A performance at the 2024 TEDxOhioStateUniversity conference. Credit: Courtesy of TEDxOhioStateUniversity
TEDxOhioStateUniversity’s 15th annual conference will provide a forum for students to engage with a variety of topics through live TED-like talks Saturday.
The event, titled “Nexus,” will run from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Fawcett Center and feature one performance group and nine speakers covering topics ranging from genocide research to Ohio State men’s soccer player Nathan Demian’s recovery after he was shot off-campus in 2024, per prior Lantern reporting.?
Mateo Zevallos, a fourth-year in biomedical science and TEDxOhioStateUniversity curator, said the conference brings together diverse ideas students might not normally encounter.
“This is one of the rare opportunities on campus where you’re really supported in seeking new knowledge and getting these new ideas,” Zevallos said.
According to its website, TEDxOhioStateUniversity is an independent organization under the nonprofit TED, known for its 18-minutes or less TED Talks.?
Zevallos said the undergraduate African American Voices Gospel Choir will perform during an intermission.
Samiksha Prasanna, fourth-year in public health sociology and co-director of content, said TEDxOhioStateUniversity is one of the only completely student-run TEDx groups in the world.
Prasanna said the conference is valuable to curious students and they can enjoy it with peers who are similarly moved by learning.
“It’s their opportunity to see that really engaging and empowering style of speaking about innovation and ideas that are happening really close to them,” Prasanna said.
“A lot of people are very familiar with the feeling that you have after listening to a TED Talk,” Prasanna said. “There’s always some element of a TED Talk that’s a call to action or it leaves you feeling like a better human and ready to take on whatever. It’s an empowering feeling.”
According to Prasanna, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design.?
“A lot of the talks that are branded TED on YouTube are actually TEDx Talks,” Prasanna said. “So [there are] these independently organized sort of organizations within sort of the overarching TED brand. And you know, that’s what we are.”
Benjamin Hsiao, a third-year in biomedical engineering and logistics director, said the event’s Nexus theme encapsulates TEDxOhioStateUniversity’s goal of creating space to spread ideas.
“Nexus sounds like a very convoluted and confusing word, but it essentially means to connect things,” Hsiao said. “In this year’s theme, all of our speakers are able to connect to one another, even though they have such a broad range of topics. It’s about bringing people together and giving more hope to current situations in society.”
Hsiao said he appreciates the ability to continue interacting with the content after the talks conclude.
“One of my favorite things about the event is the ability to listen to something you may not know about, digest it and afterward, be able to talk to the speaker, who will be there during the intermission as well as after the event, to continue engaging and networking with them and embrace the joy of learning together,” Hsiao said.
According to its website, TEDxOhioStateUniversity began as a small student organization, with a team of three undergraduate students planning an event for about 200 attendees.?
“We started very humbly,” Zevallos said. “People took the initiative and wanted to have an event to promote ideas on campus, and it’s grown since then. Last year, we reached an in-person audience of 500, selling out our venue.”
Zevallos said anyone directly associated with Ohio State can apply to give a TEDx Talk at their annual conference, including current students, alumni and faculty.
“We are the platform for spreading ideas on campus,” Zevallos said. “It’s such a big university. It’s about how we can come together and share in these ideas that we would not normally be exposed to.”
In addition to their annual conference, Zevallos said TEDxOhioStateUniversity also hosts TEDxSalon events during the year.?
“We try to target students specifically through much more intimate and specific events that are centered around one specific topic, whereas our main event has a theme,” Zevallos said.
Zevallos said $15 student tickets, $35 general admission tickets and $5 livestream tickets are available for purchase on the TEDxOhioStateUniversity website.
