Programme

The IAFOR International Conference on Education – Hawaii (IICEHawaii) is a multidisciplinary conference held concurrently with The IAFOR International Conference on Arts & Humanities in Hawaii (IICAH). Keynote, Featured and Spotlight Speakers will provide a variety of perspectives from different academic and professional backgrounds. Registration for either of these conferences permits attendance in both.

This page provides details of featured presentations, the conference schedule and other programming. For more information about presenters, please visit the Speakers page.

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Conference Outline

Saturday, January 3, 2026Sun, Jan 4Mon, Jan 5Tue, Jan 6Wed, Jan 7

Location: Hawaii Convention Center (3F)

12:00-13:00: Conference Check-in | Room 306

13:00-13:20: Cultural Presentation | 310 Theatre & Online

13:25-14:00: Welcome Address & Recognition of IAFOR Scholarship Winners | 310 Theatre & Online
Joseph Haldane, IAFOR, Japan

14:05-14:30: Keynote Presentation | 310 Theatre & Online
Perspectives on Education in the Pacific Islands
Unaisi Nabobo-Baba, Fiji National University, Fiji
14:30-14:45: Q&A

14:45-14:55: Conference Photograph | 310 Theatre

14:55-15:25: Networking Coffee Break

15:25-16:25: Panel Presentation | 310 Theatre & Online
Defunding Education: Challenges and Implications
Halena Kapuni-Reynolds, National Museum of the American Indian & Hawai'i Council for the Humanities, United States
Rosie Rowe, Leadership in Disabilities & Achievement of Hawai’i, United States
Mary Therese Perez Hattori, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, United States (Moderator)

16:30-17:30: Panel Presentation | 310 Theatre & Online
Education, Culture, and the Environment in an AI-Driven Era
Jun Arima, The University of Tokyo & IAFOR, Japan
Peter J Mataira, Hawai'i Pacific University, United States
LJ Rayphand, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, United States
Michael Menchaca, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, United States (Moderator)

17:30-18:30: Welcome Reception | Pa Kaloka Charlot Courtyard (3F)
This is a free event open to all registered delegates

19:30-21:30: Conference Dinner | Roy’s Waikiki
This is an optional ticketed event

Location: Hawaii Convention Center (3F)

08:30-09:20: Conference Check-in | ​​Room 306

08:45-09:15: IAFOR Information Session | Room 301B
This session provides an overview of what to expect at the conference, including guidance on preparing your presentation, publishing opportunities, and ways to engage with IAFOR.

09:30-11:10: Onsite Session 1 (Parallel Session)
Room 301A: IICE | Educational Policy, Leadership, Management & Administration (Workshops)
Room 301B: IICE | Higher Education
Room 302A: IICE/IICAH | Interdisciplinary, Multidisciplinary & Transdisciplinary Education
Room 302B: IICE/IICAH | Online and Hybrid Education
Room 303A: IICE/IICAH | Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis
Room 303B: IICE | Education, Sustainability and Society
Room 304A: IICAH | Humanities - Teaching of Philosophy and Consciousness
Room 304B: IICE | Professional Training, Development & Concerns in Education
Room 305A: IICAH | Society/Gender/Family
Room 305B: IICAH | Teaching and Learning the Arts

11:10-11:25: Break

11:25-12:25: Onsite Session 2 (Poster Session) & Networking | Room 306

12:25-12:40: Break

12:40-14:20: Onsite Session 3 (Parallel Session)
Room 301A: IICAH | Literary Arts Practices (Workshop)
Room 301B: IICE | Higher Education
Room 302A: IICE | Educational Policy, Leadership, Management & Administration
Room 302B: IICE | Innovative Technologies in Education
Room 303A: IICE | Foreign Languages Education & Applied Linguistics
Room 303B: IICE/IICAH | Humanities - Teaching and Learning
Room 304A: IICAH | Humanities - Globalisation
Room 304B: IICE/IICAH | Learning Experiences, Student Learning & Learner Diversity
Room 305A: IICAH | Politics and History
Room 305B: IICAH | Design and Performance in the Arts & Humanities

