The University of Glasgow will host a number of speakers in the upcoming TEDx conference on 15 March, the first ever to be hosted at the University.
Founded in 1984 in Silicon Valley, California, TED (acronym of Technology, Entertainment and Design), is a global non-profit organization that hosts annual conferences under the slogan “Ideas worth spreading”. Having hosted such speakers as Bill Gates, Sir Richard Branson and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, TED aims to “bring together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives.”
Following its success, the organization has created TEDx – a program of local, self-organized conference events which are based on the original format and can be set up anywhere in the world.
A group of students at the University of Glasgow have set up a TEDx conference and it wil be held in the Senate Room next month. The theme of the conference is “Connectivity”, which will be explored by focusing on the roles that technology and culture play in connecting or disconnecting people around the world.
Andreia Hozhan, a Psychology student at the University of Glasgow and Project Manager of the upcoming conference said: “I am proud to say that we have worked very hard together to get this far and that the project is going very well due to our amazing team spirit. We are making it happen – this is a dream turned into reality, an idea turned into a project. The team hopes that our initiative will serve as an example of how ideas can change things.”
The conference will host speakers with professional experience in a wide range of areas, including biology, computer science and sociology. Confirmed speakers include Jamie Gallagher, an interdisciplinary scientist and University of Glasgow graduate, Professor Alison Phipps, Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies at the University of Glasgow, Dr Jillian Ney, the first Doctor of social media in the UK and many others.
