Using recorded keynotes followed by an hour-long Q&A and self-paced learning tracks, we lean on virtual best practices to value your time and to encourage meaningful collaboration.
As a virtual space, we are able to offer a platform for change at a fraction of the cost of a traditional conference. Further discounts are available for groups and student organizations.
All of our keynotes, events, and tracks utilize transcripts, text- and/or video-based communication, and are easily navigable, allowing all to participate.
Not having to fly everyone out to the same space means we're cutting back on emissions and making a minimal impact on our planet.
We are honored to be joined by four incredible keynotes speakers, each of whom is fundamental figure in education pushing toward social change.
Our keynotes are flipped: each day a 30-minute video address will be posted. Then, we'll engage in a full 1-hour Q&A discussion with the speaker.
Dr. Antonia Darder is an internationally recognized activist-scholar and professor. For nearly 40 years, Antonia has worked tirelessly to counter social and material inequalities in schools and society. Her critical scholarship and activism over the years has consistently focused on racism, political economy, and questions of social justice. She has continued the work of Paulo Freire and contributed to our understanding of inequalities in schools and society.
Her lived experience growing up in poverty, her struggles as a single mother, her battles within the academy, and her love of life are essential to her commitment to fighting for a better world.
Cornelius Minor is an educator from Brooklyn, NY who focuses on equitable literacy reform. His book, We Got This!: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be, expertly navigates the power of democratic classrooms and listening to young people. His partner and wife, Kass Minor, established The Minor Collective, a community-driven change-making organization for schools. Cornelius fuses technology, hip-hop, and social media to bring communities together.
He inspires through his experience as a middle school teacher in the Bronx and Brooklyn, and through his time engaging in activities such as skateboarding, shooting hoops, and working with young people.
José Luis Vilson is a veteran educator, writer, speaker, and activist in New York City, NY. He is the author of This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education. He has spoken about education, math, and race for a number of organizations and publications, including the New York Times, The Guardian, TED, El Diario / La Prensa, and The Atlantic. He's a National Board Certified Teacher, a Math for America Master Teacher, and the executive director of EduColor, an organization dedicated to race and social justice issues in education.
He is currently a doctoral student studying sociology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is now on the board of directors for the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards and PowerMyLearning.
IowaWTF is a youth-led organization that focuses on fighting against discriminatory legislation through advocacy, activism, education, and civic engagement. Since March 5th, 2022, IowaWTF has united middle school, high school, and college students across the state in over 40 schools to walk out 2 years in a row, worked with various other youth-led organizations regarding LGBTQ+ issues, gun violence, and anti-racism, organized marches and rallies throughout central Iowa, and produced educational resources and tools to get students comfortable on Capitol Hill.
Iowa WTF continues to unite students and young people together and give them a seat at the table in important legislative decisions.
Whether you're a progressive educator looking to deepen your knowledge or a newcomer to the field seeking foundational skills, our tracks offer a rich array of content that is sure to inform, challenge, and inspire you. Our goal is to cross-pollinate with experts in semiotical domains: branching out to creators and experts beyond the classroom.
Our tracks are asynchronous: participants will select one track to engage within our online learning community. Then, opportunities for live collaboration and connections are made throughout the event. Additional track information will be revealed over the coming months.
David Hill is an entrepreneur with a passion for science, education, and social impact. David is currently a senior at Harvard College where he studies Integrative Biology with a secondary in Economics. He is inspired by the educational inequities he encountered during his time in Montgomery County Public Schools in Silver Spring, MD.
His developing organization, Chrysalis Streaming, empowers k-12 black and brown students by showcasing culturally responsive STEM videos that are informative, relevant, and engaging.
Matthew Farber, Ed.D., is an associate professor of educational technology at the University of Northern Colorado, where he studies how games support (or limit) social and emotional learning.
He co-directs the Gaming SEL Lab, has been invited to the White House, authored several books and papers, and is a frequent collaborator with UNESCO MGIEP and Games for Change. His latest book is Gaming SEL: Games as Transformational to Social and Emotional Learning.
Tracy Fullerton is an experimental game designer, professor and founding director (emeritus) of the USC Games program. Her research center, the Game Innovation Lab, has produced several influential independent games, including Cloud, flOw, Darfur is Dying, The Night Journey, with artist Bill Viola, and Walden, a game which was named “Game of the Year” at Games for Change 2017 and “Developer’s Choice” at IndieCade 2017.
