By Raechel Root, The Miami Student
For three hours on a Saturday in April, a diverse group of Miami University students, faculty, staff, alumni and Oxford residents will gather to participate in a TED-inspired event around the theme of "Genesis."
This collaboration, called TEDx, has been popular at universities across the country.
"I proposed the idea of a TEDx event because I think it's a great opportunity for students to create a university-wide conversation, and for students to speak big picture, which we didn't have here," University Honors Program Assistant Director David Rogers said.
At Miami, the event is being organized by a group of honors and Western Program students, who Rogers advises.
"I'm very impressed with the level of professionalism and commitment from the students on our team," he said.
First-year Brandon Fogel is the Director of Public Relations for TEDxMiamiUniversity. Fogel's job includes creating advertisements for the event, running the group's social media and reaching out to other organizations for collaboration.
Fogel helped organize a March 31 event, at which TEDx will join Project U to host "TEDTalk Tuesdays." Students from TEDxMiami will share their favorite TEDTalks, and facilitate a brief discussion afterword.
"We all watch TEDTalks. It's something our generation has sort of grown up with," Fogel said.
At TEDxMiami's main event, each presenter's talk will follow the TED tradition: they will range between five and 18 minutes, and focus on the concept of "ideas worth spreading."
In the call for nominations, the group expressed a desire for presenters "to speak about new ideas and fresh perspectives." Rogers said the event would focus on "the origin of thought and innovation."
The group chose the Genesis theme because it will be the first TEDx presentation at Miami, but not the last: Rogers expects the students to make it an annual event.
The presentations will be hosted in Leonard Theater, partially to bridge the gap between Western and the rest of Miami, according to Rogers.
"The Western Program is very interdisciplinary, and we've had so much support from their students and faculty," he said.
The talks will also be broken up with performances by campus music groups.
"I'm most excited to showcase Miami's talents across the entire university, all departments and subjects," Rogers said.
Out of the almost 70 nominees that poured in to TEDxMiamiUniversity.com, 20 students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members will be chosen to speak in the Leonard Theater on the 25th.
In accordance with TEDx regulations, only 100 live audience members will be present at the event. The student committee has yet to decide how these 100 tickets will be distributed or sold, but 500 seats will also be available at the Taylor Auditorium in Farmer School of Business for a live stream of the presentations. Admission will be free.
Updates on presenters and ticket information can be found at TEDxMiamiUniversity.com.