Speaker/Artist Bios

4 April 2025, 3:30-Midnight
Texas State University
Taylor-Murphy Hall + The Wittliff Collections
Follow us on Instagram.

It’s a film festival, a dance party, a date night, an exhibition, big idea pitch session, short-dialogues, and interactive workshops. Organized by the Texas Center for Public History, the Embassy of France, the Wittliff Collections, and the NEH Distinguished Professorship in the Humanities.

FULL DYNAMIC SCHEDULE
FULL SCHEDULE PDF

Keynote Speaker

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Hannah_Shepard-scaled-e1734234236191-1024x1024.jpeg
Hannah Shepard
Archival Researcher/Producer

Keynote Workshop

Ophélie Omnes
Founder of OMNES Legal
& Positive Lobbying

Musical Performances

Michael Alexandersson
Singer/Musician
Leslie Bellair
Musician/Actor/Speech Therapist
Elle Bramhall
Singer/Songwriter
Mela Sarajane Dailey
Musician/CEO/Founder
Tommy Florio
LOUD HOUND
Songwriter/Producer
Tristan Lake Leabu
Singer/Songerwriter
Evelyn Lopez
DJ/Co-Director KTSW Music Department
Rosa Martinez
Writer/DJ/Activist
Dr. Mallory McHenry
Musician/Educator
Texas State Cello Choir
Musicians
Andrew Tran
Singer/Songwriter
The Trips
Musicians

Austin Film Festival

Julia Barnett
Writer/DirectorJulia Barnett
Chris Beier
Writer/Director
Mindy Raymond
Filmmaker/Actor/Co-Founder/Producer
Steph Swope
President, Minnow Mountain
Trey Selman
Writer
Christopher Yates
Writer/Director

“Citizen Weiner” Team

Joe Gallagher
Writer/Actor
Daniel Robbins
Director
Zack Weiner
Writer/Actor

The Modern Insurgent Team

Michael Archer
Chief Reporter
Conflict Journalist
Antoine Brimbal
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Conflict Journalist
Adrian Cornejo
Head of Internal Relations/
Human Resources
Liam Coyle
Head of Photojournalism
Photojournalist
Rowan Glass
Anthropologist, Journalist, Editor, and Filmmaker

Featured Speakers, Workshops, and Artists

Active Hope Alliance
Betsy Robertson
Carolyn Jennings
Carmen Rumbaut
Allied Scholars
for Animal ProtectionAsher Ixba, Jayce Jackson, Ana Castillo, Emma Pelfrey
Richeler Aladin
Film Professor/Producer
Alexander Blum
Founder & CEO of Applied Bioplastics & the Blum Family Foundation/ Filmmaker
Kera Daughtery
Prevention Educator/
Environmentalist/Storyteller
Meggie Emerick
Artist/Photographer
Naveen Farrani
Writer/Activist
Hunter Ford
Editor/Writer
August Frazier
Wildlife Biology Student
Mateo Gutiérrez
Artist
Tara Joyce
Writer/Zinemaker
Lucas Kraft
Artist/Photographer
Ashley Lewis
Rural Regional Organizer, MOVE Texas
Regina Macias
Law Student
Grant McCarty
Co-Director/Co-Founder,
Bitcoin Policy Institute
Eric Morales
Artist/Photographer
Colleen Myles
Professor/Cultural Geographer/Political Ecologist
Noah Neely
Photographer/Artist
Luiz Francisco Guizzo Gutierrez Osorio
Historian/Organizer
Taylor Powell
Director/Cinematographer
Cole Ramirez
Photographer/Publicity Assistant
Jordi Reese
Independent Researcher
Oscar Rivera
Photographer
Christian Scott
Political Action Chair, NAACP at TXST
Jonas F. Tuttle
Artificial Intelligence Researcher
Horseshoe Tyndall
Photographer
Louie Dean Valencia
Director, Texas Center for Public HistoryNEH Distinguished Professor
Diego Vila Peña
Writer/Photographer/Researcher
Madison Woodrom
Historian
Athene Yowell
Video Game Developer

Organizing Team

Cole Ramirez
Photographer/Publicity Assistant
Tony Robie
Event Coordinator
Louie Dean Valencia
Director, Texas Center for Public HistoryNEH Distinguished Professor

This “Ideas + Tools to Create Impact” initiative is co-organized by the NEH Distinguished Professorship in the Humanities, the Embassy of France, and the Texas Center for Public History.

Partners and Co-Sponsors:
The Wittliff Collections, College of Liberal Arts, Honors College, Center for International Studies, Housing and Residential Life, Center for Texas Music History, American Artists Project, MOVE Texas, and more to come…