By Inma Sumaita, Krista Savage, For The Miami Student
Miami University will premier its first TEDx event, Genesis, this weekend. The event will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday in Leonard Theatre of Peabody Hall and will feature several acclaimed faculty members and students.
The goals of Genesis are to unite the community and promote the expression of ideas, new thoughts and strategies for approaching difficulties.
Students involved with the event planning have gone to great lengths to bring TEDx to campus. Junior Matt Dunn is the current TEDx president. He said he is very satisfied with the progress that has been made thus far.
"We started thinking of theme ideas for events and naturally gravitated toward the energy that Miami brings as a university," Dunn said. "This embodies both the spirit of Miami as well as the TEDx slogan, 'ideas worth spreading.'"
Another goal of the TEDx initiative is putting forth a platform for its students to approach unconventional, sometimes uncomfortable conversations. The discussions at the event will represent a wide range of disciplines and concepts.
Ann Feuhrer is one of the speakers at the event. She is the associate professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies and affiliate in Psychology at Miami. Her talk will cover career goals. She will be sharing a dream she has been developing for two years of creating a community cafe in Oxford.
"The title of my talk is 'Creating a Community Cafe,'" she said. "Genesis, for me, is sharing a vivid dream that can inspire action, based on a moral imperative of justice for all."
Other speakers include Bob De Schutter, a professor of Applied Game Design at the College of Education, Health and Society, Rod Northcutt, an associate professor of sculpture and Wilson Okello, a resident director and first-year adviser who strongly believes in the power of storytelling.
Assistant Director of Residence Life Colleen E. Bunn will be speaking about feminism and how it relates to her roots. She is currently adviser for F-Word, a feminist organization on campus.
"I am excited to see Miss Bunn speak," said Junior Miranada Couch. "I always try to attend the F-Word events and I have worked under Miss Bunn … and find her to be wonderful."
Many other speakers will be presenting their topics at TEDx.
Accompanying this array of faculty will be students Robert Enzmann and Tanner McClellan. Enzmann will discuss his passion of combining math and music, and McClellan will discuss the Best Buddies Friends Choir, a choir open for students with and without intellectual developmental disabilities.
Both students and faculty are highly anticipating Miami's first TEDx presentation.
"I've always enjoyed watching TEDx on YouTube and have been fascinated by the notion of such an empowering platform for normal people," said first-year Jessica Silver. "This is going to be very interesting."
There will also be a live stream of the event at Taylor Auditorium to help expand the accessibility of the event.