Dr. Ajunwa is an award-winning tenured law professor and a graduate of Yale Law School and Columbia University. She is Associate Dean for Projects and Partnerships and the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law at Emory School of Law. She is also the Founding Director of the A.I. and Future of Work Program. Previously, she was a tenured professor at UNC School of Law and the Founding Director of the Artificial Intelligence Decision-Making Research (AI-DR) Program at UNC Law. She was a Fellow at Harvard University in 2016 and has been a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University since 2017. She is also a Fellow of the Yale Law’s ISP. Dr. Ajunwa’s research interests are at the intersection of law and technology with a particular focus on the ethical governance of workplace technologies. Her research focus is also on diversity and inclusion in the labor market and the workplace
Anne Archer Dennington is the founding Executive Director of Flux Projects, an organization commissioning public art that invites audiences in Atlanta to explore the city’s sites and stories as a means to imagining its future possibilities. Inspiring wonder and imagination, these projects support artists at all career levels to take risks and grow their practices. Prior to Flux Projects, Dennington led three previous organizations—Atlanta Celebrates Photography, the Masur Museum, and The Cooley House—and worked across the commercial, government, and nonprofit art sectors. For Night of Ideas, Flux Projects presents Our mothers, our water, our peace, an immersive installation and community-centered project by Korean American artist Gyun Hur. With Our mothers, our water, our peace, Flux Projects continues FLOW, a multi-year series designed to explore Atlanta’s history with water, how it has shaped the city, and the potential it holds for our future.
Miya Bailey is an illustrator, film producer, painter, celebrity tattoo artist and founder of Peters Street Station, a multi-use space and community center located in the Castleberry Hill Historic District of Atlanta. He is also the founder and owner of City of Ink, a renowned tattoo studio and art gallery that has become an incubator for creative talent in Atlanta. Born in North Carolina, Bailey moved to Atlanta in 1994 at the age of 19 to pursue his artistic career. Passionate about art, family and education, he has over the years established himself as a visionary in the Atlanta arts scene, known for his entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to supporting emerging artists.
Kevin Byrd is an interdisciplinary artist based in San Francisco. Born in Charleston, SC in 1976, Byrd’s artistic journey began with studies in architecture at Southern Polytechnic State University in Atlanta, GA. Byrd’s early career in Atlanta saw his work exhibited at prestigious institutions including The High Museum and MOCA GA. His art and design practice were further refined under the mentorship of Icelandic typeface designer Stefán Kjartansson, developing a strong foundation in modernist graphic design that continues to inform his work. Byrd’s ability to work across disciplines led to significant recognition in the design world. He was instrumental in developing the art strategy for Dolby Laboratories’ 16-story headquarters in San Francisco, where he also founded the Dolby Artist Program, a platform for artists working at the intersection of technology and art. Byrd’s work, heavily influenced by industrial materials and geometry, explores the intersection of design, sculpture, and technology. His work remains a testament to the power of interdisciplinary approaches in art and design, bridging the worlds of fine art, design, and technological innovation. He is the creator of Big Fly Big Fish shown at Goat Farm.
Jacqui Chew is an award-winning leader who is passionate about the transformative power of ideas. As a founding member of the longest standing TED affiliate in Georgia, she has channeled this passion toward sparking conversations that matter and connecting people, communities, and ideas that move Atlanta forward. From her role as the Managing Director of iFusion to her position as CMO-in-Residence at Georgia’s Advanced Technology Development Center where she supported a portfolio of almost 170 technology startups, Jacqui has consistently worked at the intersection of innovation, technology, and human connection. Today, Jacqui is a sought-after speaker, sharing her journey and insights at stages around the world including the Georgia Asian Women Leaders Forum, WeWork’s International Women’s Day Panel, Newell’s Asian American & Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group, and more. Additionally, her contributions have earned her recognition as a Georgia Asian Times Most Influential Asian, a Spelman College Game Changer Award recipient, and a Technology Association of Georgia’s Diversity Game Changer Award honoree.