14:20-14:35: Coffee Break

14:35-16:15: Onsite Session 4 (Parallel Session)
Room 301A: IICE | Innovative Technologies in Education (Workshops)
Room 301B: IICE | Higher Education
Room 302A: IICE/IICAH | Educational Policy, Leadership, Management & Administration
Room 302B: IICE/IICAH | Humanities - Teaching and Learning
Room 303A: IICE | Foreign Languages Education & Applied Linguistics
Room 303B: IICE/IICAH | Education, Sustainability & Society
Room 304A: IICAH | Humanities - Immigration, Race, Nation and Identity
Room 304B: IICE | Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis
Room 305A: IICAH | History/Historiography
Room 305B: IICAH | Arts Theories and Criticisms

16:30-17:30: Cultural Event | Room 301A
E Hele Mai a Hula: A Hawaiian Music and Dance Workshop
Join us in exploring Hawaiian music and dance led by renowned Hula instructor Auntie Carolee Nishi, a Living Treasure of Hawaii.
This is a free event open to all registered delegates

Location: Ala Moana Hotel (2F)

08:30-09:00: Check-in & Coffee | Garden Lanai Room

09:00-10:00: The Forum | Carnation Room
AI in Academia: Ethics, Challenges, and Solutions
Michael Menchaca, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, United States (Respondent)
Grant Black, Chuo University, Japan (Respondent)
Melina Neophytou, IAFOR, Japan (Moderator)

This is your opportunity to engage with key themes, connect with speakers and fellow members, and contribute to meaningful interdisciplinary dialogue across borders.

10:00-10:15: Break

10:15-11:55: Onsite Session 1 (Parallel Session)
Carnation Room: IICAH | Arts - Literary Arts Practices (Workshops)
Ilima Room: IICE | Assessment Theories & Methodologies
Pakalana & Anthurium Room: IICE/IICAH | Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis
Plumeria Room: IICE/IICAH | Culture, Inter/Multiculturalism & Language

11:55-13:10: Extended Break

13:10-14:50: Onsite Session 2 (Parallel Session)
Carnation Room: IICE/IICAH | Humanities - Teaching and Learning (Workshops)
Ilima Room: IICE | Design, Implementation & Assessment in Education
Pakalana & Anthurium Room: IICE | Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis
Plumeria Room: IICE | Education, Sustainability and Society

14:50-15:05: Coffee Break

15:05-16:45: Onsite Session 3 (Parallel Session)
Carnation Room: IICAH | Humanities - Teaching and Learning (Workshops)
Ilima Room: IICAH | Humanities, Technology and Consciousness
Pakalana & Anthurium Room: IICE/IICAH | Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis
Plumeria Room: IICE | Culture, Inter/Multiculturalism & Language

Location: Ala Moana Hotel (2F)

09:00-09:30: Check-in | Garden Lanai Room

09:15-12:35: Knowledge Exchange Hubs | Carnation Room
This is an interactive session designed to shift from passive learning to active participation. The session provides a space for delegates to connect, collaborate, and shape ideas that drive IAFOR forward.
- Further Information

    09:15-09:35: Opening and Groups Formation
    09:35-10:05: Session 1: Group Discussion
    10:05-10:35: Session 2: Multi-topic Group Discussion
    10:35-11:05: Networking Coffee Break
    11:05-11:35: Session 3: Regrouping and Discussion
    11:35-12:05: Creative Reflection & Storytelling (with optional AI support)
    12:05-12:35: Group Presentations

12:40-13:00: Closing Session | Carnation Room

Location: Online via Zoom

12:25-12:30: Message from IAFOR

12:30-13:30: The Online Forum | Live-Stream Room 1

13:30-15:10: Online Parallel Session 1
Live-Stream Room 1: IICAH | Teaching and Learning of Arts and Humanities
Live-Stream Room 2: IICE | Innovative Technologies in Education
Live-Stream Room 3: IICE | Teacher Professional Development and Educational Management
Live-Stream Room 4: IICAH | Special Topics in Arts
Live-Stream Room 5: IICAH | Gender, Sex, and Sexuality

15:10-15:20: Break

15:20-17:00: Online Parallel Session 2
Live-Stream Room 1: IICAH | Teaching and Learning of Arts and Humanities
Live-Stream Room 2: IICE | Digital Literacy and AI in Education
Live-Stream Room 3: IICE/IICAH | Teaching and Learning Experiences
Live-Stream Room 4: IICAH | Well-Being in Arts and Humanities
Live-Stream Room 5: IICAH | Special Topics in Arts and Humanities

17:00-17:10: Break

17:10-18:25: Online Parallel Session 3
Live-Stream Room 1: IICAH | Humanities and Literature
Live-Stream Room 2: IICE | International and Intercultural Education
Live-Stream Room 3: IICE | Teaching and Learning Experiences

18:25-18:30: Message from IAFOR

*Please be aware that the above schedule may be subject to change.