Tracy is the author of Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, a design textbook used at game programs worldwide, and holder of the Electronic Arts Endowed Chair in Interactive Entertainment.
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Andratesha Fritzgerald is the author of Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning: Building Expressways to Success (CAST, 2020), winner of a Benjamin Franklin Award from the Independent Book Publishers Association. She has served extensively in education as a teacher, curriculum specialist, administrator, and director. As an international speaker, presenter, and facilitator, Fritzgerald exhibits an audacious perseverance that calls organizations to evolve into inclusive antiracist safe zones for all learners.
She is the founder of Building Blocks of Brilliance Educational Consulting Firm. For more information, go to www.buildingblocksofbrilliance.com and @FritzTesha on social media.
All times are displayed in EDT (Eastern Daylight Time, GMT-4). All keynote presentations are flipped: each day participants will be sent a recorded video of the keynote address, with an hour-long Q&A on the following day. Our learning tracks are virtual in our online community and will take place throughout the conference.
11AM-12:30PM: Introduction & Keynote Q&A: Dr. Antonia Darder
Join us for our opening session, followed by a hour conversation with Dr. Antonia Darder on pedagogies of love. Watch the recorded keynote address before hand!
1:00-1:30PM: Lunch & Learn: "Good Day" presented by Holistic Think Tank
A movement for humanizing education is growing. Join our group viewing of "Good Day", a documentary produced by Holistic Think Tank that looks at the need for change in education around the globe.
3:00-4:00PM: The Brain on School - 3 Reasons Traditional Education Conflicts With The Brain’s Natural Way of Learning w/ Liesl McConchie
Many of our current systems and practices in education make learning very, very difficult for the human brain. To break this doom-loop we need to center our design on the science of student learning - what do they need to show up, give effort, and learn. This is the credibility you’ll need to make change at your school.
5:00-6:00PM: What We're Learning by "Restoring Humanity" w/ Human Restoration Project
We base our work on what students and educators are telling us - and they're all practically telling us the same thing: they want interdisciplinary, hands-on, purpose-driven content. Join us for a roundtable discussion on the current state of education!
8:00-9:30PM: Game & Network
Join other conference attendees for virtual games & connections. See notifications and announcements on our conference Discord!
11AM-12:00PM: Keynote Q&A: Cornelius Minor
An hour discussion on Cornelius Minor's keynote. Watch the recorded keynote address before hand!
1:00-2:00PM: Lunch & Learn: Antioch University
More information coming soon.
3:00-4:00PM: Humanizing our Schools with Mindfulness and Compassion w/ the Contemplative Teaching and Learning Lab at UVA School of Education and Human Development
Mindfulness and compassion are biohacks for the 21st Century. We can build community resilience by overriding our automatic reactive stress response and intentionally cultivating caring and compassion for one another. We can cultivate and apply insight to our wicked problems. During this session you will learn simple mindfulness and compassion practices for both teachers and students and learn about how they promote well-being.
4:00-5:00PM: Partnering with Youth to Co-Create Schools Fit for Human Beings w/ Jennifer Chace
Creating a better future for ourselves is a basic human capacity. But when it's not nurtured, it withers, which can have disastrous consequences for well-being. Schools can be sites of flourishing if and when we engage our students in active co-creation of their learning environments, nurturing their capacity to imagine and create a better future for themselves through school, guided by a connection to their values and informed by the knowledge of the past. Democracy needs this, youth needs this, we need this. Why haven't we done it?
5:00-6:00PM: Ripples@Work: The Pedagogy of the Self in a Changing World w/ Dr. Lena Redman
R@W is a pedagogical model that emphasizes: a) constructing individually meaningful knowledge; and b) learning how to use this knowledge in real life following one's unique individual traits as the key conditions for equipping students for a successful life in the changing world. Students realize this process through direct interactions with the natural, social, and technological environments.
8:00-9:30PM: Game & Network
Join other conference attendees for virtual games & connections. See notifications and announcements on our conference Discord!
11AM-12:00PM: Keynote Q&A: José Luis Vilson
An hour discussion on José Luis Vilson's keynote. Watch the recorded keynote address before hand!
1:00-2:00PM: Lunch & Learn: Interdisciplinary Learning Curriculum
A demonstration of the "Interdisciplinary Subject" by international non-profit and HRP partner, Holistic Think Tank, detailing a full, open-access curriculum and wants to become involved in the project.
