Keynote Speakers (6th ATSMUN)

~ Speaker at the 6th ATSMUN’s Opening Ceremony ~

Christos J. Bouras is the sitting Rector of the University of Patras, and an active Professor at the Department of Computer Engineering and Informatics. Also, he is a scientific advisor of Research Unit 6 in Computer Technology Institute and Press – Diophantus, Patras, Greece. His research interests include 5G and Beyond Networks, Analysis of Performance of Networking and Computer Systems, Computer Networks and Protocols, Mobile and Wireless Communications, Telematics and New Services, QoS and Pricing for Networks and Services, e-learning, Networked Virtual Environments and WWW Issues. He has extended professional experience in Design and Analysis of Networks, Protocols, Telematics and New Services. He has published more than 450 papers in various well-known refereed books, conferences and journals. He is a co-author of 9 books in Greek and editor of 2 in English. He has been member of editorial board for international journals and PC member and referee in various international journals and conferences. He has participated in R&D projects. You can find more information on his work by visiting the Lab of Distributed Systems and Telematics page.

 

~ Speaker at the DISEC Committee on Saturday 7/11 at 12:15 ~

Dr. Constantinos Filis is the Executive Director at the Institute of International Relations, Panteion University, Athens. Elected in November 2007 and served for two years as Senior Associate Member at St Antony’s College, Oxford University and as Research Fellow at South East European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX), Oxford University. Between December 2013 and January 2015, he served as Chairman of Project Management Group at the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate Change. From mid-2013 to early 2015 he was Member of the Committee of the Center for Security Studies, which examined the threat of forms of radicalism to national security. He has conducted a number of studies and advised international and Greek corporations. He lectures at the Hellenic Naval Staff and Command College, at the Hellenic National Defense College and at the Police Academy. He is also teaching in post-graduate degrees, as well as at the Open University of the Book Arcade. He is currently member of: the BoD of Piraeus Asset Management, the Greek-Turkish Forum, The Institute of Energy for South-East Europe, The Foundation for Thracean Art and Tradition and the board of the Delphi Economic Forum. He is also Director of the International Olympic Truce Centre and energy and geoeconomics advisor to the Hellenic Entrepreneurs Association. His most recent books are: “Refugees, Europe, Insecurity”, “Turkey, Islam, Erdogan”, “A Closer Look at Russia and its Influence in the World” and “Greece in its neighbourhood”.

 

~ Speaker at the UNEP Commitee on Saturday 7/11 at 12:30 ~

Panayotis Dimopoulos is the sitting Vice President of the University of Patras, and an active Professor at the Department of Biology of the same campus. You can find his full CV by clicking here.

 

~ Coordinator at the International Court of Justice ~

Mr Robert Stern attended Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania USA, majoring in History. Then, he attended California School of Law in San Diego, California, followed by a specialist certificate from Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. Finally, he attended Cambridge University in England, studying History and Philosophy. From 1974 through the summer of 1990, Mr Stern practiced law in northern California, first as a private practitioner in San Francisco, then as the Chief Assistant Public Defender of Placer County, where he supervised up to twenty-two employees. Also, he was a Judge Pro Tempore of the Superior Court, and he sat on several county and state committees. In addition, he taught law and law-related subjects at various colleges and universities throughout northern California on an adjunct basis. In 1990, he began a new career at TASIS, The American School in England, U.K. from 1990-1996, as a dormitory resident and teacher of History. He directed the Model United Nations program and advised the Student Council, among other duties. In 1996, he accepted the position of Manager of the Leicester Law Centre, a legal services provider for the disadvantaged population of the City of Leicester. In July 1999, he returned to TASIS in the position of Head of the Boarding Program. Eventually, he went back to full time teaching, including courses in History, Politics, Humanities, and Law. He retired in 2013, running ICJ programs worldwide and volunteering with the local Citizens Advice Bureau. He resides with his wife, stepson, and two cats, in England, in the village of Saxthorpe, county of Norfolk.

 

~ Speaker at the SOCHUM Commitee on Saturday 7/11 at 12:00 ~

Stephen John Taylor is a Senior Presenter, Teacher-Trainer and Team Leader for Cambridge Assessment English, Southern Europe. A graduate of Lancaster University (UK), he holds an M.A. in Applied Linguistics. In addition to his longstanding professional relationship with the University of Cambridge, including over a decade as Business & Development Consultant, his career path has encompassed the British Civil Service, the National Literacy Programme, the UK Department of Education, the University of Patras (KORAIS dictionary), and TES, where he currently holds the post of Senior Translator. His particular interest is in empowering language learners and teachers to achieve their full potential.

 

~ Speaker at the YDF Commitee on Saturday 7/11 at 12:00 ~

Prof. Dr Michael Paroussis, Greek, born in Athens 1958, Assoc. Professor for Philosophy, Theory and Epistemology of Law at the Dpt of Philosophy of the University of Patras since 2004 and Head of Department 2010-2012, 2014-2020. Ass. Professor at the Law Faculty of the University of Freiburg 1992-1999. Postgraduate Scholar of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 2000-2003. PhD in Law at the University of Freiburg 1992, awarded with the Carl-von-Rotteck Preis 1992. European Award for Legal Theory 1994 and teaching at the European Academy of Legal Theory in Brussels 1994-1996. Study of Law at the University of Athens 1976-1981 and postgraduate studies in History and Theory of Institutions at the University of Sorbonne Paris II-Panthéon 1981-1983 with a scholarship of the Greek National Scholarships Foundation. Attorney-at-Law at the Athens Bar since 1983. Speak fluent Greek, German, French and English. Currently teaching Practical Philosophy, Theory of Democracy, Bioethics and Philosophy of Law. His ATSMUN 2020 speech will focus on “Citizens´ Obligations in Civil Society”.

