Students, led by junior advertising major Tarahgee Morris, are organizing to bring TEDx back to Main Campus on April 13 next year.
TEDx is an offshoot of the TED Conferences group, and allows universities to host their own self-organized TED Talks for students and faculty members to share their ideas. The university hosted two TEDx events in 2011 and 2013.
Now, the upcoming TEDxTempleU organizers are requesting students with a wide variety of interests and talents to step forward and participate in the 2019 event.
The theme of TEDxTempleU is “XXL,” which stands for “EXplore, EXperience, and Live.” The speeches will also focus on the overall meaning of TED, which is Technology, Entertainment and Design, Morris said.
We have our theme for the 2019 TEDxTempleU event! Check it out! pic.twitter.com/Xk4d3UviPj
— TEDxTemple (@TEDxTemple) September 4, 2018
“I’ve always had the idea of wanting to take on a TEDx event,” Morris said. “Being young and seeing other events, I learned Temple didn’t have one which truly did shock me. It incentivized me to give to this campus what it hasn’t been given.”
“I have a passion to hear others expound on their perspectives on what they’re passionate about,” he added.
In order to organize the TEDx event, Morris had to apply for a university license. He proved his standing as a student, got confirmation from the university to hold the event, then spoke with an TED employee about his chosen theme.
Morris is in the process of recruiting a team of students to organize the event.
Morris said the event will “explore the day-to-day lifestyle of an individual, particularly a student, in contemporary society and how we choose to interact with the world.”
Morris and the TEDxTempleU team are also welcoming faculty and alumni to participate in the event.
“It allows us as a student community to expand our reach and our ability to express ourselves,” Morris said.
Morris said several interested student speakers already stepped forward.
“We are very excited to see the level of participation and their initiative to assist the current team with bringing a TEDx event to campus,” Morris said.
Some students, like sophomore biological anthropology major Ryleigh Andrews, were excited after learning about the upcoming TEDx event.
“TED Talks are pretty enlightening,” Andrews said. “It would have to be pretty informative and accurate. I’ve watched anthropology TED Talks before in my spare time.”
Maddie Malone, a sophomore Asian studies major, said she typically has to watch TED Talks for class.
“I didn’t know that there was one coming here,” Malone said. “It would be cool, so long as the topic was interesting and relevant.”
Two additional TEDx events will be coming to the Philadelphia region in the spring. TEDxUSciences, a university event like TEDxTempleU, will be held on March 13, 2019. TEDxPhiladelphia, which is open for any interested speaker in the area to apply, will take place on May 15, 2019.
Morris is looking for students to help organize the event. Those who wish be part of the team should turn in their applications via TEDxTempleU’s Google form by Sept. 26.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated what the TED acronym stands for. The article has been updated to reflect the correct information. A previous version of this article also misstated that only students are allowed to participate in the TEDxTemple event. The event is open to students, faculty, alumni and the wider Temple community.
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