3:00-4:00PM: Rehumanizing Mathematics: Better Content, Better Pedagogy, and Better Purpose w/ Sunil Singh
"Mathematically, we live in stirring times!" - Would you be able to believe that those words could be the opening sentence for a grade 10 textbook? Sadly, probably not. Mathematically, we still do. Even more so. But math education has been compromised by politics and runaway capitalism, and any romanticism for its awe and wonder has been shaded into obscurity. This has created a climate for inferior mathematics and limited value/purpose for learning the subject. Back in 1967–the time those words are from–my province of Ontario led a revolution in education with something called The Hall-Dennis Report, which recommended that learning in schools be centered around “students’ needs and dignity”. In order for us to get back to that humanistic vision for the subject of mathematics, we have to demand a higher quality of mathematics and a higher purpose for learning it–for all our students.
4:00-5:00PM: Ungrading: Shifting Mindsets w/ Teachers Going Gradeless
While ungrading becomes a more popular undertaking in education, teachers may find themselves tackling larger pedagogical questions surrounding instruction, power, and what it means to be an educator. In this session, Teachers Going Gradeless will dive into the interpersonal and professional questions many educators grapple with as they move along the continuum of the ungrading journey, asking participants to contemplate the deeper and more personal side of ungrading.
5:00-6:00PM: From Trauma to Triumph: My Journey Towards an Unknown Destination w/ Jordan Rappaport
By exploring ways we can change the narrative on what it means to teach and learn mathematics, join Jordan as he shares reflections from his journey as a student, educator and parent, and how learning through these experiences led to a subtle shift in how we can grow a culture of belief, belonging and brilliance in our learning spaces.
8:00-9:00PM: Freedom to Play: Making the Ludic Turn in Education w/ Dr. James York & Dr. Jonathan deHaan (Ludic Language Pedagogy)
The goal of this workshop is to encourage you to be more ludic, and play with more ludic objects, in order for you to find or take more freedom in your classrooms towards a gratifying experience for both your students and you. We’ll begin by sharing examples of how we are ludic and the ludic objects we have worked with. Then we’ll explore topics such as: gamification, game based learning, ludic you, & ludic objects. You’ll then reflect and share how ludic you already are in your teaching, and also explore how being more ludic might help you find more freedom in your classroom and lead to new possibilities for you or your students.
11AM-12:00PM: Keynote Q&A: Iowa WTF
An hour discussion on Iowa WTF's keynote. Watch the recorded keynote address before hand!
1:00-2:00PM: Lunch & Learn: Teacher-Powered Schools
Teacher-Powered Schools brings human centered design to school governance. Schools using Teacher-Powered models focus on collaborative cultures, shared leadership structures, and sharing power with students, families, and the full educator team. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss pathways for their own institutions to develop Teacher-Powered practices and brainstorm ideas for getting around any obstacles in their journeys.
3:00-4:00PM: From Allies to Accomplices: Creating Supportive Spaces for LGBTQ Students w/ Keenan Crow
How do we go beyond being an ally and become an accomplice in creating safe and supportive environments for LGBTQ students? Keenan Crow of One Iowa, who works to support equality for LGBTQ Iowans, explains.
5:00-6:00PM: Closing Session
Gather together to share next steps, reflections, and takeaways from Conference to Restore Humanity! 2023.
Conference to Restore Humanity! is aimed at K-12 educators, college professors, administrators, and teacher leaders. Specifically, we focus on concepts that can be implemented in K-12 public spaces.
Your registration gains you access to a single track (and all keynotes), where you'll engage with like-minded cohort members to develop theory into action (praxis) on a deep concept in progressive education. We will provide a variety of spaces to engage with others to reimagine together in a virtual space.
Each recorded keynote is estimated at 30 minutes, with a 60 minute live conversation occurring the following day at 11AM ET. Tracks are "learn at your own pace" with a variety of materials offered to engage in many hours of learning. The majority of this content is asynchronous, yet designed to connect with others through group chats, collaborative activities, and office hours. CEU certificates may be requsted for up to 28 learning hours.
You will gain access to all conference tracks following the event.
Limited need-based scholarships are available. Please complete this form and we will respond by July 1st, 2023.
Discounted rates and scholarships are brought to you by our incredible partners. Attendance is limited to 300 paid attendees. Contact us with any questions, refunds, or inquiries about alternative payment options. Refunds are available until July 1st, 2023.
The 2022 Conference to Restore Humanity was engaging, inspiring, and empowering. Being able to tune in at my own pace and on my own terms was a game-changer for me, and I’d like to see similar experiences from ALL conference providers going forward.
