TEDxTufts serves as a catalyst for connecting provocative thinkers with provocative doers, by showcasing the ideas, stories, and experiences of those in the Tufts community.

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Abuzar Royesh

Abuzar Royesh is an International Relations student at Tufts University, class of 2016, originally from Kabul, Afghanistan. He is the co-founder of Bridges Academy, an education and literacy project for internally displaced persons in Afghanistan.

Angeli Gianchandani

Angeli Gianchandani recently completed an MA in International Relations from The Fletcher School at Tufts University. As a global brand strategist, Angeli has spearheaded a number of marketing initiatives from the runway to the raceway to help keep such iconic brands as DKNY, Ralph Lauren and BMW at the forefront of innovation, technology and design.

Ben Perlstein

Ben Perlstein graduated from Tufts University in 2013 with a BA in Political Science, and has served as a political and strategic communications consultant for public figures and executives in multiple industries and countries. He has also worked in various educational roles and contexts, and has participated in fellowship programs in political theory, Jewish philosophy and theology.

Elayne Stecher

Elayne Stecher graduated from Tufts in May 2014 with a degree in Arabic and International Relations, and currently works for the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy (CIERP) at the Fletcher School. Her interest in the psychology of conflict and particularly children in conflict zones has found her working and conducting research in Jordan, Nicaragua and Iraq within the past two years. She still firmly believes that one motivated person can change the world.

Ellen McDonald

Ellen McDonald began working as a librarian at the Fletcher School's Ginn Library in 1986. Her days are mostly consumed with research, book collecting and ferreting out snacks in nearby offices. Her strong convictions have only occasionally landed her in jail.

Gracie McKenzie

Gracie McKenzie is a senior at Tufts University from Eugene, Oregon majoring in American Studies and minoring in Media Studies, with a concentration in explaining what she actually studies. She's happiest watching the sun rise, eating burritos, and/or sharing stories, but is always making lists.

James Kiefner

James Kiefner is a Tufts University senior from Concord, NH, majoring in Psychology and History. He is also a cadet in the US Army ROTC, destined for Ft. Rucker, AL shortly after graduation.

Jeremy Blaney

Jeremy Blaney is an Institute for Business in the Global Context Scholar at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, where he is pursuing a masters degree in international business. Before coming to Fletcher, Jeremy served in the U.S. Air Force, completing three deployments in support of Operations ENDURING and IRAQI FREEDOM.

Marcella Hastings

Marcella Hastings is a senior at Tufts University studying computer science and mathematics. An engineer, she enjoys building communities, investigating data, teaching undergraduates, and knit-based art projects.

Michael Lustgarten

Michael Lustgarten, PhD is a post-doctoral scholar at the Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University where he uses serum metabolomics to investigate mechanisms that may underlie muscle mass and physical function in older adults.

Rabia Ergin

Rabia Ergin is a PhD student in the Cognitive Science and Psychology joint PhD program at Tufts University. She is a graduate student of Prof. Ray Jackendoff, who is a worldly known scholar, and she holds an MSci in Cogntive Science obtained from Middle East Technical University, Turkey, where she is originally from.

Sulmaan Khan

Sulmaan Khan is Assistant Professor of International History and Chinese Foreign Relations. He also directs the Water and Oceans program at the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy (CIERP). His book, Muslim, Trader, Nomad, Spy: China's Cold War and the People of the Tibetan Borderlands, was published on March 23, 2015 by UNC Chapel Hill Press. He is currently working on a history of Sino-Japanese relations and China's maritime encounters with its neighbors during the twentieth century.