University News

Illuminating Education: TEDxBISHOPSU

December 13, 2012

Bishop’s University presents inspirational talks about transformative experiences

Sherbrooke, QC – Bishop’s University proudly announces that it plans to explore the complex issues around undergraduate education during TEDxBishopsU, an event that will take place at Centennial Theatre on Saturday, February 9th, 2013. As the University firmly believes collaboration leads to inspiration and innovation, speakers from three other universities – Acadia, Mount Allison, and St. Francis Xavier – have been invited to join in the conversation.

TED, a worldwide phenomenon, is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading and the acronym by which it is commonly referred to stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. Last month, 483 TEDx events took place in 86 countries. The stimulating and often thought-provoking TEDTalks are gaining popularity at an exponentially rapid rate with online views reaching over a billion in November 2012.

At a time when many Canadian universities are looking for ways to fulfill the mission of delivering a well-rounded experience to students, Bishop’s wants to maintain its commitment to offer the foremost undergraduate experience. At Bishop’s the focus is on the whole person and on providing a balanced and complete education, one that challenges young people and prepares them for responsible, ethical, and sustainable leadership.

In order to look at the issues from a wider perspective, TEDxBishopsU is themed “Illuminating Education”. Each talk will focus on an aspect of education that fostered inspiration, innovation, or a transformative experience whether inside or outside the classroom. This multidisciplinary event will feature speakers drawn from the talented pool of students, faculty, alumni, community members, and staff from all four universities. A schedule, a complete list of speakers and a brief description of the TEDxBishopsU talks will be available soon on www.tedxbishopsu.ca.

About TEDxBishopsU, an independently organized event
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, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where TEDxBishopsU is an 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.)

About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs; the annual TEDGlobal conference is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, the recently launched TED-Ed platform for students and educators, the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide, and TEDBooks, short e-books by speakers that elaborate on a single idea originally presented on TED's stage. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities. Follow TED on Twitter or on Facebook.

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