.png)
Organizers & Partners
The global forum’s effort to revision how we teach and learn about ancient and Indigenous histories and wisdom traditions is a collective process rooted in relationships. The forum would not be possible without the guidance, labour, and generosity of our organizers, partners, and supporters. Together, we strive to create spaces for the co-creation of knowledge and pedagogical practices.
Organizers
World Education Research Association’s International Research Network on Ancient and Indigenous Histories and Wisdom Traditions
This International Research Network (IRN) seeks to foster synergies among researchers who seek to critically analyze representations of traditionally marginalized ancient and Indigenous cultures and wisdom traditions in curricula and textbooks. Further, it will produce a synthesis report on the state of the knowledge and future research directions worldwide. Additionally, the IRN seeks to facilitate collaborations on joint academic publications, presentations, and research studies, as well as offer mentoring between more established scholars and emerging scholars and graduate students working on some of these topics. Those efforts and outcomes over the IRN’s first three years will lay the foundations for the IRN’s second phase which will likely focus on fostering global research on how teachers enact those curricular and textbook representations in classrooms. The IRN is starting with researchers from 11 different geographic contexts, but will actively seek to expand its membership and the contexts covered once it is established.
Dr. Jeremy Jiménez
Inaugural Chair
Jeremy Jiménez is an assistant professor in the Foundations and Social Advocacy Department at SUNY Cortland. He received his PhD in International and Comparative Education from Stanford University, his MA in sociology (Stanford), and his MEd in social studies education (Rutgers University). His publications have primarily focused on school textbook analysis as well as students’ and teachers’ engagement with social justice issues (such as anti-racism, environmental justice, and gender identity). He teaches future teacher candidates about race, class, gender, international, and ecological issues, increasingly from indigenous perspectives. He has previously taught high school social studies for over a decade in Norway, the United States, and Venezuela. Having now studied, conducted research, and/or traveled in over 160 countries around the world, these days Jeremy prefers to spend his time hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing and cultivating his permaculture garden (and treasuring the beautiful biodiversity that emerges).
Dahlia Vionnet, MSW
Lead Organizer
Dahlia (they/them) is a psychotherapist dedicated to creating spaces where people feel truly seen, heard, and supported. They received a Masters of Social Work in Social Justice and Diversity from the University of Toronto in 2025, and a BA in International Development studies in 2021. Their approach is trauma-informed, anti-oppressive, and humanistic. They practice radical genuineness and work to dismantle the power imbalance that often exists between clients and mental health practitioners. Dahlia also has extensive experience in the non-profit sector, including roles at Stella’s Place, Just For Today, and YAAACE, where they supported individuals and communities, designed meaningful programming, and responded to the realities of trauma and systemic violence. Alongside practice, Dahlia is an emerging scholar and writer. Their current projects include a comparative analysis of global violence prevention strategies that identifies the defining characteristics of a public health approach, as well as a critical genealogy and theory of DBT. They work closely with mentors who enrich their learning as they build a future in authorship and community-based research. As a queer French settler in Tkaronto, Dahlia values connection over production, authenticity over perfection, and community over isolation.
Partners
Seshat (Global History Databank)
Seshat was founded in 2011 to bring together the most current and comprehensive body of knowledge about human history in one place. The huge potential of this knowledge for testing theories about political and economic development has been largely untapped. Their unique databank systematically collects what is currently known about the social and political organization of human societies and how civilizations have evolved over time. This massive collection of historical information allows us and others to rigorously test different hypotheses about the rise and fall of large-scale societies across the globe and human history. Working with a large international and interdisciplinary team, Seshat systematically collects what is currently known about the social and political organization of human societies and how civilizations have evolved over time. This massive collection of historical information allows us and others to rigorously test different hypotheses about the rise and fall of large-scale societies across the globe and human history.
Global Centre for Pluralism
The Global Centre for Pluralism is an independent, charitable organization founded as a partnership by the Government of Canada and Prince Karim Al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV. When our differences are respected and valued, our societies thrive. Around the world, those that centre the respect, dignity and belonging of all people are more peaceful, prosperous and just. This requires deliberate actions on the part of all members of society—individuals, communities, institutions and governments. The Centre works to influence perspectives, inform policies and inspire actions to advance pluralism. To do this, they work with policymakers, educators and community leaders around the world to amplify and implement the transformative power of pluralism, and to apply this in their work through a range of programs.