TedXUofM convention aims to fill heads and hearts with ideas

April 2, 2013
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TedX UofM 2013 untapped_ promotional collage. Image courtesy TedX U of MANN ARBOR—More than 1,200 people are expected to pack the Power Center on Friday for “Untapped,” the fourth annual TEDxUofM ideas convention.

This year’s theme dares participants to stretch both their minds and their goals.

“Our hope for our attendees is that they leave the event with their heads and hearts full of ideas,” said Lauren Kase, a University of Michigan junior studying organizational psychology who helped organize the conference. “We want the event to fill them with inspiration, discovery and excitement in hopes that it will spark them to carry out a new idea, or get involved with something they are passionate about – in a sense, tap into themselves and into the world around them.”

The theme is about turning potential into reality.

“We believe within each of us lies a capacity that we do not always harness, knowledge that we do not always tap into, and unique important ideas we do not always contribute,” Kase said.

The event features 20 speakers from the U-M community and beyond, including:

  • Kathryn Clark, an expert on human spaceflight who spent two years as chief scientist for the International Space Station. She is now a movement science instructor at U-M.
  • James Robert, an influential Ann Arbor school teacher whose senior course assigns students to develop their own life philosophy. Robert teaches at Pioneer High School, and was featured in this documentary: http://vimeo.com/10204150
  • Mary Heinen, an advocate who helps recently-released prisoners enter back into society. Heinen spent time in prison, where she earned three educational degrees.
  • David Chesney, a computer science and engineering instructor whose courses assign students to develop video games that could aid those with physical or mental disabilities. His class was highlighted in this project: http://www.engin.umich.edu/college/about/news/dme/gaming/
  • Chris Armstrong, formerly U-M’s first openly gay student body president. Armstrong won a civil settlement against the former state assistant attorney general for defamation.

For more speakers information, visit http://news.tedxuofm.com/post/46589827001/tedxuofm-untapped-voices-pt-2

TED is a California- and New York-based nonprofit dedicated to “ideas worth spreading.” It conducts conferences all over the world, and allows local groups to organize their own similar “TEDx” events. U-M’s affiliated conferences are organized by students, and they have been growing each year since 2010.

Tickets are sold out, but the event will be streamed live 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 5, 2013. Watch on your own computer at the TedXUofM website at http://tedxuofm.com or watch with others on big screens in two campus locations: Michigan Hillel, 1429 Hill St. or in the Duderstadt Center, Room 1180, 2281 Bonisteel on North Campus.

 

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