Featured Speakers


  • Jun Arima
    Jun Arima
    University of Tokyo, Japan
  • Grant Black
    Grant Black
    Chuo University, Japan
  • Mary Therese Perez Hattori
    Mary Therese Perez Hattori
    University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, United States
  • Halena Kapuni-Reynolds
    Halena Kapuni-Reynolds
    National Museum of the American Indian & Hawai'i Council for the Humanities, United States
  • Peter J Mataira
    Peter J Mataira
    Hawaiʻi Pacific University, United States
  • Michael Menchaca
    Michael Menchaca
    University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, United States
  • Unaisi Nabobo-Baba
    Unaisi Nabobo-Baba
    Fiji National University, Fiji
  • Melina Neophytou
    Melina Neophytou
    IAFOR, Japan
  • LJ Rayphand
    LJ Rayphand
    University of Hawaii at Manoa, United States
  • Rosie Rowe
    Rosie Rowe
    Leadership in Disabilities & Achievement of Hawai`i (LDAH), United States

Featured Presentations


  • Perspectives on Education in the Pacific Islands
    Perspectives on Education in the Pacific Islands
    Keynote Presentation: Unaisi Nabobo-Baba
  • Defunding Education: Challenges and Implications
    Defunding Education: Challenges and Implications
    Panel Presentation: Halena Kapuni-Reynolds, Rosie Row, Mary Hattori (Moderator)
  • Education, Culture, and the Environment in an AI-Driven Era
    Education, Culture, and the Environment in an AI-Driven Era
    Panel Presentation: Jun Arima, Peter J Mataira, LJ Rayphand, Michael Menchaca (Moderator)
  • AI in Academia: Ethics, Challenges, and Solutions
    AI in Academia: Ethics, Challenges, and Solutions
    Forum Discussion: Michael Menchaca, Grant Black, Melina Neophytou, Apipol Sae-Tung

Networking Events

Accepted Presentations

One of the greatest strengths of IAFOR’s international conferences is their international and intercultural diversity. As of October 10, 2025, IICE2026 has received over 430 submissions from 57 countries and territories - including: the United States, Canada, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Australia, Thailand, Philippines, and Taiwan.

Accepted Presentations

Important Information Emails

All registered attendees will receive an Important Information email and updates in the run-up to the conference. Please check your email inbox for something from "iafor.org". If you can not find these emails in your normal inbox, it is worth checking in your spam or junk mail folders as many programs filter out emails this way. If these did end up in one of these folders, please add the address to your acceptable senders' folder by whatever method your email program can do this.

Conference Programme & Abstract Book

The online version of the Conference Programme is now available to view below via the Issuu viewing platform. Alternatively, download a PDF version. The Conference Programme can also be viewed on the Issuu website (requires a web browser). An Issuu app is available for Android users.

Click to download as a PDF

The Conference Programme contains access information, session information and a detailed day-to-day presentation schedule.

Pre-Recorded Virtual Presentations

A number of presenters have submitted pre-recorded virtual video presentations. We encourage you to watch these presentations and provide feedback through the video comments.

Virtual Video Presentations

Previous Programming

View details of programming for past IICEHawaii conferences via the links below.

IICEHawaii2025
IICEHawaii2024 IICEHawaii2023 IICEHawaii2022
IICEHawaii2021 IICEHawaii2020 IICEHawaii2019
IICEHawaii2018 IICEHawaii2017 IICEHawaii2016
Peter J Mataira
Hawaiʻi Pacific University, United States

Biography

Dr Peter Mataira (Māori, Aotearoa New Zealand) is a Professor of Social Work at Hawaiʻi Pacific University (HPU), United States, where he teaches courses in research, community and organisational practice, clinical assessments, and ethics. A passionate advocate for Indigenous health equity and social justice, Professor Mataira recently co-led two National Institutes of Health (NIH) projects exploring how artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) can help reduce health disparities among vulnerable populations in Hawai’i and the Pacific through predictive modeling. His work bridges Indigenous knowledge systems, data sovereignty, and community-based participatory research (CBPR) with cutting-edge technologies that support culturally grounded solutions. Professor Mataira and his colleague from HPU’s College of Computer Sciences recently submitted a R21 NIH grant to test their assistive clinical model. He currently supervises two practicum students on projects that examine how AI tools support community-defined goals for food security and on youth suicide education and prevention.

