Plenary Speakers
Dr. Fernanda Coelho Liberali
Dr. Fernanda Coelho Liberali, PhD, is a teacher educator, researcher and professor at the Pontifical Catholic University, São Paulo, Program of Postgraduate Studies in Applied Linguistics and Language Studies and in Education: Education of Educators. She holds a degree in Languages from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, a master's and a doctorate degree in Applied Linguistics and Language Studies from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, and two postdoctoral degrees from the University of Helsinki and from the Berlin Freie Universität. She is currently involved with a new post-doctoral study in the area of play/performance and agency at Rutgers University. She is one of the leaders of the Research Group/ CNPq / PUC-SP for "Language in Activity in the School Context" and the general coordinator of the national extension and research project DIGIT-M-ED Hyperconnecting Brazil.
Dr. Ian Levy
Dr. Ian Levy is a professor of school counseling at the University of Massachusetts Boston, New York City native, and former High School counselor in the South Bronx. Ian’s research interests include the examination of mental health practices in urban schools, which entails interrogating the role of the school counselor and other school staff to ensure the emotional lives of young people are adequately addressed. Most notably, Dr. Levy piloted the development, implementation, and evaluation of a Hip Hop based counseling framework in urban schools. This particular hip hop therapy program was featured on various news outlets including the New York Times, and CNN. In 2016 Dr. Levy was named the New York State School Counselor of the Year. As a new professional, Dr. Levy has been recognized as an emerging leader by the Association of Humanistic Counseling. Through his work at UMass Boston, Dr. Levy now engages in the formal training of school counselors in culturally sensitive counseling and pedagogical practices in schools.
Dr. Lois Holzman
Dr. Lois Holzman received her PhD in developmental psychology and psycholinguistics from Columbia University and is the Director of the East Side Institute in New York City. She is a leading proponent of cultural-performatory approaches to human learning and development. Having been introduced to the work of Lev Vygotsky as a researcher in Michael Coles Laboratory of Comparative Human Development, Holzman has brought Vygotsky’s insights into diverse human environments, including psychotherapy and the workplace through her Institute’s development of social therapeutic methodology. Key to this methodology is our species ability to perform—to pretend, to play, to improvise—as key to our emotional, social, and intellectual growth. Holzman’s research, training and project development experience spans early childhood through adult learning, both in school and outside of school.
Dr. ZhaoHong Han
Dr. ZhaoHong Han is Professor of Language and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she teaches graduate courses in Applied Linguistics, TESOL, and foreign language instruction. Her research interests are broadly in second language learnability, second language teachability, and their interface. Her work on fossilization, corrective feedback, second language thinking for speaking (Han & Cadierno, 2010), second language reading and vocabulary development, second language reading instruction, and second language ab initio input processing has appeared in a variety of international journals and books.
Dr. Han is the recipient of the 2003 International TESOL Heinle and Heinle Distinguished Research Award, and a repeated recipient of the Teachers College, Columbia University Outstanding Teacher Award.
Click here to learn more from her presentation.