CHICAGO, IL (March 8, 2017) – North Park University will host a TEDx event on Wednesday, May 3, from noon to 7 p.m. The focus is on the topic of “Shifting Paradigms.”
The theme encompasses a range of ideas and perspectives across disciplines and industries—from humanities to science to business to local and global issues. Speakers come from a wide range of backgrounds and offer unique perspectives in their fields.
TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection.
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Started as a four-day conference in California 30 years ago, TED has grown to support its mission with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes or less.
Speakers at the NPU event include:
- Nestor “the Boss” Gomez, who was born in Guatemala and moved to Chicago in the mid-1980s. As a way to get over a stutter that plagued his childhood, he told his first story at a Chicago Moth Slam. He surprised everyone when he won the slam that night and has continued to tell stories. He currently holds the record for the most Chicago Moth slam wins and has won several slams in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. He is currently working on a new solo show, a collection of poetry, and his first novel.
- Azat Toroev, an NPU exchange student from the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan). As a disabled person, Azat is an advocate of persons with disabilities, especially those in his homeland of Kyrgyzstan. He is the founder of Disabilities Do Not Limit Possibilities, Future Leaders in the Making, a program for the empowerment of female high school students, and Social School for Orphans in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan, and co-founder of a volunteers collective V Club in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
- Eric Michael Bratsolias Brown, an associate professor of biology at North Park University. His research focuses on the development of biologically and chemically-modified nanoparticles for use in three different applications of nanomedicine: cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, sequence-specific gene targeting, and medical surface sterilization technology. He mentors undergraduate and high school students in long-term, student-centered research projects that lead to publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
The event will be held in Anderson Chapel. For more information, visit TEDx North Park University.
