TEDxMarshallU

Marshall University will host its 5^th annual TEDxMarshallU event organized by students, faculty, and staff from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, in the Don Morris Room of the Memorial Student Center. The theme for this year’s event is “Complexities of Identity,” which will explore the reality that every person has many intersecting identities. The goal for this event is to offer the audience an opportunity to hear, learn from, and hopefully identify with others who may be different from them. One goal is to help break down barriers faced by disproportionately disadvantaged people from underserved populations and promote goodwill and connections by inspiring introspection, outreach, and community engagement

This year’s speakers include the following:

• Ashalia Aggrawal is a first-year medical student at Marshall University’s Joan C Edwards School of Medicine and founder of The Giving Palm.

• Audy M. Perry Jr. serves as executive director of the Heritage Farm Foundation which operates West Virginia’s first Smithsonian Affiliate, the Heritage Farm Museum & Village in Huntington.

• Dr. Hilary Brewster (she/hers) is an associate professor of English and the director of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Marshall University.

• Kathleen McAuliffe is the author of the book This Is Your Brain on Parasites: How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior and Shape Society (Houghton Mifflin), a bestseller in parasitology and microbiology.

• Carmen Mitzi Sinnott is a speaker-performer-community leader who ignites change in communities through her own art and the art created by those who work with her through the initiatives of her company All Here Together Productions.

• Rashad Sanders is a Marshall alum and currently serves as the executive director of the Fairfield Community Development Corporation.

• Dr. Razan Khan is a Toronto-based pharmacist, consultant, educator, author and Marshall alum with a passion for education, writing, and telling stories.

• Sassa Wilkes is a trans artist working to challenge and expand the cultural understanding of gender in Appalachia. Wilkes currently serves as the first visual artist-in-residence at West Edge Factory in Huntington, West Virginia.

Tickets will be $15 for general admission and $5 for current Marshall University or K-12 students. Children under 8 years old will not be permitted at the event. Visit www.tedxmarshallu.com to learn more about the event and purchase tickets.