Rafiki Conferences
  • The New Old Way
  • Meet the Speakers
  • Registration Gifts
  • The New Old Way
  • Meet the Speakers
  • Registration Gifts
Picture
DR. BRIAN WILLIAMS
Dr. Brian A. Williams is Dean of the Templeton Honors College at Eastern University and Assistant Professor of Ethics & Liberal Studies. Previously, he was Lecturer in Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Oxford and Director of Oxford Conversations, a collection of curated video interviews with leading Christian academics and scholars. He holds an MPhil and DPhil in Christian Ethics from the University of Oxford (UK), where he was a Clarendon Scholar; an MA and ThM in Systematic and Historical Theology, and a BA in Biblical Studies. He is currently an Alcuin Fellow and a Research Fellow with the Institute of Classical Education.

Dr. Brian Williams' Plenary Topic will be on the The Classical Mandate for the Church. 
DR. CHRISTOPHER PERRIN
Dr. Christopher Perrin is an author, consultant, and speaker who specializes in classical education. He is committed to the renewal of the liberal arts tradition. He cofounded and serves full-time as the CEO/publisher at Classical Academic Press, a classical education curriculum, media, and consulting company. Dr. Perrin is also a consultant to charter, public, private, and Christian schools across the country. He is the director at the Alcuin Fellowship with the Institute for Classical Schools and the former board vice president of the Society for Classical Learning. He has published numerous articles and lectures that are widely used throughout the United States and the English-speaking world.
Picture
Dr. Perrin received his BA in History from the University of South Carolina and his MDiv and PhD in Apologetics from Westminster Theological Seminary. He was also a special student in literature at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He has taught at Messiah College and Chesapeake Theological Seminary, and served as the founding headmaster of a classical school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for ten years. He is the author of The Greek Alphabet Code Cracker and Greek for Children and the coauthor of the Latin for Children series, all published by Classical Academic Press. Dr. Perrin has a passion for classical education and is a lover of goodness, truth, and beauty wherever it is found.

Dr. Christopher Perrin's Plenary Topic will be on Lessons from America.

Picture
​DR. DAVID DIENER
​Dr. David Diener’s dynamic talks combine intellectual substance with accessibility and practical applicability. The academic rigor of his training and research, along with the practical insights he has acquired over more than a decade of work in the classroom and in administration, makes his consultations valuable assets for faculty training, parent and community engagement, and school leadership development.
​
Dr. Diener holds a BA in Philosophy and Ancient Languages from Wheaton College, as well as an MA in Philosophy, MS in History and Philosophy of Education, and dual PhD in Philosophy and Philosophy of Education from Indiana University. He has published articles on Plato, Kierkegaard, and various aspects of education, and is the author of Plato: The Great Philosopher-Educator (Classical Academic Press, 2015).
​
He has worked in education for more than fifteen years, both as a teacher and professor and also as an administrator. His numerous speaking engagements have taken him throughout the United States, as well as to South America and Europe. He also has taught a wide spectrum of graduate, undergraduate, and upper-school courses in a variety of locations, including Bogotá, Colombia; Bloomington, Indiana; Stony Brook, New York; Fort Worth, Texas; and Hillsdale, Michigan. Dr. Diener currently works at Hillsdale College, where he is the headmaster of Hillsdale Academy and a lecturing professor of education. He and his wife have four children and are passionate about classical Christian education and the impact it can have on the church, our society, and the world.

Dr. David Diener's Plenary Topic will be on 
The Nature and Vision of Classical Education.
GRANT HORNER
​Grant Horner is a full-time Associate Professor at The Masters University in Santa Clarita, California. He specializes in literary and cultural studies, especially Renaissance and Reformation studies, philosophy, theology, art history, and film studies. He teaches a Medieval/Renaissance survey course, and upper division courses on Milton, Shakespeare, Poetry and Poetics, Epic, Dramatic Literature, Critical Theory (Pre-Socratics through Derrida), Art History, Film Studies, Classical Christian Humanism, Classical Latin, and Comedy. He also teaches Art History in Germany and Italy for AMBEX. Some of the languages he speak includes Koine Greek, Anglo-Saxon, Middle English, Middle French, and Medieval Latin.
​Dr. Horner has been an invited lecturer at Caltech on "Western Representations of Consciousness in Art, Literature and Philosophy," to Berkeley students on "Art, Philosophy and Christianity," and numerous conferences in the United States on theology, the Renaissance and Reformation, philosophy, and the Arts. In Fall 2011, he was honored to lecture in New College Lecture Hall at the University of Oxford on "Islam, Christianity and Western Liberal Enlightenment."

Grant Horner's Plenary Topic will be on 
The Emergence and Excellence of the Classical Curriculum.
Picture
​RAVI SCOTT JAIN
Ravi Jain began teaching calculus and physics at The Geneva School in Orlando, Florida, in 2003 and since that time has focused on understanding the role of math and science in a Christian classical curriculum. He has developed a unique integrated math and physics class that uses primary sources to discuss the narrative of discovery. His junior class, “The Scientific Revolution,” studies Kepler, Galileo, Pascal, and Newton, culminating in the Universal Law of Gravitation. He also teaches two senior classes: AP Calculus BC and AP Physics C. These classes lead the students through Faraday and Maxwell and culminate in Einstein’s groundbreaking 1905 manuscript on the relativity of space and time.
Ravi graduated from Davidson College in North Carolina, where he developed a keen interest in both the natural sciences and the humanities. While a political science major with a near minor in classics, he also took a rigorous course of science classes as a pre-medical student and became a teaching assistant in both the physics and classics departments. Directly out of college he taught math through AP calculus at Seminole Presbyterian School in Tampa and then worked at two different churches in an associate pastoral role while completing an MA from Reformed Theological Seminary. 
​​He also earned a graduate certificate in mathematics from the University of Central Florida.
Picture
Picture
ROBYN BURLEW
​Robyn Burlew is the Upper School Principal and Dean of Academics at the Veritas School in Richmond, Virginia. Her career spans some fifteen years in classical education. She first served as a 6th grade teacher, then as an upper school principal, and then as academic dean at Covenant Christian Academy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania before taking the Upper School and Academic Head position at the Veritas School. Mrs. Burlew has three grown daughters who have all been classically educated.

Mrs. Burlew excels at bringing classical, pedagogical principles to bear practically and effectively in the classroom. She is a committed mentor of teachers who devotes an entire day each week to faithfully observing classes and coaching teachers. Mrs. Burlew has a B.S. in Biology from Houghton College, where she also minored in Mathematics. She also holds an M.Ed from Covenant College in Integrated Curriculum and Instruction. 

Robyn Burlew's Plenary Topic will be on The Ideal Classical Educator.

Conference Location

Rafiki Foundation's Website:

Picture
www.rafikifoundation.org

Contact

Submit
Copyright © 2015