Theme: Disruption normality. Learn to relearn

The main topic of the event — Disrupted Normality: Learn to Relean — sheds light on a possible new normality, in which unforeseen, disruptive events and uncertainty become a constant part of the daily life. The recent events that humanity has experienced, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, have called for individual and institutional adaptability, resistance to various attempts at disinformation and manipulation, or our strength to stand in solidarity even in the most difficult moments.

National University of Theatre and Film "I.L. Caragiale" in Bucharest
Matei Voievod 75-77
Sala Studio
Bucharest, București, 021452
Romania

Alina Greavu

Content Creator | Social Activist

Alina Greavu is a former journalist, currently a content creator and social activist. After several years of engaging in social issues such as education, health, women’s safety, body positivity or parenting, she decided to set up her own NGO with the same name — the Aluziva Association. She’s known as “allusion,” and her messages quickly go viral on social media. As a result, someone’s world is changing for the better. The best-known examples of actions he has taken with members of his community: he helped an impressive number of Ukrainian refugees, who came to Romania from the war, two modern ambulances arrived in the courtyard of the children’s hospital “Grigore Alexandrescu”, and a student with top school performance was able to pay her tax (appeared after Brexit) at Oxford University.

Ana-Maria Brânză

Fencing Olympic Champion | Social Activist

Ana Maria Brânză is a former Romanian fencing, declared three times the best swordsman in the world. She has been the Olympic Vice Champion at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and 2020 in Tokyo, the 2016 Olympic Team Champion in Rio de Janeiro, three-time world champions (2019 to individual and 2010 and 2011 teams) and seven times European champions (in 2013 and 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2015 teams). Ana Maria Brânză won 14 World Cup tournaments throughout her career and was declared the best swordsman in the world in the 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2012-2013, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons. A volunteer within the “Association for Therapeutic Intervention in Autism”, Ana Maria Brânză initiated the humanitarian project “Leave Your Birthday” through which she expresses her care for children suffering from autism.

Anca Nedelcu

Education Expert | Vice Dean & Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Bucharest

Anca Nedelcu is a professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Bucharest. The areas of professional interest and research focus on equity, diversity and reflectivity in school, educational management, the influence of old and new media in education. Attended numerous specialisation courses (e.g. at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands), is an accredited trainer through the Advanced Training of Trainers in Europe programme run by the Council of Europe and the European Commission, is an international consultant, researcher, member of numerous committees and specialised organisations; she coordinated a number of R&D projects, working in collaboration with institutions such as: World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO, Cambridge Education Consulting, Ministry of Education, Education Center 2000+, National Agency for Roma, etc. It has multiple publications relevant to the educational field.

Marian Preda

Sociologist | Rector of the University of Bucharest & Professor at the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, University of Bucharest

Marian Preda is rector of the University of Bucharest and professor at the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work. He teaches courses in Strategic Management, Organizational Behavior, Social Policies and Time Sociology. He has been working continuously at the University of Bucharest since 1990. Between 2000 and 2015, he led the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work of the University of Bucharest — first as a prodean, then as Dean. During 2015-2019, Marian Preda held the position of President of the Senate of the University of Bucharest, and for the past 25 years, in parallel with the academic profession, has been manager, consultant and expert in numerous projects with national or international funding. He has worked with organisations such as the UN — in particular UNICEF and UNDP, the World Bank, Bernard Brunhes International (BBI), the European Commission (PHARE and POS-DRU programmes).

Rodica Zafiu

Researcher | Professor at the Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest

Rodica Zafiu is a professor at the Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest, Department of Linguistics, and researcher at the “Iorgu Iordan — Al. Rosetti” Institute of Linguistics of the Romanian Academy. She published several papers in collaboration, the most recent being The Oxford History of Romanian Morphology, but also specialised studies, articles and reviews in renowned journals of the field. She has numerous contributions to the research of discursive connectors, the linguistic means of modalisation, highlighting and approximation, grammarisation and pragmaticalisation phenomena. Other topics of interest include: political and journalistic discourse, linguistic support of rhetorical strategies, spoken Romanian language, slang, writing-orality report, current Romanian language trends, linguistic standardisation process.

Romiță Iucu

Education Expert | Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Bucharest

Professor Romiță Iucu is President of the Council of Strategic Orientation and Analysis of the University of Bucharest and professor at the Department of Education Sciences, within the same institution of higher education. Professor Iucu is a member of the Steering Committee L&T of EUA — European University Association, and Chairperson of Bologna EduLAB of UNICA (European Network of Capital Universities). He held the position of Academic Prorector of the University of Bucharest for 16 years and was also Interim Rector between 2016-2017, for a period of 7 months. He also served as President of ENTEP (European Network on Teacher Education Policies) and worked for the European Commission, the World Bank and UNICEF.

Sorin Costreie

Philosopher | Vice Rector of the University of Bucharest & Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Bucharest

Sorin Costreie is an associate professor at the Department of Theoretical Philosophy of the University of Bucharest and vice-rector of the same university. Lately he has focused on mathematical cognition, critical thinking, and the medical sciences. Sorin Costreie has carried out research activities in Italy, Germany, Spain, USA and Canada and has published various studies and papers in international volumes and journals.

Zaker Hussain Ershad

Political Science Expert | Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Bucharest

Zaker Hussain Ershad, born in 1975 in Qarsob, an area in the old province of Ghazni, Afghanistan, followed his Ph.D. studies in political science at Tehran University and completed his studies at the University of California, USA. He was a consultant at the Ministry of Education of Afghanistan and a founding member of Kateb University, later becoming Dean of the Faculty of Political Science of the same University. In 2010, together with other experts in the field, he founded Afghanistan’s first non-profit university — Avicenna University, in Kabul. In August 2021, following an official invitation from the University of Bucharest, Dr. Zaker Hussain Ershad became professor at the Faculty of Political Science. He coordinated and published numerous scientific papers relevant to the field of political science.