The event may be sold out, but that doesn’t mean you cannot enjoy TEDxWesternU: Colliding Worlds this weekend. Starting at 9 a.m. Sunday, there are three ways you can join the offshoot of the famed speaker event – watching via livestream at uwo.ca/tedx, listening via 94.9 Radio Western or by attending the viewing party at The Spoke.
The event is hosted by Erik Mandawe, an Indigenous artist, musician, filmmaker, storyteller, and medical student. He is from the Beaver Lake Cree Nation (Alberta), and he has lived in London since 2013.
Among the featured speakers are:
- Arthur Brown, Robarts Research Institute scientist, whose love and affinity for investigating mysteries led him to become a neuroscientist. Brown will share his experiences in exploring one of the greatest mysteries of the human body – the brain;
- Jeff Preston, Disability Studies professor, who has spent his life advocating for the rights of those with disabilities who hope to live an independent and barrier-free life. Preston will shed light on the representation of disability in culture;
- Levi Hord, Rhodes Scholar, a gender theorist and spoken-word artist, committed to challenging the systems through which we define identity;
- Syed Shoaib Hasan Rizvi, Founder and Executive Director, I Am An Entrepreneur, who is dedicated to advancing Pakistani women’s economic participation. Hasan Rizvi will explore the importance of sustainable development and female empowerment;
- Sacha Bhatia, Founding Director, Women’s College Hospital’s Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care. With Canada facing the issue of an aging population, Bhatia will discuss ideas to solve the tough challenges facing our health-care system;
- Nick van der Velde, principle consultant, Impact Consulting, who disrupts ineffective community/business models by blending for-profit strategy with non-for-profit values. van der Velde will share the importance of social impact for strengthening communities;
- Barbara MacQuarrie, Community Director, Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children, who manages a project that helps campus support workers respond to sexual violence. With 90% of sexual harassment cases being kept quiet on Canadian university campuses, MacQuarrie will take a deeper dive into one of the most pressing issues in modern times; and
- Rick McGhie, legendary Western entertainer, who has been an integral part of student culture at Western since 1975.
For more information, visit the event website, or follow Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California nearly 30 decades ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. At TED, the world’s leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Talks are then made available, free at TED.com.
In that spirit, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized, but subject to certain rules and regulations.
TEDxWesternU: Colliding Worlds is the fourth TEDx event hosted by the university, including TEDxWesternU: The Human Condition in 2015, TEDxWesternU: Impact. Innovation. Insight. in 2013 and TEDxWesternU: Own Your Passion in 2011.