Tickets For TEDx Northwestern 2014 Go On Sale March 10

EVANSTON, Ill. --- TEDx Northwestern U 2014 tickets go on sale online at 5 p.m. Monday, March 10, and they just could be among the hottest tickets on campus.

Twelve Northwestern University faculty, student and alumni speakers will deliver talks at the day-long event on Saturday, April 12. Exploring the theme “Crossing Paths,” speakers at the event will deliver talks in three sessions of four presenters each. They will speak on subjects from physics and human rights to obesity antidotes and matchmaking algorithms.

“As the buzz about TEDx grows, our team is incredibly excited to open ticket sales for the first ever TEDx NorthwesternU event of this length,” said Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences student Alekya Rajanala, who serves on the TEDx NorthwesternU 2014 executive board.

“We are anticipating that tickets will be in high demand -- which is not surprising on such an intellectual and forward-thinking campus as Northwestern's,” said Rajanala, who with fellow board member Josephine Lee is responsible for organizing ticket sales.

Complying with guidelines for a TEDx university event, organizers can sell only 100 tickets per session. All TEDx NorthwesternU 2014 sessions will be held in the McCormick Tribune Center Forum, 1870 Campus Drive, Evanston.

To accommodate as many people as possible, tickets are being sold for one session at a time, and buyers are encouraged to choose one session and buy one ticket for that single session only.

For those unable to secure tickets, the talks will be livestreamed in nearby Fisk Hall, 1845 Sheridan Road, in the Room 217 auditorium that can accommodate 325 people. Those seats are free of charge, but registration is required. Register on the TEDx NorthwesternU 2014 site on Monday, March 10 at 5 p.m. Guests must register for either the paid seats in the Forum to see the speakers or free seats in Fisk 217 to see the event livestreamed.

For each session there will be 35 student tickets sold at $15 each; 35 faculty/staff tickets sold at $25 each and 30 alumni/graduate students/community tickets sold at $25 each. Each session includes three speakers plus a showing of one TED talk video. At the close of each session, a student a capella group -- Brown Sugar, Thunk, Purple Haze and/or The Treblemakers -- will perform.

Faculty, student and alumni hosts will introduce each speaker. All of the TEDx NorthwesternU 2014 talks will be available on ted.com shortly after the event.

ABOUT THE SESSIONS

SESSION I, from 9 to 11:30 a.m.

• Eli Finkel, professor of psychology, “What Would a Successful Matchmaking Algorithm Look Like?”
• Parag Gupta, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science doctoral student, “12 Years, Huh?”
• Jackson Walker, Weinberg student, “Finding Your Long Lost Twin”
• Marissa Jackson, Weinberg alumnus, “Human Rights, Sankofa and The Power of Paradigms.”

SESSION II, from noon to 2:30 p.m.

• Shane Larson, research associate professor of physics and astronomy, “Pluto’s Day of Reckoning.”
• Aysha Chowdry, Weinberg alum, “Educating The Future.”
• Linda Van Horn, professor of preventive medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, “The Antidote to Obesity.”
• Michael Silberblatt, School of Communication student, “Why Little Red Riding Hood Was Wrong.”

SESSION III, from 3 to 5 p.m.

• Neha Reddy: Weinberg student, “Culture and Human Rights: Narratives of Ethiopian Identity.”
• Xavier McElrath-Bey, clinical interviewer, psychiatry, Feinberg School of Medicine, “No Child Is Born Bad.”
• Zach Johnson, School of Communication alum, “Relationship Analytics Change the Way We Manage Business”
• Stephen Dowling, Bienen School of Music alum, “Schools Should Let Paths Cross More Often.”

“The theme of crossing paths is currently being woven into Northwestern’s DNA,” said Lee, co-organizer of ticket sales and a student in the School of Education and Social Policy. “Northwestern advocates for whole-brain engineering, interdisciplinary classes and collaboration across student and faculty groups. It’s what makes our campus special, and this event is a celebration of that for students, faculty and alumni.”

For more information on the speakers and their talks, visit TEDX NorthwesternU 2014 or follow updates on Facebook and Twitter.