Panel Presentation (2026) | Education, Culture, and the Environment in an AI-Driven Era

Rosie Rowe
Leadership in Disabilities & Achievement of Hawai`i (LDAH), United States

Biography

Rosie Rowe is the Executive Director of Leadership in Disabilities & Achievement of Hawai`i (LDAH), a 501(c)3 organisation improving the lives of parents and their children with, or at risk of disabilities to receive an equitable education in the public-school system. Before this role, Ms Rowe served as the Education & Training Coordinator, where she managed the organisation’s two major programs, wrote, and designed training curriculum for parents and professionals and managed ten programme staff. She holds a master’s degree in business administration/ministry leadership and a certificate in developmental disabilities. As a sibling of a brother with down syndrome and a mom to three adult daughters, Ms Rowe has over 30 years of expertise in special education as a former Educational Assistant, Teacher, and Administrator of a private non-profit centre for children and adults with developmental disabilities. In her role as administrator, she assisted with the closure of Hawai’i’s State Institution for the Mentally Retarded within Waimano Training School and Hospital in 1999. Today, she manages three federal grants, four local government contracts, and one private grant under LDAH. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, walking, and staying active.

Panel Presentation (2026) | Defunding Education: Challenges and Implications

Halena Kapuni-Reynolds
National Museum of the American Indian & Hawai'i Council for the Humanities, United States

Biography

Dr Halena Kapuni-Reynolds was born on the island of Hawai'i and raised in the Hawaiian Home Lands community of Keaukaha and the rainforest of ʻŌlaʻa. As the Associate Curator of Native Hawaiian History and Culture at the National Museum of the American Indian, a unit of the Smithsonian Institution, he works on an array of projects centered around exhibitions, public programs, and public service. Dr Kapuni-Reynolds also serves as the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities, where he has contributed to the establishment of the Pacific Islands Humanities Network (PIHN) and provided leadership for the organization during a time of crisis and change. In addition to these roles, Dr Kapuni-Reynolds has served as a board member for the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management, the Hawaiʻi Museums Association, the Council for Museum Anthropology, and the Piʻilani Hawaiian Civic Club of Colorado.

Panel Presentation (2026) | Defunding Education: Challenges and Implications

LJ Rayphand
University of Hawaii at Manoa, United States

Biography

LJ Rayphand is an educational leader and researcher from Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia. He earned a PhD from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, United States, and has significantly contributed to education by preserving and promoting Chuukese culture through storytelling and technology.

Dr Rayphand is currently the Dean of Outreach Education at Caroline College and Pastoral Institute (CCPI) in Chuuk, an official partner of Chaminade University of Honolulu. Dr Rayphand also teaches at the Chaminade University of Honolulu, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoaa, and the College of Micronesia-FSM, Chuuk Campus. His work focuses on integrating indigenous knowledge with modern educational practices to enhance learning outcomes for Pacific Islander students.

Dr Rayphand also serves in various capacities in Micronesia and Hawaii. He is currently a Professor in Residence with Chaminade University of Honolulu and a Faculty in Residence with the NSF INCLUDES Alliance. He is also a member of the REL Pacific Governing Board, Chuuk State Board of Education, Chuuk Vicariate Parish Council, and the Diocese of the Caroline Islands Board of Catholic Education.

Panel Presentation (2026) | Education, Culture, and the Environment in an AI-Driven Era

Unaisi Nabobo-Baba
Fiji National University, Fiji

Biography

Professor Unaisi Nabobo-Baba is the Vice-Chancellor of Fiji National University (FNU). She was the first Indigenous Fijian woman to be appointed a professor at a university. She is married to Fijian politician Dr Tupeni Baba and has previously served as the Acting Dean of the College of Humanities and Education at FNU. Growing up in Vugalei, Fiji and witnessing traditional ways of life gave her a quiet understanding of things at home. She attended Ballantine Memorial Secondary School in Suva, in a time when Pacific education was being questioned, and many Pacific island nations were trying to exert their independence. She has taught at secondary schools and universities, lived through the Fiji coup of 2000, and has undergone many other life-shaping experiences. The contributions she has made to the Pacific are largely focused around education and Fijian-based methodologies. Professor Nabobo-Baba’s work as a Pacific researcher reflects her stories as a woman of colour, of the third world, of post-colonial Fiji, and the daughter of two Fijian tribes. Her life is evidence of how experience influences a person’s understanding, way of life, and how Indigenous knowledge morphs into a hybrid understanding, bridging traditional and non-traditional ways of knowing.

