Now our keynote speaker, who begins with a video introduction.  I love video introductions; I think they are hugely effective uses of media to enhance any presentation; Pat Basset does a good job with this, and every speaker should try.  Doesn’t have to be long: 4-6 minutes is a fine length, 15 minutes is too long.  Teachers too, whom I observed when visiting 21 high schools this fall, greatly enhance their students’ learning by the use of short, youtube length, videos in their classroom. 

Luma’s reputation is for her organizing a soccer team for international refugee youth, near Atlanta. Luma’s speaking style is lovely: modest, personal, self-reflective.  And I agree we should honor those who are making global connections locally, in small but still very significant ways; Luma certainly has important lessons for us.  And yet, I will confess to feeling envious that Kwame Anthony Appiah was the speaker last year– and I feel a bit shortchanged here, not hearing someone of his prominence and his sophistication.  Is that a terrible thing to say?   Nice standing ovation for Luma; her work deserves that, certainly.