Speakers

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  Eleftheria N. Gonida Professor of Educational Psychology and Human Development and Chair, School of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  

  Eleftheria N. Gonida

  Professor of Educational Psychology and Human Development and Chair, School of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

  Eleftheria N. Gonida studied Psychology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium (Msc) and obtained her Ph.D. in Psychology from AUTh, graduating with honors. Her research interests include achievement motivation, self-regulated learning, cognitive and metacognitive development, parental involvement in children’s school life, and teacher professional development (mental health literacy and digital literacy). She recently began exploring how Aristotelian ‘Paideia’ can help us tackle global educational challenges and promote sustainable learning and youth resilience (PI of the Hellenic Team in the 2025-2026 NEH-HFRI Collaborative Research Grant, Aristotelian ‘Paideia’ and Global Educational Challenges: Revisiting the Past to Plan for Sustainable Education in the 21st-Century). Her work has been published in peer-reviewed international and national scientific journals and edited volumes and presented at numerous international and national scientific conferences. Dr. Gonida has given invited talks to Canada, Finland, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Serbia and USA. She is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the international scientific series ‘Advances in Motivation and Achievement’, member of the editorial board of the scientific journals European Journal of Psychology of Education, Metacognition and Learning, and the Journal of Experimental Education, and served as evaluator for the National Research Councils of Finland, Italy, France, Portugal, and Cyprus. She is a Fulbright Scholar (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2012), President of the Fulbright Scholars of Northern Greece, and served as a member of the Board of Directors of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI, 2019–2023). She organized the International Conference on Motivation (2016), the Panhellenic Conference on School Psychology (2022), and the 20th EARLI Conference (2023, the largest conference in the association’s history), which was named the Hallmark Congress of the Year by the Thessaloniki Convention Bureau, and she was awarded the honorary title of Thessaloniki Ambassador 2023. Dr. Gonida has long administrative experience at AUTh (Erasmus Co-ordinator at the School of Psychology for more than 25 years, EPICUR co-ordinator at the School of Psychology, Chair of the European Educational Programs Committee for five years, member of the Research Ethics Committee for three years, current member of the Scientific Committee of the Teaching and Learning Center and EC member of the Child Care Center).

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  Demetra Sfendoni-Mentzou Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Founder and President of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Aristotle Studies, A.U.Th., Professor Emerita of Philosophy of Science, A.U.Th.
  

  Demetra Sfendoni-Mentzou

  Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Founder and President of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Aristotle Studies, A.U.Th., Professor Emerita of Philosophy of Science, A.U.Th.

  Demetra Sfendoni-Mentzou is a Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Founder and President of the Interdisciplinary Center for Aristotle Studies, A.U.Th., Professor Emerita of Philosophy of Science, A.U.Th., Fellow of the Charles S. Peirce Society. Her awards/distinctions include: British Council Scholarship for post-graduate studies, Oxford University (1977-78); Visiting Research Scholarship of the British Council (1986), Oxford University; Fulbright Senior Visiting Scholarship, Harvard University (1991); she was also one of the ten Greek nominees for the “Woman of Europe” award (1987) sponsored by the Council of Europe. She has taught for five decades at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and for a short period at York University, Toronto, Canada.
  She has also lectured at numerous Universities across Europe, the USA and Canada, and participated in International Conferences and Congresses in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the USA. Her research and teaching during the last three decades focus on an interdisciplinary approach to Aristotle’s work and on the importance of his thought for contemporary science. Recently, her research expands to an exploration of how Aristotle’s insights in ethics, politics and paideia can help us address contemporary challenges. Among her publications are: Aristotle–Contemporary Perspectives on his thought (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2018), Aristotle and Contemporary Science, Vols I. & II. (Peter Lang 2000 & 2001).
  Demetra Sfendoni-Mentzou has organized numerous International Conferences, Symposia, Colloquia, Round Tables. Most notably, she was President of the World Congress “Aristotle 2400 Years,” under the auspices of the President of the Hellenic Republic (May 2016), and vice-President of the 23rd World Congress of Philosophy, (Athens, August 2013). As President of the Charles S. Peirce Society she chaired the Charles S. Peirce International Centennial Congress, 2014, Lowell, Massachusetts; more recently she co-organized with the Academy of Athens, the UN SDSN and the China Confucius Foundation, the “Aristotle-Confucius Symposium on Ethics for the 21st Century,” in Greece (July 2023) and in China (July 2024). Recently, she has established a collaboration program with the China Confucius Foundation and has started preparations for the “World Congress Aristotle and Theophrastus” to be held on the Island of Lesvos (May 2027).

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  Dimitra Balla Scientific Associate at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Aristotle Studies, AUTh
  

  Dimitra Balla

  Scientific Associate at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Aristotle Studies, AUTh

