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2016 has been a busy year for Durham thus far. Between music festivals like Moogfest, which recently moved from Asheville, and The Art of Cool Festival to the 20th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and the Hayti Heritage Film Festival, the city has a lot going on. Now, Durham has another exciting event to look forward to: TEDxDurham announces its first independent event, created in the spirit of the cultural phenomenon and national nonprofit, TED.
Coming to The Carolina Theatre July 9, TEDxDurham features more than 20 local speakers who will share stories relating to the event’s theme – Centers and Edges. This theme is defined by the idea that without our centers – which are people’s passions, projects and communities – life is meaningless; but without our edges – sometimes discomforting, but always warrant growth – life is boring.
“The energy at TEDx events is electric. It’s amazing to find people in the community that are optimistic, problem solving and downright doing amazing work,” Jack Derbyshire, TEDxDurham curator, said in a press release.
Examples of speakers and topics at TEDxDurham include artists, professors, professionals and activists: Dasan Ahanu, who will discuss the power, beauty and resilience that can come from voices and art from the “edges;” Omid Safi, who will speak about the United States post-9/11 and how the American Muslim community and the American democratic experiment both find themselves in a perilous state; and Bill Ferris, who will explain how memory and space define the American South.
TEDx events are local, self-organized events where TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group through the form of short, powerful talks, often 18 minutes or less. TEDxDurham is expected to be one of the largest TEDx events on the East Coast.
You can stay up-to-date on the event and join in the conversation on Facebook or on Twitter.
Tickets start at $30 and are on sale now.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
TedxDurham Speakers
Clara Johnson, self-trained, international artist
Dasan Ahanu, of Bull City Slam Team, National Poetry Slam contender, President of the Black Jedi Chapter of the Universal Zulu Nation
Flavio Frohlich, assistant professor of of psychiatry, cell biology & physiology, and biomedical engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Jess Jur, N.C. State textiles professor and researcher
Kayja Hill, coordinator for arts integration at Duke Hospital
Mailande Moran, extraordinary networker, artist and renaissance woman; artist-in-residence for TEDxDurham 2016
Omid Safi, professor of Asian and Middle Eastern studies at Duke University and director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center
Nancy “Mama Nia” Wilson, executive director of Durham’s own Spirit House
Bill Ferris, professor of folklore at UNC-Chapel Hill
Negar Mottahedeh, author and literature professor at Duke University
Lisa Sorg, Bull City Rising contributor and Durham journalist
Donovan Zimmerman, Paperhand Puppets
Alexis Pauline Gumbs, author of “Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines”
Nirmish Shah, professor of medicine at Duke University, pediatrician
Fred Tyson, NIEHS, scientific program director and algal bloom expert
Zach Ward, DSI Comedy Theatre in Chapel Hill
David Reese, president and CEO of the East Durham Children’s Initiative
Mark Anthony Neal, professor of black popular culture at Duke University, 2010 recipient of Robert B. Cox Award for Teaching
Jason Parker, associate director of communications at MDC
Tarish Pipkins, puppeteer and teacher at Just Right Academy
Jonathan Mattingly, professor of mathematics and statistical science at Duke University[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
