After a 10-year break, TEDx talks are back at Stony Brook University. TEDxSBU takes the stage at the Charles B. Wang Center Theatre on Friday, November 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the event is open to the public. Seven of its 10 presenters are students, the most the Stony Brook TEDx stage has ever had.

The theme

This year's program is called Uncharted Dissonance. The idea comes from music, where a dissonant chord creates tension that wants to resolve, and the talks apply it to the tensions people live with now: climate change, fast-moving technology, social structures and identity. The organizers frame the day around how disagreement and friction can lead to new ideas rather than only conflict.

The host is Marianna Savoca, associate vice president for career readiness and experiential education in Stony Brook's Division of Student Affairs.

The speakers

  • Michael Hijazin, an undergraduate philosophy major with a chemistry minor, on how thinking about death can change the way people live.
  • Sophia Goodkin, an alumna in psychology and women's and gender studies, on identity, belonging and how online communities can leave people out.
  • Twinkle Khanna, an information systems student, on how AI and automation shape the identities people build online and off.
  • Jennifer Bowers, a psychology lecturer and Stony Brook alumna, on what happens when a society's stated values clash with its members' experiences.
  • Justin Harper, a computer science senior, on the use of AI for emotional support and where human responsibility comes in.
  • Gehua Li, a third-year business management student, on how gender biases can linger even after people recognize them.
  • Sara Tustin, a third-year biology student who also studies art, on how art can keep people connected as memory and language fade in neurodegenerative disease.
  • Gauri Chabukswar, a computer science graduate student, on how trying to predict the future can crowd out the present.
  • Isabel Keleti, a doctoral student in piano performance, on music's role in holding communities and cultural memory together.
  • Timothy Massi, head coach of Stony Brook Crew and a licensed land surveyor, on teamwork and why doing your own part well may not be enough for a crew to win.

If you go

  • When: Friday, November 13, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • Where: Charles B. Wang Center Theatre, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook
  • Tickets: $25 general admission, $15 for students, bought online in advance; lunch is included
  • Can't make it: the talks stream live at stonybrook.edu/live
  • Speaker details: on the TEDxSBU presenters page

Sources