Keynote Speakers

 

clip_image001[4]Prof. Joseph A. Erickson

Professor, Augsburg College Education Department

 

clip_image003[4]Joseph A. Erickson is Professor of Education at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is also a licensed psychologist in private practice. He earned his doctorate in educational psychology at the University of Minnesota. He was a member and former chair of the Minneapolis School Board.

 

In March 2006, Erickson was honored as one of the “100 District Leaders for Citizenship and Service-Learning” by the Education Commission of the States — National Center for Learning and Citizenship for his leadership in civic education and commitment to community service-learning. He has written and co-written several articles and book chapters on the topic of service-learning’s impact on attitude change and has co-edited two books on service-learning in teacher education, including the 2013 publication, Transforming Teacher Education through Service-Learning, co-edited with Virginia Jagla and Alan Tinkler (published by Information Age Publishing). He has also presented at several international education conferences, including presentations in Paris (2011) and Galway, Ireland (2009).

He continues his work and conducts research primarily in effective teaching strategies, attitude change, and the use of technology for enhancing learning. He is chair of the Board of Directors of the International Center for Service-Learning in Teacher Education, located at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

 

 


 

 

 Dr. Rajesh Tandon

President, Participatory Research in Asia

UNESCO Chair in community based research and social responsibility in higher education 
 

clip_image005[4]Dr. Rajesh Tandon is the Co-Chair, UNESCO Chair on Community-based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education. The University of Victoria, Canada, awarded him the ‘Doctor of Laws’ in June 2008 in recognition of his pioneering work in the area of civic engagement, governance and community based research. Dr. Tandon is also the co-editor of the forthcoming GUNI Report on “Engagement, Knowledge & Higher Education: Rethinking Social Responsibility” (2013).

 

He is the co-founder & President of Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), New Delhi. Under his leadership and over the past 30 years, PRIA has been working towards the empowerment of the poor and marginalized such that they can collectively claim their rights and organize for self-reliant development. He is a pioneer in innovative methodologies in participatory research, participatory planning, monitoring & evaluation.

 

Dr. Tandon has provided leadership on the Governing Boards of dozens of national and international civil society organizations over the past 35 years. He served as President of Asia & South Pacific Basic & Adult Education Association (ASPBAE) 1992-2000; Vice-President of International Council of Adult Education (ICAE) 1986-1992; founder of CIVICUS and its Chair of the Board 1996-99; founder –Chair of International Forum of Capacity Building of Southern NGOs (1997-2001); founder & Chair of FimForum for Democratizing Global Governance. His expertise has been sought by UNDP, World Bank, UNICEF, UNV, WHO, ILO and others. He was also invited to lead Citizens & Governance Program of the Commonwealth Foundation during 2001-04.

 

Dr. Tandon has also served in numerous committees of the Government of India (its various Ministries and agencies), the most recent one being the Task force of the Planning Commission preparing for the 12th Five Year Plan on “Strengthening Community Engagement of Institutions of Higher Education”. Dr. Tandon has contributed frequently to scholarly journals, practitioner manuals, audio-visuals on a wide range of themes---participatory research, people-centered development, civil society, democratic governance, active citizenship. He has also authored and co-edited several books, the most recent of them being: Globalizing Citizens (2010), Civil Society & Governance (2003), Reviving Democracy (2003), Voluntary Action, Civil Society & the State (2002).

 


Dr. Peter A. Zervakis 

Project Coordinator nexus II: “Forming Transitions, Promoting Student Success” at the German Rector’s Conference

 

Dr. Phil Peter A. Zervakis coordinates the Project nexus II – Forming Transitions, Promoting Student Success at the German Rector’s Conference (HRK) in Bonn since July 2014. Prior to this, from 2006, he headed the “Bologna projects” of the HRK supporting German universities in implementing Bachelor and Master study-programs. From 2004-06 he was Head of research projects on Greater Europe at the Bertelsmann Foundation in Gütersloh and from 1999-2004, he worked as a Research Fellow at the Centre for European Integration Studies at the University of Bonn.

Dr. Zervakis has enriched the educational debate in Germany by emphasizing the relevance of introducing “service learning” in Bachelor and Master programs as a valuable addition to classical teaching formats – as a benefit for students to learn in social settings while at the same time opening up universities to the needs of society. Thus, he has edited several volumes with good practice, including “Committed Universities. Strong in research, skills-focused and active in society” (2014), “Master’s Programs – Models of Success. Open to international cooperation and individual educational biographies” (2012), and “Good Teaching. Fresh Wind in the Sails of German Higher Education” (2011). Among his articles are “Dawn or Dusk- The Bologna Process from the Perspective of German Higher Education”, in Going Global: The Landscape for Policy Makers and Practitioners in Tertiary Education (2012), “The Introduction of the Bachelor in Germany“, in “The Bachelor – Changes in Performance and Quality of Studying- Empirical Evidence in International Comparison” (2010). Dr. Zervakis received his PhD in Modern and Contemporary History from Hamburg University where he also completed his post-doctorate. He regularly contributes articles on the reform of German HE under the frame of the “Bologna Process”. He is a national Bologna expert for Trends reports of the European University Association, a member of the expert council for the College of the Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus-Senftenberg as well as an evaluator of the University of Potsdam.