Henrik von Coler is a composer/performer of electronic music and researcher. From 2015-2023 he was director of the TU Studio (TU Berlin). He is a member of the live-electronic performance 2CUBES with Hyunkyung Shin. He is now an Assistant Professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Music, where he is running the Lab for Interaction and Immersion (L42i). His research encompasses spatial audio, human-computer – and human-human interaction and live electronics. In his performances and compositions, he combines state of the art digital systems with analog and simple sound generators to create immersive experiences with digital to organic textures and timbres.
Professor Illya Eliphis Davis, PhD, serves as the Director of Freshmen and Seniors’ Academic Success Programs and professor of philosophy at Morehouse College. He is a 1989 philosophy graduate of Morehouse College. He pursued a Master’s in Religion and Culture at Harvard University and doctoral studies at The University of Chicago in Philosophy of Religion. He has published on the political thought of former Morehouse College president Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, African American Religious Experiences, Black existential thought, Black fraternities and sororities, and, Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Professor Davis is a frequent social and political contributor to NPRs WABE-Atlanta. He teaches and researches Africana Philosophy and Race, philosophy of language, and philosophy of religion. He is the proud father of two young ladies, Ilan—a 2021 graduate of Spelman College, and Anya—a sophomore at Spelman College. He is a member of The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated.
Bojana Ginn is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist, former Medical Doctor and scientist, curator, writer, and public speaker. Drawing from art, science, medicine, technology, and spirituality, she creates multimedia installations, sculptures, and photography. Her abstract art explores the body and landscape in an era defined by the rapid growth of digital and biotechnologies, the recognition of healthcare as a human right, and the contemplation of the technological sublime. Recipient of the prestigious national Ellsworth Kelly Award, granted by the Foundation for Contemporary Art in New York, Ginn exhibits in Atlanta, nationally, and internationally. Nominated for The World Technology Award in Art 2015, and a fellow of The World Technology Network, Ginn has curated SciArt content and wrote an Art & Science column for BURNAWAY Magazine. Ginn delivered keynote speeches for BEINGS International Conference of Ethics in Bioengineering, and for International Art and Mathematics Conferences in Atlanta and Baltimore. She often collaborates with scientific institutions in Atlanta, most notably the Georgia Institute of Technology Department of Astrophysics (NASA), and Emory University.
Walid Hajar Rachedi was born in France in 1981 and spent several years in Latin America and the US. His debut novel Qu’est-ce que j’irais faire au paradis? was a finalist for the Goncourt Prize for a debut novel in 2022, and his second novel, Nos destins sont liés, was published in September, 2023. He is also the co-founder and director of Frictions, an online media platform, widely renowned for its podcast series, which investigates global social issues in a long-form narrative style. A Villa Albertine writer–in–residence in Atlanta from February to April 2025, Walid Hajar Rachedi is reflecting on identity, immigration, and societal fractures in Atlanta through his project “What’s Left of the American Dream?”, dedicated to the impact of the American Dream on his personal and literary journey.
Gyun Hur is an interdisciplinary artist and an educator. Born in South Korea, she moved to Georgia at the age of 13. She currently lives in Brooklyn and teaches at Parsons School of Design, The New School as an Assistant Professor of Fine Arts. She completed residencies such as Art Farm Serenbe Residency, Stove Works Residency, NARS Foundation Residency, Bronx Museum AIM Fellowship, Pratt Fine Arts Residency. She is the recipient of Artadia, AHL Foundation Artist Fellowship, Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant, Faculty Research Funds (Parsons School of Design), and the inaugural Hudgens Prize. Her works have been featured in Hyperallergic, The Cut, Art In America, Art Paper, Sculpture, Art Asia Pacific, Public Art Magazine Korea, Hong Kong Economic Journal, Yahoo! Tech, Huffington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Pelican Bomb, Creative Loafing, Jezebel, and The Atlantan. Her interest in art making in public space led her to various artist presentations at the TEDxCentennialWomen, the international street art conference Living Walls: The City Speaks, the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The New School, and many others. Gyun has contributed as an artist-writer in fLoromancy, The Brooklyn Rail, and The Forgetory.