  Dimitra Balla is Dr. of Philosophy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) and a Scientific Associate at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Aristotle Studies, AUTh. Her research interests include Aristotle’s philosophy (mainly, ontology, biological science, and ethics) and contemporary philosophy of biology. Her master thesis is a comparative study on the affinities between Aristotle’s and Darwin’s biological views, while her doctoral research focused on Aristotle’s biology (dissertation title: “Morphē, eidos and matter in Aristotle’s biology: De Partibus Animalium, De Generatione Animalium and De Anima,” supervisor: Demetra Sfendoni-Mentzou). She took part as a Doctoral Research Fellow in the Research Project “Aristotle as the Founder of Scientific Realism” (principal director: Demetra Sfendoni-Mentzou) carried out within the framework of the O. P. THALES (2012-2015), and as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Research Project “The Moral Status of the Child in Plato and Aristotle: The Transition from Mere Living (ζῆν) to Living Well (εὖ ζῆν)” (funded by the Programme “Support of Young Scientists,” 2018-2019). Dr. Balla has participated with announcements in world congresses, as well as in international and national conferences, symposia, seminars, and classical philosophy workshops. She has also contributed with essays and articles in collective volumes, journals, and peer-reviewing journals. Some publications, indicative of her research work, are the following: “Aristotle’s Wondering Children” (co-author, POLITEIA – International Interdisciplinary Philosophical Review, 2019), “Likeness in Aristotle’s Theory of Natural Generation: The Use of the Terms Εἶδος and Μορφή” (Proceedings of the World Congress “Aristotle 2400 Years,” Demetra Sfendoni-Mentzou, ed., Thessaloniki: A.U.Th. & DI.K.A.M., 2019, pp. 115-121), and “Aristotle and Darwin on the Birds’ Beaks: Evolutionary Affinities” (co-author with Zacharias Scouras, IDEE – Journal of Philosophy and Human Sciences, 2021).

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  Christos Pechlivanidis Scientific Associate at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Aristotle Studies, AUTh
  

  Christos Pechlivanidis

  Scientific Associate at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Aristotle Studies, AUTh

  Christos Α. Pechlivanidis is a scholar of philosophy of science and education whose research focuses on the foundations of scientific knowledge and the enduring influence of Aristotelian thought on the contemporary scientific image. He is a Scientific Associate at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Aristotle Studies of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and holds a PhD (2010) from the Department of Philosophy and Education of the same university, supervised by Professor D. Sfendoni-Mentzou. In 2015, he conducted postdoctoral research within the European Research Programme “THALES,” focusing on “The Origins of the Contemporary Scientific Image in Aristotelian Thought,” under the scientific coordination of Professor D. Sfendoni-Mentzou. In the same year, he was awarded the “Kaftantzoglio Prize” by the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Athens for his book Aristotle and Ernan McMullin: Tracing the Origins of Contemporary Scientific Realism (Ziti Publications). His work bridges classical philosophy and contemporary challenges in artificial intelligence, scientific discovery, and education. Engaging with both Aristotelian and Peircean traditions, he examines the dynamics of knowledge formation, imagination, and innovation in technologically mediated environments. His recent research addresses the ethical and epistemological implications of AI in education, with particular emphasis on learning, agency, and the concept of truth. He has actively participated in international academic initiatives, such as the Confucius–Aristotle Symposium in Beijing (2024), contributing to ongoing dialogue on philosophy, science, and education in a global context. His publications include: “Knowledge, Artificial Intelligence and Education: Epistemological Approaches and Ethical Dilemmas in Teaching” (2025), in P. Georgogiannis (ed.), Proceedings of the 44th International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences; “Tracking Aristotle’s ἀγχίνοια or the Mechanism Discovering the Middle Term of a Syllogism” (2019), in D. Sfendoni-Mentzou (ed.), Proceedings of the World Congress ‘Aristotle 2400 Years’; and “What is behind the Logic of Scientific Discovery: Aristotle & Charles S. Peirce on Imagination” (2017), in K. A. Hull & R. K. Atkins (eds.), Peirce on Perception and Reasoning: From Icons to Logic (Routledge).

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  Chelsea C. Harry Professor of Philosophy, Southern Connecticut State University, U.S.A
  

  Chelsea C. Harry

  Professor of Philosophy, Southern Connecticut State University, U.S.A

  Chelsea C. Harry is Professor of Philosophy at Southern Connecticut State University specializing in the history of philosophy, particularly Aristotle and ancient Greek philosophy as well as 19th century German philosophy. She is the author of Chronos in Aristotle’s Physics iv 10-14: On the Nature of Time (Springer 2015) and the co-editor of Brill’s Companion to The Reception of Presocratic Natural Philosophy in Later Classical Thought with Justin Habash (Brill 2021) and Exploring the Contributions of Women in the History of Philosophy, Science, and Literature, Throughout Time with George N. Vlahakis (Springer 2023). She has published articles in various journals, books, and conference proceedings, including Journal of Ancient Philosophy, Hellenic Research Foundation, Idealistic Studies, Apeiron: A Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science, Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. She has a particular interest in the role philosophy can play in improving contemporary educational challenges. In the height of the pandemic, Harry founded Philosophy @Cross, which later became Philosophy in the Schools New Haven, leading philosophy discussions with urban high-school students on Zoom. In 2022, Harry was awarded a grant by the American Philosophical Association Committee on Public Philosophy to grow the program in-person. For the past several years, she has led philosophical discussions in urban public high-schools and with community youth groups. In 2016, she was one of six international early-career women scholars working on ancient philosophy to be chosen for a working group at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. In 2018, she won the Connecticut State Universities system-wide research award and in 2023, she was a finalist for the American Philosophical Association’s Prize for Excellence in Philosophy Teaching. Her book entitled, Why Aristotle Matters Today, is under contract with Bloomsbury Press. In addition to being a Co-PI on a 2025-2026 NEH-HFRI Collaborative Research Grant, Aristotelian ‘Paideia’ and Global Educational Challenges: Revisiting the Past to Plan for Sustainable Education in the 21st-Century, she was a 2025 Ancient Philosophy Fellow at the Center for Canon Expansion and Change at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and co-director of the 2026 Summer Program in Ancient Philosophy.