 

~ Speaker at the Special Political Commitee on Saturday 7/11 at 12:45 ~

Sotiris Roussos is Associate Professor of International Relations and Religion in the Middle East and the Mediterranean at the Department of Political Science and International Relations of the University of Peloponnese and Scientific Supervisor of the Centre for Mediterranean, Middle East and Islamic Studies (CEMMIS). From 2015 to 2018 he was Coordinator of the Centre for Religious Pluralism in Middle East (CRPME). He served as Senior Middle East Expert at the Greek Foreign Ministry and was member of the Task Force for the Palestinian Refugees and Water Issues of the EU Special Representative for the Middle East and of the International Informal Group on the Status of Jerusalem. Sotiris Roussos was, in 2009, appointed Personal Envoy for the Mediterranean Partners of the President-in-Office of the OSCE. Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 2012. He has written extensively on the Christians in the Middle East as well as on the Regional Politics in the Middle East.

 

~ Speaker at the Security Council Committee on Saturday 7/11 at 12:00 ~

Dr. Constantinos Koliopoulos is Associate Professor of International Politics and Strategic Studies at the Department of International, European and Area Studies, Panteion University, Athens, Greece. He teaches Strategic Studies in a number of Greek military academies, including the Hellenic National Defense College, where he has been Professor of Strategic Studies since 2007. He has authored, co-authored or co-edited the following books: Strategic Surprise: Intelligence and Surprise Attacks (2000) [in Greek], The Grand Strategy of Ancient Sparta, 750-192 B.C. (2001) [in Greek], Strategic Thought from Antiquity to the Present (2008) [in Greek], Thucydides on Strategy: Athenian and Spartan Grand Strategies in the Peloponnesian War, and their Relevance Today [co-authored with A. Platias] (2010), The Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1950: Strategic or Ideological Causes? [in Greek, co-edited with P. Ifestos and E. Hatzivasiliou] (2012) and Sun Tzu’s Art of War: Translation-Commentary-Interpretation-Analysis [in Greek, co-authored with A. Platias] (2015).

 

~ Speaker at the ECOSOC Commitee on Saturday 7/11 at 13:00 ~

Giorgos Tsimouris graduated from the Department of Political Sciences, Panteion University, Athens (1980). He studied Sociology at the University of Essex, UK (M.A. 1994) and Social Anthropology at the University of Sussex, UK (PhD 1998). For his doctoral thesis he conducted research among refugees of the Greco -Turkish war of 1922 from Asia Minor, who settled in Greece. He has published in Greek and English on forced migration, refugee condition, nationalism, intercultural education and oral history. He is the author of the book “Ίμβριοι: Φυγάδες απ’ τον τόπο μας όμηροι στηνν πατρίδα (Imvrii: Fugitives from our place, hostages in our homeland”) Athens, 2007 & 2013), concerning the forced migration and the trajectory of the Greek community of Imvros (Gökceada). His last research interests concern the refugee passages through the North Aegean islands and the life of seaferers. He is teaching at the Department of Social Anthropology, Panteion University, Athens. He is visiting fellow at the University of Durham, Department of Social Anthropology.

 

~ Speaker at the WHO Committee on Saturday 7/11 at 13:15 ~

Apostolos Vantarakis is an Assistant Professor in Public Health, at the Medical School of the University of Patras, Greece. You can find his full CV by clicking here.

 

~ Speaker at the Legal Commitee on Saturday 7/11 at 12:00 ~

Theodora-Iliana Papacharalampous is a law graduate with a Master’s Degree in Public International Law from the University of Athens, Greece. She is currently pursuing a second Master’s Degree in Environmental Law and Policy at University College London (UCL) and is working as a freelance lawyer. She has attended many student simulations in different countries and has participated in two moot court competitions on space and air law representing the University of Athens. Last but not least, she is a traveller, volunteer, passionate about languages and loves reading books. Her speech will be about the role of the media against corruption, tips related to simulations and a few things from her MUN experience.

 

~ Speaker at the “Racism the new pandemic? Systemic and Systematic Discriminations in Democratic Societies” Advisors’ Workshop on Sunday 8/11 at 11:00 ~

Mary Marin is a teacher of English, Drama and Debate at Arsakeia Schools. She has BA (Honors) in Greek and English Literature, BA in French Literature, MA (Honors) in Theory of Lexicography and Applications from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and is currently a PHD candidate in Human Rights in Education. She holds a degree from HarvardX in ‘Child Protection in Theory and in Practice’ and is a community mentor for Coursera, editor and learning scenarios writer for her school’s digital educational platform, founder of the Debate and MUN club, and the Theatre Club of Arsakeia Schools. She is a member of QNF SDGs School Club, Teachers for Europe (T4E), Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots Greece and the PanHellenic Union for the Promotion of Rhetoric in Education, under the auspices of which, she has participated in numerous Leadership Camps in Greece and abroad. With her students she has won several awards from the Greek Ministry and Unicef for Human Rights projects and her Simulation of Democratic Processes (Model United Nations and Moot Court for teens). As a MUN Advisor, she has participated in more than 30 Model United Nations. In her ATSMUN 2020 Workshop, she will demonstrate how works of art, advertisements and news reports can help explore the causes and consequences of race, gender and social class inequalities and how students can be inspired to claim and defend human rights.