Keynote Presentation (2026) | TBA

Melina Neophytou
IAFOR, Japan

Biography

Dr Melina Neophytou is the Academic Operations Manager at IAFOR, where she works closely with academics, keynote speakers, and IAFOR partners to shape academic discussions within The Forum, bring conference programmes together, refine scholarship programmes, and build an interdisciplinary and international community. She is leading various projects within IAFOR, notably The Forum discussions and the authoring of Conference Reports and Intelligence Briefings, and she oversees the Global Fellows Programme.

Born in Germany and raised in Cyprus, Dr Neophytou received her PhD in International Development from Nagoya University, Japan, in 2023, specialising in political sociology, the welfare state, and contentious politics. She received an MA in International Development from Nagoya University, with a focus on Governance & Law, and a BA in European Studies from the University of Cyprus, Cyprus.

Her research interests currently focus on the Japanese welfare state, family values within Japanese society, and their relationship to family policies. She is particularly interested in state-society relations by uncovering how informal social ideas influence formal social policy.

Forum Discussion (2026) | TBA

Previous Presentations

Forum Discussion (2025) | Global Citizenship and the Environment: Engagement and Action
Grant Black
Chuo University, Japan

Biography

Professor Grant Black is a professor in the Faculty of Commerce at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan, where he has taught Global Skills and Global Issues since 2013. Grant is engaged in diverse roles as a global manager, systems builder, executive leader and university professor. His research and teaching areas include global management skills, intercultural intelligence (CQ) and organisational management. He also has taught Japanese Management Theory at J. F. Oberlin University (Japan), and a continuing education course in the Foundations of Japanese Zen Buddhism at Temple University Japan. Previously, he was Chair of the English Section at the Center for Education of Global Communication at the University of Tsukuba where he served in a six-year post in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. He holds a BA Highest Honors in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara; an MA in Japanese Buddhist Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a Doctor of Social Science (DSocSci) from the Department of Management in the School of Business at the University of Leicester. Dr Black is a Chartered Manager (CMgr), the highest status that can be achieved in the management profession in the UK. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). Grant is President of Black Inc. Consulting (Japan), a Tokyo-based firm specialising in international and intercultural project management, communication projects, and executive leadership and training. He is the director of the Nippon Academic Management Institute (NAMI) and the author of Education Reform Policy at a Japanese Super Global University: Policy Translation, Migration and Mutation (Routledge, 2022). He serves as a Vice-President for the International Academic Forum (IAFOR).

Previous Presentations

Orientation Session (2025) | IAFOR Information Session
Jun Arima
University of Tokyo, Japan

Biography

Professor Jun Arima is the President of IAFOR, and the senior academic officer of the organisation. In this role, Professor Arima is the Honorary Chair of the International Academic Advisory Board, as well as both the Academic Governing Board and its Executive Committee. He also sits on the IAFOR Board of Directors.

Jun Arima was formerly Director General of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), UK from 2011 to 2015 and Special Advisor on Global Environmental Affairs for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan, from 2011 to 2015. He has previously held various international energy/environment-related positions, including: Head of Division, Country Studies, International Energy Agency (IEA); Director, International Affairs Division, Agency of Natural Resources and Energy, METI; and Deputy Director General for Environmental Affairs at METI’s Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau. In the COP (UN Convention on Climate Change) 14, 15 and 16, he was Japanese Chief Negotiator for AWG-KP.

Since 2015 Jun Arima has been a Professor at the University of Tokyo, Japan, where he teaches Energy Security, International Energy Governance, and Environmental Policies in the Graduate School of Public Policy. (GraSPP). He is also currently a Consulting Fellow at the Japanese Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI). He is also Executive Senior Fellow at the 21st Century Public Policy Institute, Principal Researcher at the International Environmental and Economic Institute (IEEI), Distinguished Senior Policy Fellow, at the Asia Pacific Institute of Research (APIR), Senior Policy Fellow on Energy and Environment, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), and was the Lead Author, the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC).

Panel Presentation (2026) | TBA

Previous Presentations

Keynote Presentation (2025) | Global Warming and International Institutions: Addressing Challenges Through Education and Action
Michael Menchaca
University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, United States

Biography

Michael Menchaca is Chair of the Department of Learning Design and Technology at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. He specialises in distance education, and has designed, implemented, and coordinated online and hybrid programs for over 20 years. He serves as editor for the IAFOR Journal of Education: Technology in Education Edition. He was an IT specialist for many years in the public and private sector. He teaches and conducts research in the areas of online learning, technology integration, and social justice with technology.

