Today@Sam Article

SHSU to Host Second Annual TEDxSHSU Event

Oct. 26, 2023
SHSU Media Contact: Campbell Atkins

Sam Houston State University will host its second TEDxSHSU event in the White Ballroom at the Lowman Student Center Nov. 2. The daylong event will feature 12 student, faculty, staff, and community speakers offering insight on an array of topics in an effort to open thought-provoking dialogues, spark thinking and catalyze imaginations. The event is sponsored by the Elliott T. Bowers Honors College.

“A university is a place where you are exposed to different ways of thinking about the world,” said associate professor of marketing Renée Gravois, who co-directs the TEDxSHSU program with associate professor of educational leadership Paul Eaton. “TEDxSHSU is all about gaining new perspectives, thinking about the world differently, and dialoguing with others about big ideas.”

The idea to apply for a TEDxSHSU license originally stemmed from a conversation Gravois and Eaton had as part of a proposal to co-teach a TED Talks course offered by the SHSU Honors College. In this course, students examine TED Talks as a cultural phenomenon, learn to analyze and critique TED Talks from various perspectives, and develop and present their own TED-style talks. Gravois and Eaton suggested the university take the concept a step further and orchestrate the annual TEDxSHSU event, which debuted in 2022.

The event’s second installment is themed “tapestries”, which have been used to spread various ideas both physically and metaphorically.

“TED’s slogan is ‘Ideas worth spreading’,” Eaton said. “When curating this program, we look for a mix of faculty, staff, students and community members. We want a series of strong ideas that are provocative for the audience to think about.”

The three-session event covers a variety of topics, from health care and education to dealing with tragedy and finding meaning in the world. Of the 12 speakers, four are current SHSU students, including Kendra “Birdie” Rodrigue, Charise Lincoln, Anthony Timmons and Sarah Swift.

“Hosting TEDxSHSU is a service to the community and the university,” Eaton said. “We are one of only a handful of universities in the state to host a TEDx event annually. The process to even get a license is very rigorous.”

Along with the rigorous licensing process, which must be renewed each year, Gravois and Eaton stressed the amount of work and number of individuals it takes to organize and run the event. Various students, faculty and staff members across multiple disciplines participate in making the event possible. They also stressed plans to continue to grow TEDxSHSU in coming years.

Participants can register for any or all of the event’s sessions and also find a complete schedule of speakers on the TEDxSHSU webpage. 

About TEDx, x = independently organized event
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. 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. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, often in the form of short talks delivered by leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED Conferences, intimate TED Salons and thousands of independently organised TEDx events around the world. Videos of these talks are made available, free, on TED.com and other platforms. Audio versions of TED Talks are published to TED Talks Daily, available on all podcast platforms.

TED's open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; TEDx, which licenses thousands of individuals and groups to host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities; The Audacious Project, which surfaces and funds critical ideas that have the potential to impact millions of lives; TED Translators Program, which crowdsources the subtitling of TED Talks so that big ideas can spread across languages and borders; and the educational initiative TED-Ed. TED also offers TED@Work a program that reimagines TED Talks for workplace learning. TED also has a growing library of original podcasts, including The TED Interview with Chris Anderson, WorkLife with Adam Grant, Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala and How to Be a Better Human.
Follow TED on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and on LinkedIn.

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