The red circle rug and large “TEDx” logo stood out on the stage of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on Friday for the TEDxIndiana University’s 10th annual conference.
This year’s theme was “Mosaic,” exploring themes of fracturing, rejoining and many small things making up a whole.
The conference featured five speakers: Jake Dell, Madhur Anand, Colin Slabach, Caroline Jeanmaire and Leila Amineddoleh. TEDxIndiana University president San Mi Mi Thant informed the audience at the beginning of the conference that a sixth planned speaker, Jahmal Cole, was unable to make it to the event.
Each speaker applied the theme into a talk that wove their personal life, goals and accomplishments into the oration. The presentations included a wide range of topics, from art law to scientific poetry.
Dell is the owner of Katz’s Delicatessen, one of New York City’s oldest delis and restaurant featured in the “I’ll have what she’s having” scene in “When Harry Met Sally.” In his talk, Dell discussed the mosaic of features that bring together the environment of his restaurant, touching on everything from the food to the customers.
Dell said running a business that has him interacting with different people every single day has prepared him well for public speaking.
“I love talking in front of people, it’s my favorite thing,” Dell said. “Though I don’t usually do the prepared speeches, I usually am more of a Q&A kind of guy.”
But delis weren’t the only topic on the menu. The audience broke into laughter and applause throughout Jeanmarie's speech on artificial intelligence responsibility. Although she touched on heavy topics like AI blackmail and human extinction, she employed humor throughout her speech, comparing her gluten allergy to the harms of AI.
Thant spoke at the beginning of the conference and to introduce each speaker and how they fit into the theme.
At the end of the presentations, she thanked the students and faculty who had worked on the conference. Thant said that since last August, the TEDxIndiana University student members had been busy preparing for the conference, finding the speakers, accommodations and preparing the activities and stage design.
One of those students, junior Ian Lynam, a data science major and the director of engagement for TEDxIndiana University, challenged the audience members to physically embody some of the concepts discussed, such as a mosaic and a horse chestnut tree. He said the audience needed to engage their minds, as well as their bodies, during the evening.
Lynam prepared other activities that audience members could participate in during intermissions, such as adding a personal note to a hanging mosaic and building with Lego bricks.
Lynam also helped with tabling in the months leading up to the event to “build hype” for the organization and the conference.
Audience member and IU junior Delaney DuVal said she was glad to be able to go to an event where she could learn interesting topics outside of school.
The speaker she most related to during the conference was Anand. Her talk was about the intersection between art and science, and DuVal said it inspired her to pursue her musical passions alongside her speech language and hearing science studies.
“I played guitar for a few years now, and so, you know, getting further into my studies, it's harder to do that,” DuVal said. “But she inspired me, for sure, to, you know, take a deeper dive into that.”
DuVal said it’s easy to become focused on a specific field at school, so she was glad this event was available to students.
“You're learning more about yourself in a way that's kind of academic still, but it's something that you can use to, like, further your self growth,” DuVal said.