Miranda Kyle (she/her) (Cherokee descendant/European-American) is the Curator of Indigenous Arts of the Americas at the Michael C.Carlos Museum, Emory University. She is a scholar on the intersection of Indigenous Land rights, sovereignty, contemporary art, and monuments. She is a sociocultural activist and advocate. She lectures and curates around the importance of preserving and promoting place-based knowledges and culture, public spaces, and human-informed design. From 2017-2024 she served as the Arts&Culture Program Manager and Chief Curator for Atlanta Beltline, Inc. Managing, cultivating, and growing the largest public art exhibition in the American South. In this role she represented the organization at all levels of government, cultivated partnerships and donors, expanded representation of Black, Indigenous, and Queer artists along the region’s largest infrastructure project and one of the country’s flagship rails to trails projects.
Saba Long is an experienced communications professional currently serving as the Executive Director of Atlanta Civic Circle since October 2021, and working as a communications consultant for various companies since January 2016. Long has a background as a columnist for Saporta Report from September 2012 to April 2016, where topics included government, multimodal mobility, politics, and technology. Previous roles include Communications Contractor at MARTA and Manager of Public Policy & Communications for the City of Atlanta, managing operations for a city council office and leading public engagement efforts. With an educational background in communications obtained at Georgia State University, she has also held positions such as Press Secretary for Citizens for Transportation Mobility and Vice President of Communications for the Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association, contributing to strategic planning and voter outreach initiatives.
Dr. Magerko is a Professor of Digital Media, Director of Graduate Studies in Digital Media, & head of the Expressive Machinery Lab at Georgia Tech. He received his B.S. in Cognitive Science from Carnegie Mellon (1999) and his MS and Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan (2001, 2006). His research explores how studying human and machine cognition can inform the creation of new human/computer creative experiences. Dr. Magerko has been research lead on over $15 million of federally-funded research; has authored over 100 peer reviewed articles related to computational media, cognition, and learning; has had his work shown at galleries and museums internationally; and co-founded a music-based learning environment for computer science – called EarSketch – that has been used by over 160K learners worldwide. He is the creator of the art installation Sound Clouds shown at Goat Farm.
Marquinn Mason is a multi-instrumentalist from Atlanta, GA, who’s musical career has spanned across many genres over the years. He is the co-founder of Reverence at Gallery 992 in the Historic West End of Atlanta, where they have spearheaded the award winning improvisation session for 8 years. Collaborations include artists such as Russell Gunn, Kebbi Williams, Roy Ayers, Kamaal Williams, Kai Alce, Stefan Ringer, T Lang dance company, GloATL, and Jazzmeia Horn.
Ben Miller is a professor at Emory University in Writing and Quantitative Theory and Methods, a co-founder and former Executive Editor of Atlanta Studies, and on the steering committee of the Atlanta Interdisciplinary AI Network. For 20 years, his work has been about how new technologies are used by communities to tell stories of survival and how computational media changes the ways we collectively produce and read stories. In classes like Writing for Games and Writing Atlanta, Ben asks students to consider creativity and scholarship relative to computation, data, and society. Engaging with online collective behavior has led to projects with companies like Riot Games on understanding and moderating hate speech, and with support from groups like the NSF and Department of Defense on facilitating human rights research and understanding and countering violent extremism. In his role with Atlanta Studies, a decade-long partnership linking many Atlanta academic, civic, and cultural institutions, Ben helped promote public scholarship about the many histories and possible futures of Atlanta and the people who call it home. Prior to bringing this work to Emory’s Writing Program, Ben helped found the Creative Media Industries Institute at Georgia State, and spent a few years teaching at MIT and Georgia Tech.
Marie Munk was born in Denmark in 1988 and currently lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia (USA). She received her MA from the Royal College of Art in London in 2016. Marie Munk is an interdisciplinary artist, working with sculpture, installation, video, and performance. She is concerned with how technological innovation, where info-tech, biotech, and the commercial world interfere, both characterize and dominate our environment, our behavior, and our bodies. Munk is driven by creating alternative realities that balance the playful, imaginative, and adorable with the eerie, disgusting, and horrifying. With equal parts of sci-fi and humor, Munk comments on a familiar present and uncertain future. She diagnoses, with an uncanny visual language, our society through our relationship to our body. Using silicone as a metaphor for the bodily, Munk creates bizarre hypothetical scenarios, which questions current tendencies in society. She is the creator of Sensory Site shown at Goat Farm.