It was efficient, intelligent, thought provoking, timely, and thoughtful.
It’s easy to get discouraged with everything that’s happening in the world today, particularly in education. The Human Restoration Project’s conference is one remedy. I left feeling energized, inspired, and most importantly, no longer alone in my fight to humanize education. This conference reignited my passion and pushed me to rethink some long held biases that I didn’t realize I had. I’m eager to put into action many of the ideas I had during my week with them. Additionally, the format of the conference was incredible. This group is rethinking and challenging the status quo at every turn, making for a more accessible and inclusive experience for everyone.
You know when we talk about how we don’t just want to go back to normal after COVID because normal was never good enough? The organizers of this conference have completely re-imagined what a conference can be. They cut through all the bullshit and fluff and kept only the things that feed our need to connect and learn with others who are passionate about teaching and learning for a better world.It was efficient, intelligent, thought provoking, timely, and thoughtful.
As a trans human rights educator this conference was incredibly nourishing and eye opening in terms of what it means to work in progressive education. From the philosophical to the practical it transformed the way I view education, now not only as a tool to be prepared for resistance but as a tool of resistance itself.
72% rated our virtual conference better than an equivalent in-person event.
This annual, virtual conference is a call for educators to reimagine systems in their classrooms. Rather than presenting curriculum packages or tinkering around the edges, our goal is to provide a shift in pedagogy and underlying structures of typical school environments, allowing educators room to reimagine learning - no matter their context.
Your registration gains you access to all four of our keynotes, as well as participation in one of the three asynchronous tracks, as well as all live events. All resources and materials created for the other two tracks will be provided to participants after the conference.
Your ticket supports attendance for those who otherwise would not be able to on their own. Further, it supports faculty members, keynote speakers, and conference platform management. We strongly believe in compensating our creators with competitive rates, and no one is presenting or producing content for "exposure."
We recognize that the traditional conference format does not work for everyone. It's expensive to attend, it's environmentally unfriendly, and it doesn't allow everyone to engage or have a seat in the learning community. This conference is designed to be virtual-first. As in, we're changing how the conference is run *knowing* that it is virtual. The event takes place over 4 days.
First, keynotes are flipped. Participants will be provided a ~30 minute keynote video to engage with in whatever way they wish. Then, on the following day (11AM ET), the entire hour block is reserved for discussion and Q&A. In our experience, the best part of any keynote is the Q&A session, making the connection between the speaker and the participants, and there's often not nearly enough time.
Second, the learning tracks (workshops) are self-paced. Sitting and staring at a screen for hours to engage in learning isn't healthy nor natural. Each day, participants will be provided resources, such as readings, discussion posts, and online interactables, which will be completed on your own time.
Self-paced track resources will be posted at the beginning of each day.
Throughout the conference, participants will be able to chat with each other via a text platform (Discord). In addition, video office hours will be offered for all tracks.
Read more about our philosophy of designing a different kind of conference.
The conference takes place from July 24th to July 27th, 2023. Each track is expected to provide roughly 2 hours worth of content each day. In addition to the hour long discussion and 30 minute video keynote, we anticipate participants engaging with the conference 3 1/2 hours maximum each day.
That said, this conference is designed to engage at your own pace. Some learners may have less time and engage on an as-needed basis, recognizing that they will have these resources in the future. Others will take advantage of every possible opportunity, including our bonus track, and have many more hours of content to explore.
Keynote videos will be shared following the conference. Track faculty are free to share any resources that they create to their communities. Your ticket supports these experts as well as gains entry into the networking component of learning with like-minded people.
The entire conference will use three platforms: 1) Discord, the online chat service (similar to Slack) for all asynchronous communication. 2) Our website, for posting track resources, meet-ups, and schedules. 3) Zoom, for live events.
Although this event is aimed at K-12 and college educators, we welcome anyone interested in progressive education or social justice to attend. This is especially true for students, aspiring teachers, community members, and advocates.
After registering, you will be able to choose one of the three offered tracks. If you change your mind, you will be able to contact us and modify your selection.
We want as much engagement as possible in these learning communities, and therefore are having participants only dedicate themselves to one track. This will ensure that everyone can develop connections in these courses. All other track resources will be shared following the event.
Following the event, we will award a participant-specific signed certificate stating attendance at the event for up to 28 hours. We can personalize these certificates further upon request.
Full refunds are available through July 1st, 2023. No refunds are available after this date to ensure a successful event. Please contact us if you need a refund.
