If you鈥檙e looking for a dose of inspiration this weekend, the Student Union Building might be your ideal destination.
This Sunday (March 13), will transform the McInnes Room into a hub of compelling minds and innovative ideas.
In its fifth year, the independently organized TED event is facilitated in partnership with the AV俱乐部 Student Union and is open to students, faculty, staff and community members. This year鈥檚 theme is 鈥渋deas ignited,鈥� and speakers include community and global leaders.
鈥淭he reason for choosing that theme was that we were looking for leaders in the community that have started different movements, and people that really had that spark,鈥� says Christina Joynt, chief coordinator of the event and an International Development Studies student at Dal minoring in Business Management.
After serving as program coordinator for last year鈥檚 conference, Joynt鈥檚 passion for TED鈥檚 message of spreading ideas in a non-academic and engaging way prompted her to apply for a more senior organizing role. One of her responsibilities was helping sift through over 50 nominations and narrowing it down to eight speakers for Sunday鈥檚 event.
The roster includes several speakers with prominent Dal connects. Among them are world-renowned battery researcher Jeff Dahn, Rowe School of Business professor Scott Comber, Nursing student and Katrin鈥檚 Karepackage (KK) founder Maike van Niekerk, and honorary degree recipient Shin Dong-hyuk (right) 鈥斅爐he only person known to have been born into and escaped from North Korea鈥檚 prison camps.
鈥淲e looked at our theme and we wanted to pick based on leaders who are very inspiring, who have started different movements and who have used their own experiences to ignite ideas already,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e also chose based on who we thought would bring in a diverse audience and contribute to an engaging day.鈥�
Making a difference
The event itself will be divided into three segments, each with speakers whose ideas and messages are complimentary. The first of Sunday鈥檚 segments, for example, will welcome Lee Thomas and Rhiannon Makohoniuk.
Originally from a small town in Northern Alberta called Whitecourt, Thomas graduated from UNB in 2015 with a joint honours in Political Science and English. She started a poster campaign called #MyDefinition that provides people a platform to share their story about mental health in order to decrease the stigma surrounding the topic, as well as helps set up peer support groups and travels for public speaking.
On Sunday, Thomas (left) will share her story about living with mental health issues, growing up in a small town where mental health was very stigmatized, and coming to terms with the knowledge that she needed help. She found stories to be a powerful tool throughout her own mental health journey, and she hopes her talk will inspire others to live with honesty and authenticity.
鈥淭he message I want to give people is that owning your own story isn鈥檛 about necessarily doing what I do, going around and speaking publicly about it, but just realizing that your mental health is nothing to be ashamed of,鈥� she says. 鈥淵our mental health is part of your experience. It鈥檚 how you see the world. If you realize that the way you see the world might be a little bit different than other people, that鈥檚 still okay. It鈥檚 hard to get engaged with new ideas when you鈥檙e so caught up in living a story that isn鈥檛 your own.鈥�
For Makohoniuk, a similar theme of owning her story is evident. As a 24 year-old trans woman working to complete a Bachelor of Social Work at AV俱乐部, she has been actively involved in campus and community organizing around queer, trans and feminist issues for several years. Her TED talk will focus on her gender journey, She hopes to challenge the negative and harmful stereotypes about transgender individuals and work toward a more positive and inclusive conception around beauty and gender. 聽
Getting involved and connected
With the purchase of a ticket, guests will be treated to not only the eight speakers, but also be three musical performances, video presentations from TED global events, and a provided dinner. Joynt hopes TEDx AV俱乐部U will provide a nice social event for students, faculty, staff and community members to get together and interact around these different ideas.
鈥淔or those coming or wondering if they should, it鈥檚 a really great way to be involved, to be a part of the AV俱乐部 community and to be proud of our university for the things that we鈥檙e able to accomplish and the amazing people we鈥檙e able to bring in because of AV俱乐部鈥檚 reputation,鈥� says Joynt.
For a full list of presenters, more information or to purchase tickets for Sunday鈥檚 event, please visit