Roberto Rafael Navarrete, born in Queens, New York, was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Navarrete and his four siblings are first generation Peruvian Americans and they are third generation hardwood floor men. Working with many species of trees has been a huge influence on Navarrete’s work as this introduced his appreciation for knots. He graduated from Georgia State University in 2011 where he received his Bachelors in Fine Arts with a focus in Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking. His work has been included in several national and international exhibitions. Navarrete currently lives in South Florida where he received his Masters in Fine Arts (2018) at Florida Atlantic University with a focus in Painting, Photography and Mixed Media Installations.
Mame-Fatou Niang is an associate professor of French and Francophone studies at Carnegie Mellon University, the author of Identités Françaises (Brill, 2019), the co-author of Universalisme (Anamosa, 2022), and the founder and director of the Center for Black European Studies and the Atlantic at Carnegie Mellon University. She conducts research on economies of the living/living economy, Blackness in contemporary France and French universalism. In 2015, she co-directed “Mariannes Noires: Mosaïques Afropéennes” with Kaytie Nielsen. The film follows seven Afro-French women as they investigate the pieces of their mosaic identities and unravel what it means to be Black and French in France. In 2022, Niang was an artist-in-residence at the Ateliers Médicis, working on a project entitled “Échoïques” (Sounds of Silence), a sound tapestry presented in June 2023 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Currently, Niang is working on a manuscript tentatively titled “Mosaica Nigra: Blackness in 21st-Century France”.
Dr. Fahamu Pecou, Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, is an interdisciplinary artist and scholar whose works combine observations on hip-hop, fine art, and popular culture to address concerns around contemporary representations of Black men. Through paintings, performance art, and academic work, Dr. Pecou confronts the social construct of Black masculinity and Black identity, challenging and expanding the reading, performance, and expressions of Blackness. Dr. Pecou is also Founder and Executive Director of the African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta (ADAMA). Pecou’s work is featured in noted private and public national and international collections including; Smithsonian National Museum of African American Art and Culture, Societe Generale (Paris), Nasher Museum at Duke University, The High Museum of Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Seattle Art Museum, Paul R. Jones Collection, ROC Nation, Clark Atlanta University Art Collection and Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia.
Gigi Pedraza is a social entrepreneur and nonprofit professional with over 20 years of experience in the areas of general management, strategy, operations, marketing and fund development in both for-profit and nonprofit spaces. She currently serves as the Executive Director and Founder of the Latino Community Fund of Georgia. Raised in Lima, Peru, she is the recipient of the 2018 NFL Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award, the 2018 Women of Inspiration of the Atlanta Dream, named one of the 50 Most Influential Latinos in Georgia and a 2017 Hispanics in Philanthropy Fellow among other distinctions.
When you think of fresh house music from Atlanta, Stefan Ringer is at the forefront of the movement. Since publishing his own music in 2010 under the moniker REKchampa, Stefan has been contributing to the global underground with great aptitude. With his distinctive style he has helpes shape the sound of house music from Atlanta and the U.S. Stefan has given life to many projects and remixes on labels such as Brownswood Recordings, PPU, Eglo Records, !K7, Touching Bass, and his own imprint, FWM Entertainment. In addition to his productions, The FWM Entertainment platform has been a spring board for other artists into the dance music world most notably Ash Lauryn and Ari Lashell. As a DJ, Stefan’s dynamic sets leave a memorable impression on audiences worldwide. You can catch Stefan’s sets live at top venues like NYC’s Public Records and Dante’s Hifi in Miami. From North America, to the UK, Europe and Asia, Stefan showcases his infatuation with music, his eclectic taste and dynamic productions.