Previous Presentations

Featured Panel Presentation (2025) | Global Citizenship and the Environment: Engagement and Action
Featured Panel Presentation (2024) | Practical Approaches to AI in Academia
Panel Presentation (2022) | Reimagining General Education Across Hawaii’s 10-Campus System: Process, Product, and Lessons Learned
Panel Presentation (2021) | Post-pandemic Online Education: Moving from Crisis Intervention to Optimal Experience
Mary Therese Perez Hattori
University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, United States

Biography

A Chamorro of the island of Guahan (Guam), Dr. Hattori is one of nine children born to Fermina Leon Guerrero Perez and Paul Mitsuo Hattori, of the clan Familian Titang. She is former director of the Pacific Islands Development Program, affiliate graduate faculty with the University of Hawai'i-Manoa and Chaminade University of Honolulu in the fields of educational leadership, educational technologies, indigenous leadership, indigenous research, and Pacific Islands studies. A resident in Hawai'i since 1983, she is an author, community organizer, poet, public speaker, and a consultant with a passion for empowering Pacific Islander communities through the arts, education, and technology.

Panel Presentation (2026) | Defunding Education: Challenges and Implications

Previous Presentations

Keynote Presentation (2025) | Global Citizenship and Education for Peace: Threats & Opportunities from a Pacific Islands Perspective
Panel Presentation (2021) | Cultural Resilience
Perspectives on Education in the Pacific Islands
Keynote Presentation: Unaisi Nabobo-Baba

Drawing on her extensive experience as a Pacific scholar and educator, Unaisi Nabobo-Baba will offer broad reflections on education in the region. Reflecting ongoing issues around inclusive education, and considering the indigenous population in the Pacific islands, her keynote is a timely topic addressing culturally relevant education.

Read presenter's biography
Education, Culture, and the Environment in an AI-Driven Era
Panel Presentation: Jun Arima, Peter J Mataira, LJ Rayphand, Michael Menchaca (Moderator)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been presented to us as a technological tool that helps advance knowledge, delivering innovations and solutions to our many challenges in a much more productive and efficient way than ever before. While AI continues to evolve rapidly and open new doors, this progress also comes with a price. AI helps analyse complex data, yet has immense environmental impacts. It can empower learners, yet it can be culturally biased. AI has already significantly changed how students engage in research, yet what they gather comes from models indexed mostly from specific cultural sources of knowledge rather than a diverse range.

This panel will look at the promise of AI and the pitfalls we should be aware of in areas such as education, culture, and the environment. Panellists will discuss what our growing daily reliance on AI means for the future and how we might harness its benefits while minimising costs and risks to society.

Read presenters' biographies
Defunding Education: Challenges and Implications
Panel Presentation: Halena Kapuni-Reynolds, Rosie Row, Mary Hattori (Moderator)

Since January 2025, the Trump administration has enacted a sweeping range of policy shifts through anti-DEI executive orders and the termination of existing funding commitments in many areas, including education, the arts, and the humanities. Members of this panel will share how their organisations have been negatively impacted by these policies, challenges they have faced, and implications for academia.

Read presenters' biographies
AI in Academia: Ethics, Challenges, and Solutions
Forum Discussion: Michael Menchaca, Grant Black, Melina Neophytou, Apipol Sae-Tung

With regards to Academic Research, AI provides promise while simultaneously causing concern. AI might be used in research to assist with the writing process, organise literature searches, analyse data, generate graphs and figures, and even consider solutions. Overall, AI’s potential for strengthening research and dissemination is great. However, stories of plagiarism, a lack of critical thinking, and intellectual dishonesty also highlight significant pitfalls in its use in academia. Discussions surrounding ethics and how they might guide AI usage would prove useful in identifying potential solutions.

This forum session will focus on introducing ethics currently identified in specific cases and highlighting select AI usages for academic research. Participants are invited to share their insights on AI ethics, uses, challenges, and solutions. If AI use in academic research is here to stay, how can we positively approach its inevitable integration? What do we value most? How do we promote the ethics we identify in this session? How do we model use at all levels of academic research? In short, how can we begin to control the AI narrative?

Read presenters' biographies