NAAPE 2026 Keynote Speaker Profiles
Johannes Drerup, Ph.D.
TU Dortmund, Germany & Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands
Johannes Drerup is a professor of philosophy of education and educational theory at TU Dortmund, Germany and a guest professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His research interests include philosophy of education, educational theory, philosophy of childhood, and social, political and moral philosophy. Recent publications include Moralischer Fortschritt (Psychosozial Verlag, 2026), Teaching Controversy: The Politics and Ethics of Classroom Conflict (forthcoming with Oxford University Press in 2026; co-edited with Dorothee Gronostay and Douglas Yacek) and War in the Classroom: Democracy and Education in Times of Conflict (forthcoming with Mentis in 2026, coauthored with Sebastian Engelmann). Currently he is working on a book on indoctrination in the context of education.
Shaun Nichols, Ph.D.
Cornell University, USA
Shaun Nichols is Distinguished Professor of Arts & Sciences in Philosophy and Chair of the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University. He works at the intersection of philosophy and cognitive science, and his research concerns the psychological underpinnings of philosophical thought. He is the author of Sentimental Rules: On the Natural Foundations of Moral Judgment, Bound: Essays on Free Will and Moral Responsibility, and Rational Rules: Towards a Theory of Moral Learning (all Oxford University Press) as well as over 200 articles in academic books and journals.
Paula McAvoy, Ph.D.
NC State University, USA
Paula McAvoy is an Associate Professor of Social Studies Education at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on philosophical and empirical questions related to democratic education and the ethics of teaching. Her most recent work has appeared in Democracy & Education and Educational Theory. She is the co-author of The Political Classroom: Evidence and Ethics in Democratic Education (Routledge, 2015), which won the AERA book award and the Grawemeyer Award in education. She is the co-founder of the interdisciplinary hub, North Carolina Advancing Civic Engagement at NCSU. She is also the co-creator of Dining with Democracy, a multi-generational public deliberation event.
Emma Prendergast, Ph.D.
Utah Tech University, USA
Emma Prendergast is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Utah Tech University in St. George, UT, where she also serves as the Director for the Humanities Center and the Coordinator for the Humanities and Philosophy Program. She received her PhD in philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2023, and she was a Charlotte W. Newcombe Fellow. Emma’s research and teaching interests include ethics, political philosophy, and philosophy of education (especially moral education).
