Joel is an award-winning filmmaker who strives to embrace socially conscious stories that deal with religion, social class and minorities and communicate the underlying connection between us all. His last film, “Man on Fire,” screened nationally on PBS and won an International Documentary Association Award. Other award-winning and nationally recognized films include “Game Night", "Remittance" and “David”.

Beth is Professor Emerita of World Literature, Religious Studies, and Community Engagement at DePauw University, and Founder and Director of The Castle.  A prolific writer, her third book, Ghost Writer (A Story About Telling a Holocaust Story), was named a finalist for the 2019 Next Generation Indie Awards and her most recent, The Post-Pandemic Liberal Arts College:  A Manifesto for Reinvention (co-authored with Steve Volk), has contributed to a national conversation about higher ed.

Anthony is a native of North Putnam, born and raised in Bainbridge, IN.  Beloved singer-songwriter who has toured nationally and runs a recording studio in Putnam County, Anthony has recently turned his sights toward filmmaking and screenwriting and is currently shooting his first feature film.

James is an associate professor of writing and rhetoric at Middlebury College. He is also a documentary film producer. His research and films explore culture in American society–exploring issues of race and racism, public memory and countermemory, and institutional abuse. He produced a feature documentary, Man on Fire, which won multiple awards, and has published in College Composition and Communication, Writing Program Administration, Present Tense, and Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric.

Dave Eggers is an author, publisher and founder of 826 National, a network of youth writing and tutoring centers around the United States. He also founded ScholarMatch, a nonprofit organization designed to connect students with resources, schools and donors to make college possible. Eggers is the winner of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award for Education, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the TED Prize, and has been a finalist for the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Amanda is Executive Director and Publisher of McSweeney’s, and co-founder of The International Congress of Youth Voices. Trained as a journalist, she is the former director of 826Michigan and sometimes-host of the author interview radio program and podcast, Living Writers.