Experience 'Desert Genius' during Homecoming week at TEDxUofA
From making poetry more accessible to embracing and preserving Earth's biodiversity, a lineup of 10 speakers will share their expertise at the Oct. 18 event.
In addition to football, tailgates and reunions, the thousands of alumni and community members who will flood campus over Homecoming week can learn about food as medicine, urban heat, making poetry more accessible and more as TEDxUofA comes to Centennial Hall on Oct. 18.
The University of Arizona Foundation is the cornerstone supporter of the event, which is expected to draw more than 500 people.
"TEDxUofA is an incredible showcase of U of A ingenuity," said John-Paul Roczniak, president and CEO of the University of Arizona Foundation. "We are thrilled to share it with alumni, donors and friends of the university as part of Homecoming 2024. They can look forward to short talks on a range of topics including urban heat, dark skies, food as medicine, digital poetry archives and more."
The theme of this year's event is Desert Genius, illustrating the caliber of work being done in the university's home in the Sonoran Desert. Misha Harrison, executive director for experience with Presidential Events and University Ceremonies, says the theme ties into Homecoming festivities.
Sarah Kortemeier, Library Director, Poetry Center
"Homecoming's theme is Desert Bound, which is about bringing everyone connected to the Wildcat community back to Tucson, so we wanted to develop something that is related to that," Harrison said. "This is a celebration of the extraordinary confluence of this desert and all of the really wonderful science and scholarship that comes from being exactly where we are."
The foundation's involvement in TEDxUofA gives the organization an opportunity to bring more people from outside the campus community to the event, and to connect with audiences they haven't reached before, said Andrea Miller, the foundation's senior vice president for marketing/communications, giving programs and constituent relations.
"We have a lot of people involved in supporting the university who have never attended, but they're here in Tucson and have an appetite for lifelong learning," Miller said. "We're hoping TEDx will also bring in some new folks who maybe haven't found the right reason to engage with us yet."
The talks
Michael Kotutwa Johnson, Assistant Specialist, Indigenous Resilience Center
During the event, 10 speakers will share their expertise in science, medicine, arts and more in a series of talks no longer than 18 minutes each.
"I am excited to share how captioning a historical archive of digitized recordings helps us access and connect to our cultural heritage on a deeper level," said Sarah Kortemeier, library director for the University of Arizona Poetry Center. "Accessible design helps everyone, and accessibility considerations should be front and center for institutions planning big digitization projects."
Michael Kotutwa Johnson, assistant specialist in the Indigenous Resilience Center, will speak about the importance of biodiversity.
"I'll talk about biodiversity's role in the global economy and our food system," Johnson said. "And I'll offer a unique perspective on how Indigenous people view biodiversity and their role, which is relational and value orientated."
The speakers are listed below.
- Jodie Lewers Chertudi, Tucson artist
- Theresa Crimmins, Associate Professor, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, and Director, USA National Phenology Network
- Chris Impey, Distinguished Professor of Astronomy
- Ladd Keith, Associate Professor, School of Landscape Architecture and Planning
- Sarah Kortemeier, Library Director, Poetry Center
- Michael Kotutwa Johnson, Assistant Specialist, Indigenous Resilience Center
- Sankha Subhra Mahanti, graduate student, Department of Geosciences
- Shad Marvasti, Associate Professor and Clinical Scholar, Department of Family, Community and Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine – Phoenix
- Amy C. Oliver, Senior Instructional Specialist, Steward Observatory
- Desireé Reed-Francois, Vice President and Director of Athletics
- Jekan Thanga, Associate Professor, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and Head of SpaceTREx Laboratory
The event will also include performances by singer/songwriter Brian López and the Black N' Blue Hip Hop Crew student dance group.
TEDxUofA happens Oct. 18 from 2-5:30 p.m., including a 30-minute intermission. Tickets are $5 and are available online and at the Centennial Hall box office.
The talks will be recorded and posted on the TEDx Talks YouTube channel. Talks from previous years are available on the university's TEDxUofA website.
TED, a global nonprofit, began in 1984 as a conference featuring speakers discussing technology, entertainment and design. Today, TED conferences cover a broad range of topics in more than 100 languages. The TEDx program allows local organizations to bring people together to share a TED-like experience.