Michael Strong, Arts & Living Editor
Students and faculty of Kennesaw State University put on a TEDx event entitled “Connect Saturday” in the Social Science Building. As indicated by the moniker TEDx, Connect was a locally and independently organized presentation that had no assistance from the traditional TED Talks organization. It was entirely a TED experience, though. The talks were professionally spoken, the atmosphere was fittingly dark and powerful and the ideas were incredibly thought-provoking.
TEDxKennesawStateUniversity had two Saturday sessions in the morning and afternoon. The afternoon session featured seven presenters and two extra TED Talk videos. Everything was there to make this feel like a TED Talk event. From the large red circle mat in the center of the floor and the big TEDx letters adorning the stage, to the low-light ambience, the feel of a TED Talk event was thoroughly present.
Associate Professor of Geography and Geographic Information Science Nancy Hoalst-Pullen was the first speaker of the afternoon session. Nancy’s talk, “Take a Drink, Discover the World,” shed light on how geographical location permeates everything we consume, like alcohol. Geographical origin is an often underappreciated factor in alcoholic drinks, despite how crucial it is to both the taste and the naming of the drinks. The presentation talked about how we give our drinks something called neolocalism through the words we use to describe them. Through this, we give drinks a sense of place in their names and by simply slapping a city’s name on a bottle. We can also experience a drink’s geography in its taste, something referred to as terroir. The idea of food terroir says that there is a sense of place in everything you taste. For example, people use the French term Pipi de Chat to describe the taste of that country’s wine. Translation of the term reveals that the taste comes from the smell of cat pee in the area the wine comes from.
Former teacher and Student Success Coach Kecia Jones took the floor to talk about the devaluation of young students in the classroom. Kecia shared one particular anecdote regarding this subject that stood out to me. Kecia describes herself as a “petite” woman, a feature that made her look more like a student than a teacher during her time teaching high school. Kecia once found a student’s backpack left behind during her planning break and she left to find the student and return the bag. Walking down the hall, carrying the bag on her back, she was stopped from behind by a fellow teacher who began to scold the apparent student about roaming the halls. When the teacher saw found out who Kecia was, she was described as turning “50 shades of red” out of embarrassment. This incident revealed just how undervalued students are in this environment.
The next talk was given by KSU Freshman English Education major Emily Wynn. Emily’s talk, “The Box Unpacked” was unique in its use of cardboard box props that were symbolically used to drive her points home. A flat box, a partially folded open box and a fully folded enclosed box were used to demonstrate three types of structure in our lives. The folded box represented strong resolve and structure, with unlimited potential hiding within.
The afternoon’s final talk was given by housing director of both campuses Chris Bruno. Chris was an engaging speaker and got the audience involved in heartfelt ways. Chris opened his talk, “The Tech Disconnect,” by giving the audience time to think of the person they hold most dear and send them a text message invite to spend time later. Chris’ presentation was an emotional one focusing on the ways that our generation’s tech obsession is becoming a barrier to meaningful communication. Important communication stages “Be present, listen, respond, and share” are often lost when we spend our time staring at phone screens even when we are around others. He used his interest in improv comedy to demonstrate how crucial these stages of communication are and how they absolutely cannot be achieved while on a phone.
Other highlights of the “Connect” event were a breakdance performance by KSU Junior Vincent Brown and an original music performance by KSU Communication major Taylor Marie. These performances, along with two TED Talk video interludes made for a well-rounded presentation that set the bar high for what is set to be an annual TEDxKennesawStateUniveristy event.
Is there a video link to any of these presentations?