Rice to host TEDxHouston talks

By Tina Nazerian     10/8/13 7:00pm

On Oct. 12, TEDxHouston will host a full day of presenters and activities at Rice University, according to the official TEDxHouston 2013 website.

TEDxHouston Experience Coordinator Javier Fadul described the event as an exciting celebration of local ideas and lives.

"You know how you had this one teacher who was totally passionate about what they were doing, and their energy and enthusiasm not only helped you learn, but also redefined what you might one day become?" Fadul asked. "It's like a full day of those kinds of people presenting on diverse and fascinating subjects, with four recess breaks full of ... friendly people with inspiring things to tell you about how they live their lives."

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Fadul said the magic of TEDx is that it focuses on a broad variety of flavors and perspectives.

"The events bring together people from all walks of life to spend a few moments together and share what it is about their world that makes them excited," Fadul said. "By the end of the marathon that is a full day of these presentations, you start finding common threads between very broad fields."

The website states that three of the 20 presenters, which vary in occupation from farmers to scientists, are directly related to Rice: Adriana Ramirez (Lovett College '05), Thierry Rignol (Duncan College '12), and professor of English Kirsten Ostherr.

Rignol said his presentation will cover the intersection of science and policy and its future implications.

"This has been a subject about which I've been passionate for many years, most recently culminating in my co-founding of STEM Works, a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of 'civic scientist,' a term coined by Rice's own [Malcolm Gillis University Professor and professor of physics] Neal Lane," Rignol said. 

Rignol said he has enjoyed the challenge of preparing for his talk and has learned a lot about himself in the process.

"The hardest part has been to winnow a broad and complex set of ideas into a single, interesting talk," Rignol said. "A TEDx talk really pushes you to dig deep and refine a new and inspirational idea that has the potential for wide appeal."

Ostherr said she, as a Rice faculty member working on the connection between medicine, media and the arts, has useful resources to draw on in Houston. 

 

"I collaborate extensively with colleagues in the Texas Medical Center, and I recently gave a talk on my work at the [Contemporary Arts Museum Houston], so both communities really enrich my work," Ostherr said. 

According to its website, TED is a nonprofit organization that specializes in hosting conferences featuring what it calls ideas worth spreading. The website states TEDx programs are a similar concept but are organized by independent groups.

"TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience," TED's website states. "At a TEDx event, TED talks 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 [refers to an] independently organized TED event. The TED conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized."

Fadul, the TEDxHouston experience coordinator, said TEDx is an experiment in self-organization and has united people in local communities in surprising ways. He said the event would not be possible without the help and support of those groups.

"Coming together to celebrate ideas worth spreading is the cure for a lot of the negativity that traditional media seems to focus on," Fadul said. "It's really all about community: The presenters are nominated by people who have attended in the past; the coordinators, sponsors and volunteers who help bring the event to life invest a whole lot into the experience; and finally, the presenters themselves, the people whose ideas we are highlighting, go through a whole lot in order to get their ideas distilled into the TED format."

Fadul said the theme of this year's TEDxHouston, "The Other Thing," builds off of previous years' themes and will hopefully allow the organization to continue the trend in the future.

"The opening theme of 'Expanding Perceptions' in 2010 was quite an opener, and highlights like [presenters] Brene Brown and Dan Phillips did just that," Fadul said. "From what we learned about Houston's multicultural diversity, the theme in 2011 became a question 'Where do we go from here?' and the presenters touched on a lot of ideas about the evolution of our city. In response to that question, 2012's 'Resonate' tried to explore how our diversity could find a single voice, and now with 2013 and 'The Other Things,' we are opening up the resonance chamber with a multitude of surprising flavors from moon shots to the little things."

Fadul said every theme influences the event in subtle ways, but that it is ultimately the presenters and their ideas that determine the meaning and impact taken away from the conference. 

"[The presenters] have all been working hard to try to determine what 'other things' might be left unturned," Fadul said.

Fadul said the curation team somewhat alters the speaker selection process each year in order to best suit the theme.

"This year, everyone who is presenting was nominated by someone in the community," Fadul said. "After their nomination, we had an in-person meeting where several [members] of the curation team got to hear the presenter's story in person, exploring both their history, how they landed in what they do, and what they would be doing if they had no limitations. From the interviews, we discussed ... different approaches and overall reasons why we felt a given speaker matched the theme and might be a good fit for the event."

One of the presenters at this year's TEDxHouston, Program Coordinator for Divine Leaders Inc. Cavanaugh Nweze said he is passionate about his topic, which is urban gardening specifically as well as farming generally, despite his profession as an accountant.

"What inspires me to talk about urban gardening or farming in general [are] the responses I get when people find out I am in a profession that can be so conservative and clean-cut but chose to become a part of another industry that is usually seen as much more rough and rugged," Nweze said. 

Jones College sophomore Hojin Kim said he thinks TEDxHouston will be exciting.

"A lot of Rice students are not from Houston, so the talks can make them interested in what's going on in Houston, where they live right now and where they will continue to live," Kim said.

Fadul said the venue will not be able to hold everyone interested in attending, so alternate viewing methods will be available. According to Fadul, members of the Rice and Houston community who are not able to obtain tickets to attend the event can still watch the talks at a simulcast location or online.

For more information on TEDxHouston or to watch the talks online, visit the event website at tedxhouston.com/2013/events.php.

Adriana E. Ramirez (Lovett College '05) is a nonfiction writer and performance poet with her work focused on "death fantasies" and violence. She was once ranked the 26th slam poet in the world the  and she now runs the Steel City Slam in Pittsburgh. Occasionally, she teaches English at the University of Pittsburg. She has performed her poetry around the world, and her first poetry collection Trusting in Imaginary Spaces will be published soon.

Thierry Rignol (Duncan College '12) focused his education in biomedical engineering and political science. He now seeks to share his passion for combining science and the liberal arts. Rignol co-founded World STEM Works, a non-profit that focuses on science diplomacy. Within one year, he expanded his organization from a small Houston-based organization in a group that operates in five countries. He is currently a consultant at PacWest Consulting Partners.

Rice professor Kristen Ostherr is a multifacted individual. Despite officially being an English professor, she teaches film and media studies, and has expansive work in the medial field. She is co-founder and director of the Medical Futures Lab and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health degree at UT-Houston. Ostherr has recently published on wide topics from medical animation to science fiction film. She has lectured in cities around the world including Geneva and New York.

Outspoken Bean performs spoken word poetry. He is a Texas Poet Laureate nominee and was ranked 25th in the Individual World Poetry Slam 2012. In addition to his global performances, Outspoken Bean has worked with  the Harris County Department of Education and Houston Grand Opera. He also directs Meta-Four Houston, a non-profit organization that aims to increase literacy and expand critical thinking through reading, creative writing, poetry and performance. 

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