TEDxUniversityofMississippi will host a watch party of past TEDx talks in Residence College South next week. All students are invited to attend.
Carter Maharrey, a junior real estate major from Tupelo, Miss., is the head of marketing for TEDxUniversityofMississippi. He has made an effort to publicize the watch party as much as possible.
“I have hosted tabling events outside of the union with a group of people in TEDx to spread the word about our event on Thursday,” Maharrey said. “We are letting people know that we are super excited for the event this year and that they should come watch past events that TEDx UofM has hosted before.”
The watch party tonight is intended to garner interest for the live, in-person TEDx talks, which will take place at the Ford Center in February 2025. This event will mark the 10th anniversary of TEDx talks on the university’s campus.
Morgan McCann, a senior interdisciplinary studies major from Birmingham, Ala., is the chief of staff for TedxUniversityofMississippi. The theme for this year’s event is “Purpose and Potential,” and the speakers, McCann shared, will include many members of the Oxford community.
“Our speakers are primarily Ole Miss faculty and graduate students as well as Oxford community members, although we have been fortunate to have speakers from outside Oxford and Mississippi come speak,” McCann said. “We always try to have a broad range of topics in order to have something that will appeal to everyone.”
McCann hopes that the watch party will introduce students to TEDx and convince them to give the February event a try.
“Our students should be interested in attending an event like this because our mission is to share new ideas,” McCann said. “The speakers we put on our stage are all speaking about new, innovative (and) creative things that most people don’t normally think about or consider. We have produced talks about art, engineering, language, technology, personal testimonies and so many more.”
McCann described the purpose of the TEDx talks.
“TEDx is an independent affiliate licensed through TED,” McCann said. “There’s thousands of TEDx organizations all around the world. Through our TEDx license, we are able to elevate the voices of new ideas from our community and highlight talks from speakers outside the Oxford community who we think are relevant.”
Payton Vaughn, a sophomore psychology major from Chattanooga, Tenn., is the head of hospitality for TEDxUniversityofMississippi. She spoke on the importance of TEDx as a program.
“Ole Miss students should be interested in TEDx because it offers vast opportunities to engage and learn from speakers in various fields,” Vaughn said. “It offers a great chance to learn about global issues, new innovative ideas and gain a new perspective on topics that could be tied to their current coursework.”
McCann echoed how valuable TEDx has been to her throughout her college experience.
“I’ve been involved in TEDx since my freshman year, and I know that I’ve learned so much from our speakers over the years,” McCann said.
The watch party will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at the Dish at RC South.
“Getting involved in TEDx is the perfect way to apply the ‘ideas worth spreading’ to campus life,” Vaughn said.
