Announcing Opening Keynote, New Featured Session, and Crossover Day Programming for SXSW EDU 2025
We are excited to announce that SXSW EDU 2025 will kick off with a powerful opening Keynote from award-winning neuroscientist, author, and edupreneur, Anne-Laure Le Cunff! In her Keynote, Le Cunff will uncover how to develop an experimental mindset, enhance your teaching practices, and discover more about how we learn.
Also, a new Featured Session joins the lineup with author Sharon McMahon, who will explore how to maintain civics discourse with people we disagree with – especially when emotions are heightened.
Plus, Thursday, March 6 will be a day full of connection and inspiration as Crossover Day returns! Connect with peers from the SXSW community on a day when all programming is open to SXSW EDU and SXSW registrants, featuring exclusively programmed sessions and networking opportunities available.
Want to expand your SXSW EDU experience beyond innovators, established players and startups in the education space? Learn more about the SXSW Conference & Festival conference experience from Hugh Forrest, President & Chief Programming Officer at SXSW on Tuesday, March 4 in the information presentation Expanding on the EDU Experience: What Happens at SXSW.
Explore the full schedule, now available with dates and times for sessions and events.
Opening Keynote
Rewiring How We Learn: The Power of an Experimental Mindset
In a rapidly evolving world, our educational practices—both teaching and learning—often trigger anxiety: are we studying the right things, in the right way? Based on the latest scientific research, this session explores strategies to turn uncertainty into curiosity, working with—rather than against—our brain’s natural learning mechanisms. You'll discover how to leverage neuroscience to transform the way we teach and learn, gain practical tools for developing an experimental mindset that benefits all brains, and walk away with actionable insights to enhance both your teaching practice and your own lifelong learning journey. With these insights, we can foster collective experimentation and create vibrant learning spaces where failure fuels growth, curiosity drives discovery, and every student feels empowered to approach new challenges with confidence.
Anne-Laure Le Cunff, Neuroscientist & Founder, Ness Labs
Featured Session
Learning How to Work with Your Enemies
Activist Septima Clark once advocated for working with our enemies "because they might have a change of heart at any moment." In this polarized world, it can feel better to shut out those who think differently than you than engage in a frustrating conversation. But in and outside the classroom, we need to share ideas and learn from each other. Our forebears have an important lesson for us: we must learn to live together like brothers (and sisters) or perish together as fools. Join us to learn why it’s so important to connect with others, how to teach students to actually do it, and how even the smallest things can change the course of history.
Sharon McMahon, Author, The Small and the Mighty, Sharon McMahon Education
Special Crossover Day Programming
Panels
Sharing Space: From the ISS to the Next Generation
For anyone who thinks that girls, students of color, first-generation, low-income or other historically underrepresented minorities don't belong in space...think again. Cady Coleman, a former NASA Astronaut and a retired US Air Force Colonel with more than 180 days in space, and 3 fellow members of the International Space Station National Lab's Education Subcommittee want kids to know that they belong in space. Sharing stories about life in space, tips about how to find space mentors early, and ISS STEM resources, this panel will open your eyes and keep students everywhere looking UP.
Cady Coleman, Retired Astronaut, NASA
Illana Raia, Founder & CEO, ÊTRE
Stephen White, Chief Strategy Officer, COSI - Center of Industry and Science
Teresa Drew, Deputy Director, STEM Next Opportunity Fund
Responsible AI: Balancing Innovation, Impact, & Ethics
The rapid integration of AI in the classroom is raising ethical concerns over bias, privacy, and digital divides. How can educators, technologists and policymakers collaborate to ensure the promise of AI can be realized responsibly? We will discuss the questions policymakers and educators can ask of developers, the design principles developers can embrace to ensure transparency, objectivity and accuracy of models and tools, and the role of educators in fostering AI literacy among students.
Amelia Kelly, Chief Technology Officer, SoapBox Labs
Isabelle Hau, Executive Director, Stanford Accelerator for Learning
Latha Ramanan, Senior Vice President of AI, Merlyn Mind
Meet Up
Connecting Communities: SXSW & SXSW EDU
Every SXSW attendee was once a student in the classroom and that journey is at the heart of what we celebrate with Crossover Day. This year we are bringing together organizers behind SXSW and SXSW EDU as well as enthusiastic members of our communities. Whether you want to chat with SXSW staff about their vision for the event or veteran attendees about their SXSW lifehacks, this Meet Up is the perfect place to share your passion for any and all of the creative communities represented each March in Austin.
Alex Casolaro, Director of Credential Sales, SXSW
Julia Shatilo, Programming Director, SXSW EDU
Rakeda Ervin, Director of Community Education, Austin Film Society
All programming on Thursday, March 6 will be open to SXSW EDU and SXSW registrants as part of Crossover Day.
See You at SXSW EDU 2025
Registration is open for SXSW EDU 2025! Book your hotel early for the best rates and hotel options March 3-6, 2025 in downtown Austin.
Sign up for SXSW EDU email updates, check out the News feed, watch videos, and follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, and TikTok to get the most up-to-date information.
SXSW EDU 2025 Keynote, Featured, and Crossover Day speaker photos provided by the speakers.
By Auva Saghafi
01/15/2025
