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Dr. Thema Bryant is a professor of psychology at Pepperdine University, the president-elect of the American Psychological Association, and an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. A member of the Association of Black Psychologists, she incorporates culturally based interventions in her teaching, research, and practice, including sacred dance and spoken word, and will explain on the TEDxNashville stage why we need to decolonize psychology.
Dr. Alex Jahangir was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1978, six months before the Iranian revolution overthrew the Shah and installed the Islamic republic. His family emigrated to the United States when he was in high school, and Alex is now a professor, trauma surgeon, the executive medical director of Vanderbilt’s Trauma, Burn, and Emergency Surgery Patient Care Center, and also the Head of Metro Nashville’s Covid Task Force. At TEDxNashville, ALex will explain how leaders can build trust quickly in a trauma situation.
Danielle Krysa is an author, curator, artist, and podcaster, who is a regular guest speaker at companies like Pixar and Google on the subject of conquering self-doubt. She will take the TEDxNashville stage to talk about all the great techniques people have for preventing themselves from trying anything creative.
Jane Landers is a Vanderbilt Professor of History and U.S. member of UNESCO’s International Scientific Committee for the Slave Route Project. She directs the Slave Societies Digital Archive and will take the TEDxNashville stage to talk about why we must preserve the expansive history of African enslavement in the Atlantic World.
Michael McRay is an accomplished storyteller and conflict resolution expert, and in 2020, authored the award-winning “I Am Not Your Enemy: Stories to Transform a Divided World.” Michael’s extensive work made him realize the importance of self-curiosity. He will talk about the importance of what he calls “relentless self-curiosity,” and why it doesn’t make us self-absorbed.
Mosheh Oinounou is an award-winning journalist with 20 years of experience as a reporter and executive producer. During the pandemic, he founded Mo News to break down headlines and cut through the clutter. He will take the TEDxNashville stage and talk about how our news media lost our trust, and what we can do about it.
Chris Slobogin is a Vanderbilt Law professor and the director of their Criminal Justice Program. He has authored over 200 articles, books, and chapters on criminal law, as well as mental health law and evidence. He has appeared on Good Morning America, Nightline, the Today Show, National Public Radio, and many other media outlets, and has been cited in almost 5,000 law review articles and treatises and more than 200 judicial opinions, including five U.S. Supreme Court decisions. And on the TEDxNashville stage, Chris will talk about why parole hearings should be determined by algorithms.
Drew Lynch is a comedian and actor who first rose to national fame for his Golden Buzzer performance and second place finish on Season 10 of America’s Got Talent. Since then he has created the podcast “Did I Stutter,” and has now over two million subscribers to his YouTube channel. Drew will walk the TEDxNashville audience through why curiosity gets you farther than ambition.
Dustin Gibson is a published astrophotographer and co-owner and CEO of Oceanside Photo & Telescope – the largest telescope retailer in the world. He will take us on a journey in his TEDx Talk about how everyone can become backyard astronomers, and why it matters.
Singer-songwriter and rising superstar, Yola, has been nominated for half-a-dozen GRAMMY awards and made her acting debut this year as Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the musical drama, Elvis. Join us as she gives her TEDxNashville Talk about why she almost didn’t learn to play guitar.
Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza is a non-binary Transqueer Latinx and adult on the Autism spectrum who founded Activist Theology Project and authored Activist Theology. They are going to take the TEDxNashville stage with their eye-opening talk about body, psychology and culture: What I learned going through life like a floating head.
Daisha McBride is a hip hop artist also known as “The Rap Girl,” Daisha, released her third album, Let Me Get This Off My Chest in 2021. She is taking the TEDxNashville stage to present a sampling of her music and explain why she wasn’t “supposed” to succeed, based on where she grew up, what her life was like, and the opportunities that seemed to be the only ones available. Her talk will explore how the narrative of “what’s impossible” steals the dreams we all have as kids.
Australian export now based in Nashville, TN, USA – Carl Wockner was recently awarded “Musician of the Year” by the LiveWire Prestige Awards. Featured in multiple TV and Film appearances, Carl Wockner is becoming known as one of the nation’s most engaging and talented solo performers. As an expert in “looping,” Carl will take to the TEDxNashville stage to wow the audience with his unique ability, and teach them about the art of adaptability and how it can change our lives.
The story of Bob Kabeya, the recording artist known as Miloe, begins in the pews of a church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and then continues over a 7000 mile journey to Minneapolis when his father was granted asylum. He began recording his new project Gaps with the intention of bridging the funk-rock inclinations of Minneapolis with the ebullient Congolese sounds of his upbringing, and takes the TEDxNashville stage to talk about how to maintain your own voice in spite of the pressure to please others.
Cristina Spinei, a Juilliard-trained composer and performer, discovered NFTs in 2020 and has been working with various collaborators in the web3 world. Her work, Prelude, recorded by the Gateway Chamber Orchestra, was the first new orchestral piece to be released as an NFT. Cristina will talk about how NFTs are changing music from the TEDxNashville stage.
In the music industry, the artists and bands we love are just part of the big picture – one that involves agents, managers, labels, photographers, graphic designers, and everything in between – but it all starts with a great hook. At Song House, a groundbreaking music publisher and TikTok sensation with close to 1 million followers, writers who have never met are paired up to write a hook in 30 minutes, and then present the unfinished music so the public can decide which songs get finished. At TEDxNashville this year, Songhouse Co. writers will take topic suggestions from the audience, and then return after the break to perform never-before-heard music live.
Construct Nashville is a community based dance studio and venue in East Nashville, open to dancers, visual artists, flow and other performance arts, yoga classes, art exhibitions, art shows, events, and special events.
Living in Nashville, TN, Tyler is a producer, songwriter, artist developer, entrepreneur, and “accidental landlord.” Tyler Ward cracked social media’s code before there was a code to crack. With over 2 billion combined views and streams, Tyler has established himself as a pioneer in the independent music space.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, 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. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)
This independent TEDx event is operated under license from TED.
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