Keynote Speakers

After earning a doctorate from Harvard University, he conducted academic research at the University of Tokyo focusing on political process theory, providing vital insights into Japanese political science and public administration. Since 2008, he led the Kumamoto Prefectural Government, promoting multifaceted policies including post-disaster recovery and industrial recruitment.

Major Career and Achievements

• Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government, Harvard University Graduate School

• Professor, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo

• Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture (4 terms, 16 years)

• Leadership in disaster response following the Kumamoto Earthquakes and torrential rain disasters

• Semiconductor industry recruitment and regional industrial policy

• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (2025)

Professor Tarozzi is a leading scholar in global citizenship education research, driving global research networks on the themes of educational internationalization and the cultivation of citizenship. As a full professor at the University of Bologna, he advances social educational research while, as UNESCO Chair, contributing to international policies and educational reforms in higher education.

Academic Positions and Contributions

•Full Professor at the University of Bologna（Citizenship Education）
•UNESCO Chair in GCED in Higher Education
•Director of the International Research Centre on Global Citizenship Education
•Former Co-Director of the Development Education Research Centre at the University College London (UCL)
•Co-Chair of the ANGEL Network
•Published extensively, including over 20 authored or edited books and numerous scholarly articles.1998: Professor at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Social Science

Dr. Kathy Hytten is a Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations at the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) and Director of Graduate Studies for the Doctorate in Education (EdD) program. Kathy teaches courses in democracy and education, qualitative research, critical thinking, philosophy of education, cultural diversity, ethics and social justice, and educational leadership. In her research, she aims to make theoretically abstract ideas useful, accessible, and meaningful to prospective and practicing educators and administrators, working to bridge theory and K-12 educational practice.

Education and Professional Experience

• Ph.D., Social Foundations of Education (Specializing in Educational Philosophy), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Philosophy and Education, Magna Cum Laude, Colgate University
• Previously, she was a professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale for 17 years
• Her recent research is on the democratic potential (and corruption) of extracurricular spaces and school sports, and the ethical, epistemological, and ontological challenges of AI in education.
• Editor, The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education (Oxford University Press)
• Co-editor, Education and Culture (Leading journal of the John Dewey Society)
• Published essays on diversity, ethics, hope, cultural studies, whiteness theory, globalization, anti-blackness, and education for social justice and democracy in a wide range of journals.
• Former President, Philosophy of Education Society (2019) and American Educational Studies Association (2009).

Professor Andrea R. English is a Professor of Philosophy of Education at the University of Edinburgh and is President of the John Dewey Society. Her research is focused on transformative education, discontinuity in learning, and the philosophical foundations of Dewey and Herbart. Her philosophical and interdisciplinary research on transformative education is published in a range of international journals and edited volumes.

Education and Professional Experience

• Author, Discontinuity in Learning: Dewey, Herbart and Education as Transformation (Cambridge University Press, 2013)
• Editor, A History of Western Philosophy of Education in the Modern Era (Bloomsbury, 2021)
• Co-editor (with Prof. Leonard Waks), John Dewey’s Democracy and Education: A Centennial Handbook (2017) — Winner of the Outstanding Book Award from the Society of Professors of Education, and John Dewey’s Human Nature and Conduct: A Centennial Handbook (Cambridge University Press, 2026)
• Executive Board Member, Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain
• Associate Editor, Dewey Studies
• Editor, Impact: Philosophical Perspectives on Education Policy

Ph.D. in Education. Professor and Deputy Director at the Institute of International and Comparative Education, Beijing Normal University.

As a leading authority on Japanese educational studies, he specializes in the comparative research of higher education and teacher training. He has held prestigious leadership roles, including Vice President of the Comparative Education Division of the Chinese Society of Education and a member of the Research Committee of the Japan Comparative Education Society(JCES). His work is dedicated to the international advancement of education by bridging the gap between theory and practice.

Academic and Professional Experience

• Visiting Researcher, Faculty of Education and Center for the Studies of Higher Education, Nagoya University
• Member of the Research Committee, Japan Comparative Education Society (JCES)
• Member of the Specialized Committee on Theoretical Research in Adult Higher Education, Chinese Adult Education Association

Selected Publications and Achievements

• The Modern Fate of Traditional Education: A Comparative Study of Educational Transformation in Modern East Asia (2014)
• The Disruption of Balance: An Analysis of Reform Trends in Japanese Compulsory Education
• The Revolution of Learning (Educational Essay Collection)
• Author of over 60 academic papers and principal investigator for numerous provincial and ministerial-level research projects.

Fields of Expertise

• Comparative Education
• Higher Education Governance
• Teacher Training / Teacher Education
• School Management
• Japanese Educational Studies