16th Annual Sustainability Education Ph.D. Symposium
MAY 8-10, 2024
Prescott College: Crossroads Center
220 Grove Avenue, Prescott AZ
The annual Ph.D. in Sustainability Education Symposium is an opportunity for Prescott College's doctoral community to convene in person on the Prescott College campus to connect, celebrate, and honor doctoral student research and enjoy justice-innovating Keynote speaker Meitamei Olol Dapash's presentation "Maasai Futures: Recentering Indigenous Visions of Sustainability."
Prescott’s Ph.D. Sustainability Education Symposium provides both information and inspiration as students continue on their learning path. A complete schedule of events, including Dissertation presentations and panel discussions, provide the opportunity for students to present research, ideas, and work-in-progress to peers and faculty, receiving both support and challenge in return. The symposium also includes opportunities to learn about the work of others in the field, meet with their faculty, and gather with their cohort of fellow learners.
This event is free of charge and open to the community at large, so invite your colleagues, friends, and family. All sessions will take place at the Crossroads Center unless otherwise stated in the schedule of events.
Countdown to the Symposium!
The Keynote
Maasai Futures: Recentering Indigenous Visions of Sustainability
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Starting at 3:30 PM MST/PDT
Speaker: Meitamei Olol Dapash
MEITAMEI OLOL DAPASH
Meet our Keynote Speaker for the 16th Annual Sustainability Education Ph.D. Symposium: Meitamei Olol Dapash!
Meitamei is a respected leader and activist within the Maasai community of East Africa, dedicated to preserving their culture, reclaiming Maasai lands, supporting pastoralism, and advocating for the rights of East African wildlife.
After graduating from Edgerton College and Strayer University, Meitamei founded the Maasai Environmental Resource Coalition (MERC) in 1987 in Kenya, uniting 150 Maasai organizations to address environmental and community concerns.
In 1985-1987, he pioneered the concept of community-based conservation and initiated programs like Wildlife Clubs in Maasailand schools in Kenya.
In response to political challenges in Kenya, Meitamei established MERC-US in Washington State and later in Washington D.C., where he represented Maasai interests in international forums and conventions related to conservation and indigenous rights. He also engaged in media appearances and contributed articles to various publications in Kenya, UK and US.
Meitamei ventured into politics, running for Parliament and Senate different times under the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM-Kenya) and Ubuntu Peoples Forum (UPF), often aligning with grassroots party coalitions. He initiated and led campaigns to reclaim Rose Farm in Mau Narok, a significant Maasai homeland, and successfully organized movements to prevent the privatization of the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and combat illegal wildlife activities in Liondo, Tanzania.
Meitamei co-directs the Institute for Maasai Education, Research & Conservation (formerly MERC) with Dr. Mary Poole and serves as director of the Dopoi Center for Education and Research. He actively represents Maasai interests in policy-making boards and political Initiatives in Kenya, including chairing the Technical Committee for Maasailand’s Building Bridges Initiatives. Graduating with a PhD in Sustainability Education, Meitamei has taken specialized training in Leadership and Education at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. As a Maasai academic, he currently involved in global intellectual discourses on the future of conservation and indigenous Maasai rights. Meitamei is also the co-author of a book titled "Decolonizing History in Maasailand: A Path to Indigenous African Futures," scheduled for release in December 2024. As a lifelong student and educator in Development and Justice, Environmental Justice and Decolonial Education, among others, he is a faculty at Prescott College leading the Prescott College Field program in Kenya at the Dopoi Center in Maasai Mara.
