Speaking Engagements

Hi! If you are here because you would like to book me for a keynote or invited talk or workshop, please contact me via email at bali[at]aucegypt[dot]edu. It can get overwhelming managing my own speaking engagements, so if you’re able to provide as much detail as possible as concisely as possible in your initial email, that would be great! If I don’t respond quickly, it might be that I’m overwhelmed with email, so you could try to connect with me on Twitter, for a faster response!

I have given keynotes and workshops in person, fully virtually, and in hybrid mode, and my keynoting style is highly interactive. Whatever the format of your event, expect me to ask for maximum possible audience interaction, so please be ready for this, so you can get the best I can offer.

I speak on the topics of digital education broadly, with an emphasis on critical digital pedagogy, social justice and equity, and open education. Other topics I can speak to include intercultural learning, faculty development, community-building online, digital literacies, and higher education more broadly. You can ask me to speak about anything I have blogged about, published about (peer-reviewed or non-peer-reviewed), or spoken about before (e.g. in a keynote).

Sample Keynotes & Invited Talks

You can see all of my invited talks listed on this page, but here is a sample of different types of keynotes I have given so you know what to expect:

In person: #OER17 Keynote

Bali, M. (2017, April 5). Hiding in the Open (keynote). Open Educational Resources 2017 (#OER17). London, UK. Slides/video here.

Hybrid: #UniCollaborate 2018 Keynote

Bali, M. (2018, April 26). Flipping the Script on Intercultural Learning… and Other Stories (keynote). UniCollaborate, Krakow, Poland. Video, slides, etc. available here.

Virtual Keynote (on my own): Open Oregon (Open Ed week keynote)

Bali, M. (2022, March 11). Towards Openness that Promotes Social Justice [keynote]. Open Oregon OpenEdWeek keynote. Slides: https://bit.ly/openoregonbaliVideo recording here

Virtual (on my own): #OLCInnovate 2020 keynote

Bali, M. (2020, June 15). Centering a Critical Curriculum of Care During crises (keynote). OLC innovate. Video and slides

Virtual (with Mia Zamora): #OpenEd20 keynote

Bali, M. & Zamora, M. (2020, November 10, 2020). Equitable Emergence: Telling the Story of “Equity Unbound” in the open. [Plenary Keynote]. Open Education Conference #OpenEd20. Slides https://bit.ly/miahaYouTube video

Virtual keynotes/presentations on Critical AI Literacy (different lengths)

Developing Critical AI Literacy (~1 hour)

Promoting Critical AI Literacies in Egypt (~15 mins)

Workshops & Facilitated Conversations

You can view recordings of online workshop-like sessions I’ve done, such as the Open at the Margins Launch Event (2020), the Socially Just Academia Launch event (2020), or the Year Of Open What is Open Pedagogy conversation (2017). You can also see some of the types of activities I would do to build community in an online classroom at the Equity Unbound/OneHE community building resources here: https://onehe.org/equity-unbound

Conditions

Please note that I set my speaker fee depending on a lot of circumstances. I will usually ask for honorarium for in-person keynotes: please remember I live in an emerging economy, with an emerging economy salary, and traveling to different countries is a financial cost for me and my family. I also have a young family with all the circumstances that come with that, and sometimes I will request that you accept a virtual keynote instead if my personal circumstances make it difficult for me to attend in person.

For virtual keynotes, my fee varies by time of day and how much you require from me, as well as how large the conference is and your funding model. Occasionally, if your policy is not to pay keynotes, I will ask for other benefits, such as livestreaming my keynote for free if your conference is not free.

Please note that as a critical pedagogue, my advocacy for social justice means I will not accept invitations where my keynote is sponsored by a company whose values misalign with mine, such as online proctoring and plagiarism detection companies.

Important Questions for Organizers

  • Who is the audience?
  • Which topics do you want me to focus on, relevant to your theme?
  • I like my keynotes to be interactive. Are we virtual, hybrid, in-person? Which platform are we using, and how much audience interaction is possible via chat and audio? If not, can I use other means like Twitter (are audience on Twitter?) Or Google docs or Slido/Mentimeter
  • Is the conference free or offers scholarships to attendees who cannot pay?
  • What kind of speaker fee are you offering? If there is no speaker fee, can you offer something intangible (e.g. free registration for a colleague if your conference isn’t already free)
  • Is the keynote sponsored? Who are the sponsors and can I have a say?
  • Will my keynote be recorded and shared on YouTube (I prefer this)

Something a little extra – I’m asking folks to give me feedback on past keynotes I’ve done – feel free to fill this form

Some recent comments I received and have permission to quote:

“The first word that comes to mind when I think of Maha Bali is giving. You give of your whole self. You share your experiences and thoughts which makes me think of safety, kindness, and calmness. All of these words filter through the content and the process of your interactions whether it be a keynote, a social connection, or other… Many times when I see you are giving a keynote or participating at an event I will carve out time in my day to attend because often times it invigorates me to do better, it inspires me to dream bigger, and it gives me a sense of calm in the storm of uncertainty.” – Cathy Germano, Excelsior University

“A happy, joyous, critical, generous, insightful keynote which encourages bold, radical, caring practices. I learned so much about how to teach from watching your keynote. Little things like the cc licensing, woven discursive opportunities and the many opportunities for further exploration that are offered but don’t burden the session. Also the warmth and emotion in your delivery This might be the best modelling of caring pedagogical practice I’ve seen.” – Ruth Annett, UAL

After attending your online keynote last week, I now know that I’ve been attending the wrong kind of keynotes. You expertly weave in the audience’s knowledge with your own knowledge to give everyone a much richer tapestry than we would have had if you had only given us your perspective.” – Heather Kretschmer (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany)

This is a word cloud I created from feedback I received from 23 people up until April 27, 2021

Word cloud of key words, most prominent: Engage, Care, New, Welcoming, Interact, Open, Inspired, Learn, Challenge, Equity
OER17 VConnecting photo
Image by Josie Fraser of a VConnecting session at #OER17 CC-BY