2009 Speakers and Moderators

Some of the world's most inspired and provocative thinkers, writers, artists, business people, teachers, and leaders are gathered here. Each day, they will teach, speak, lead, question, and interact with an audience ready to delve into a world of ideas, thought, and discussion. Download the complete confirmed speakers list.

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Anna Deavere Smith Anna Deavere Smith

is an actor, playwright, teacher, and author. Known for her distinct brand of documentary-theater, she wrote and performed Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities, which was the runner-up for the 1993 Pulitzer Prize and earned her an Obie Award, and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, which received two Tony Award nominations, an Obie Award, and numerous other awards. Currently a professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Smith was the Ford Foundation’s first artist-in-residence as well as a MacArthur Fellow. She is founder of the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue and has received honorary degrees from several universities. In 2006, Smith was the first Aspen Institute Harman-Eisner Artist-in-Residence; she is also an Aspen Institute trustee.