TEDxCUNY 2017 Conference to Take Place at NY Hall of Science

TEDxCUNY at the City University of New York and Macaulay Honors College announce the third annual TEDxCUNY 2017 Conference. The conference will take place March 10, 2017 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, at the New York Hall of Science, a prestigious institution that has long supported ideas for creativity and innovation. TEDxCUNY 2017 will explore the theme of “Circuits” — the circuits between people, places, and ideas, and asks: Is the nation short-circuiting? What problems and solutions are created by the changing circuits of the digital age? These are among the speakers:

 Adam Ortiz and Jasmine Palmer are a pair of creators, native New Yorkers, and parents to Ciro Ortiz, the Emotional Advice Kid, recently featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. They will speak about lessons learned from their son.

“Who knew that, during a time where a human being can connect with another, anytime, anywhere, that so many of us still manage to feel lonely? Ciro’s advice is simple, real, and without the layers of doubt and rumination that often obscure our emotional fundamentals.”

 Eli Fola  is a Nigerian-born, New York-based multimedia artist, vocalist, saxophonist, DJ and music producer. His debut EP, “The Platform”, was released on March 28, 2016. His talk: A Genre of Music Called “Tech Afrique.”

 “I had an idea to start a label called Tech Afrique, a platform to release everything I do creatively. I didn’t just want to have a label but I also wanted to have a sound and aesthetic to the name. When I think tech afrique, I see a musical innovation from the african diaspora, A fusion of African traditional rhythms and electronic music.”

 Sonia Gonzalez founded the Young Women of Color HIV/AIDS Coalition. Gonzalez is a doctoral candidate at CUNY’s School of Public Health where she is earning a Doctorate of Public Health with a focus on Community, Health & Society. She is particularly interested in research concerning poor young people of color. Her talk: Bridging the Gap Between Health and Technology in the CUNY Community. 

“The beauty of CUNY is that it represents NYC and I LOVE New Yorkers.”

Hanna Kit came to the US in 2007 from Ukraine, with her mother, who was identified as a victim of human trafficking and exploitation. Kit graduated from Brooklyn College and has volunteered with the organization Sanctuary for Families. Her talk: Human Trafficking in the 21st Century and What We Can Do to Support the Victims of It. 

“So how do we stop it? How do we make it, so no other person in this world has to feel the chains of modern day slavery ever again? To tell you the truth. I don’t really know, but just because we don’t know does not mean we are not going to try. And I have a couple of ideas how we can try.”

As the first and only public university TEDx University Conference in New York City, TEDxCUNY is the largest TEDx University event in the nation representationally, covering 24 campuses and over 500,000 students. CUNY has long served as a circuit bringing together students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds while striving for equal access to opportunity. “Circuits” will expand on these institutional values through a series of talks and workshops.

TEDxCUNY invites the CUNY community for a day of idea-sharing on the circuits of human lives and the communities around us. The event will be ticketed, as well as live-streamed online via the TEDxCUNY website. Tickets, which are free for CUNY students, can be reserved at tinyurl.com/tedxcuny2017. For an updated list of talks and speakers and for more information, visit tedxcuny.com, or visit @TEDxCUNY on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 30 years ago, TED has grown to support its mission. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes or less. Many of these talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman. Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks , or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED .

About TEDxCUNY

TEDxCUNY was formed in July 2013 out of the strong belief that a public academic institution as large and as diverse as the City University of New York deserved and needed a platform for spreading ideas and discussion. The team received its license on July 26th, 2014 and has since become an annual CUNY event gathering students, faculty, staff, affiliates, and the broader public for a day of idea-sharing. With CUNY’s 530,000+ students enrolled in 24 institutions, TEDxCUNY is representationally the largest TEDxUniversity event in the country. It is also the first public university TEDx conference in New York City, as well as the first TEDx event in the country to represent multiple campuses. To address the challenge of representing 530,000+ students, TEDxCUNY created a Campus Liaison network. Using TEDxCUNY as an umbrella organization that supports CUNY-wide idea sharing, Campus Liaisons lead campus-specific TEDxCUNY chapters and hold TEDxCUNY Salon Events, which are smaller TEDx conferences tailored to that campus community. TEDxCUNY’s goal is for each college within the CUNY system to have a team of students responsible for TEDxCUNY’s outreach and operation on that campus. Currently, the organization has 8 Campus Liaison teams, and outreach coordinators are actively pursuing partnerships with the remaining 16. TEDxCUNY Salon Events are held throughout the fall and spring semesters. On November 16th, 2014, TEDxCUNY held its first conference, themed “Access.” In Spring 2015, TEDxCUNY’s Campus Liaison teams at City College, Baruch College, John Jay College, Hunter College, and the College of Staten Island each organized campus Salon events. On November 20th, 2015, TEDxCUNY hosted its second main event themed “Borders and Belonging.”

Press/TEDxCUNY Contact:
Caroline Zuba
Director of Media and Communications
caroline.zuba@tedxcuny.com
tedxcuny@gmail.com