Ngnima Sarr, known as T.I.E, is a multifaceted Senegalese artist, singer, poetess, songwriter, and music producer, leading projects like T.I.E, The Love Process, and Exillians. She also created the immersive show Lâcher L’homme ! inspired by Frantz Fanon’s essay Black Skin White Masks. Additionally, she recently participated in the thought-provoking piece Freedom, I’ll have lived your dream until the full last day, curated by Felwine Sarr, showcased in New York and North Carolina with the support of Villa Albertine’s Face Theater and FUSED programs. T.I.E’s work is rooted in an Afro-eco-feminist vision, evident in her installation Mawu’s Daughters, which premiered in Dakar during Partcours 2022. She was one of the 2024 Villa Albertine residents in Atlanta.
Rose Scott is a Southeast regional Emmy award winning journalist and host of the news program “Closer Look” on Atlanta’s NPR station, WABE. With over two decades of reporting experience in Atlanta, Scott leads her team in subjects centered around the topics of affordable housing, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, and immigration and criminal justice reform. Scott is the recipient of an Edward R. Murrow Award, Atlanta Association of Black Journalists award, numerous Georgia Association of Broadcaster awards, numerous Georgia Associated Press awards, and a winner of the Girls Inc. Strong, Smart & Bold Award.
Hyunkyung Shin is a composer, bassist, and researcher in music technology, currently pursuing a master’s degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is a member of the live-electronic performance 2CUBES with Henrik von Coler. Her research focuses on sonic interaction in virtual reality, specializing in spatial audio, creative interface design, and user experience enhancement. Evolving into a music technology scientist, Shin is dedicated to advancing perceptual and immersive experiences through augmented and virtual reality, developing responsive spatial audio systems and interfaces that add new dimensions to user interaction. As an artist, Shin’s works have been featured at international conferences and festivals such as ICMC, NYCEMF, and OHBM. A contemporary and classically trained bassist, she has performed widely in Korea and has been recognized with sponsorships from Chunchu magazine and the CJ Cultural Foundation.
Born in 1977, Dr. Pierre Singaravélou currently serves as Professor of Modern History at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and director of the Center for Asian History at Sorbonne. He was previously British Academy Global Professor of History at King’s College London. His research spans multiple disciplines, combining social sciences, colonial studies, and global history to offer new perspectives on historical events and processes. Some of his notable publications include: “Decolonization” (2022), “A Past of Possibilities: A History of What Could Have Been” (2021), “France in the World: A New Global History” (2019). In addition to his academic work, Singaravélou has curated exhibitions, such as “The World Seen From Asia” at the Guimet Museum in 2018. He has also been involved in media projects, including a TV documentary series titled “Decolonizations” (2020), which won an international award.
TK Smith is a curator, writer, and cultural historian. His interdisciplinary research engages materiality to analyze art, identity, and culture. As a public scholar, he serves as a conduit between artists, ideas, and communities to produce thoughtful exhibitions, publications, and programs. He currently works as Curator, Arts of Africa and the African Diaspora, at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. Smith’s writing has been published in exhibition catalogues, academic journals, and periodicals, including Art Papers where he is a contributing editor. In 2022, he was awarded an Andy Warhol Writers Grant and in 2024 he was awarded a Leo and Dorothea Rabkin Prize. He has been a visiting lecturer at numerous academic and cultural institutions, including Cornell University, where he taught undergraduate courses on cultural criticism. Smith is a doctoral candidate in the History of American Civilization program at the University of Delaware, where he is completing his dissertation Granite, Power, and Piss: The Transformation of a Confederate Symbol.
Dr. Gil Weinberg is a professor and the founding director of Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology, where he leads the Robotic Musicianship group. His research focuses on developing artificial creativity and musical expression for robots and augmented humans. Among his projects are robotic musicians that create and improvise music in collaboration with humans, and prosthetic robotic arms for amputee musicians. Weinberg presented his work worldwide in venues such as The Kennedy Center, The World Economic Forum, Ars Electronica, Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Museum, SIGGRAPH, TED-Ed, DLD and others. Dr. Weinberg received his MS and PhD degrees in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT and his BA from the interdisciplinary program for fostering excellence in Tel Aviv University.