Scott Wurdinger is a professor of experiential learning and leadership studies at Minnesota State University, Mankato. His most recent book published with Rowman and Littlefield is titled Changing the Status Quo: Courage to Challenge the Education System.


Cynthia McDermott is a faculty member in education at Antioch University Los Angeles. Her academic interest is in encouraging opportunities for young people to have power and to stand against oppression.

Kiel Harell is an assistant professor of education at the University of Minnesota, Morris. His research focuses on increasing opportunities for democratic deliberation in teacher education.



Hilton Smith, starting in 1965, taught secondary social studies in a variety of demographic situations - rural, suburban, urban - including an alternative high school in Atlantic Public Schools which he cofounded. He served as Coordinator of Education for the Foxfire Foundation until joining the School of Education at Piedmont College, Georgia, until his retirement in June 2017 to assume a part-time status.