Presenters from the 2018 TEDxDePaulUniversity. (DePaul University/Jamie Moncrief)
More than 200 faculty, staff, students, alumni and local community members came together on May 1 to experience DePaul University's third and largest TEDx event. Under the theme "Reimagine," 11 diverse presenters gave nine talks on topics ranging from marginalized communities in Chicago to unconditional self-worth and forgiveness in the wake of an attack.
Guests immersed themselves in these new ideas, not only through conversations and networking, but also through a variety of interactive engagement activities including music, meditation, balloon art and drawing. Attendees called this year's event "transformative," "necessary," "innovative," "eye-opening," "proud," "educational" and "inclusive," and 100 percent of the surveyed attendees said they would attend a future TEDxDePaulUniversity.
The Office of Public Relations and Communications and the Office of Academic Affairs hosted the sold-out event in the Lincoln Park Student Center. TEDx is in an independently run, self-organized event through a license by TED.
If you were unable to make the event or would like to revisit a presentation, you can browse the talks below or view all of the videos from TEDxDePaulUniversity 2018 here.
Karen Bartuch, Brandon Hendrix and Tammy Higgins │ "Funny Business"
Is the use of humor appropriate at work? Bartuch, Hendrix and Higgins think so. The students in DePaul University's Doctorate in Business program reconsider the role of humor in the workplace in their talk: "Funny Business."
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Laura Biagi │ "Reimagine Failure: Breathe, Belong, Believe"
After traveling the world, studying yoga and diving into academia to find more meaning in life, Biagi found fulfillment by searching within herself. She takes us on her path to discovery and gives tools we can use in our own times of distress in her talk: "Reimagine Failure: Breathe, Belong, Believe."
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James Brinkmann │ "Collaborative Listening: Rethinking Your Connection to Music"
Brinkmann is an innovative flutist and a 2011 DePaul School of Music alumnus on a mission to find creative ways to engage audiences with music. He unites his passions for teaching and performing by creating interactive performances that strengthen the music experience for the listener. He discusses his master plan in his talk: "Collaborative Listening: Rethinking Your Connection to Music."
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Karli Butler │ "Reimagine Forgiveness"
While we are all the sum of our life experiences, not all of them come to us by choice. Butler, a 2010 alumna of DePaul's College of Communication, survived an acid attack and spent years recovering from it. No stranger to adversity, she's managed to turn her trauma into triumph through storytelling, reflection and empowerment, which she discusses in her talk: "Reimagine Forgiveness."
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Kevin Felisme │ "Reimagine Chicago: Power to the People"
Felisme is an MBA student with a passion for Chicago and an appreciation for what we can learn from the past. He sees a path for creating economic opportunities to benefit the communities around us. He shares his vision for his city in his talk: "Reimagine Chicago: Power to the People."
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Adia Gooden │ "Cultivating Unconditional Self-Worth"
When a person demands perfection of herself or himself, anything less can feel like failure. Gooden, a 2013 College of Science and Health graduate, knows this from experience. In addition to her work as a staff psychologist at the University of Chicago, she's learned in her own life how to break negative thought patterns and live more freely. She shares those lessons in her talk: "Cultivating Unconditional Self-Worth."
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Rev. Christopher Robinson, C.M. │ "Replacing Our Idols with Icons"
Most people "idolize" what they view as normal because it is a version of life they believe to be true, but what if someone told you there was a phone on the moon? If that is their version of the truth, who are you to say it's wrong? Could you meet somewhere in the middle or agree to disagree? For Fr. Robinson an experience he had before he became a priest provided the initial spark that led to his talk: "Replacing Our Idols with Icons."
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Whitney Spencer │ "Reimagining the Intellectual"
What image comes to your mind when you hear someone described as an intellectual? Did you think of the person sitting next to you in your last meeting or standing behind you at the grocery store? Well, why not? Spencer, a critical ethnic studies graduate student, challenges our ideas of how people earn the label intellectual with her talk: "Reimagining the Intellectual."
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Guillermo Vásquez de Velasco │ "The Liberal Arts and the Making of T-Shaped People"
Vásquez de Velasco is a steadfast advocate of the liberal arts and for good reason. As dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, students emerge from his college's programs with a foundation that enables them to think, solve, lead and live. To inspire us to spread our own wings, he shares his personal journey and how he discovered the true power of a liberal arts education in his talk: "The Liberal Arts and the Making of T-Shaped People."
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