Theme: Let's Imagine

TEDxVillanovaU Event: Let’s imagine

The third TEDx event at Villanova University, TEDxVillanovaU, will be held Friday, October 23, 2015 in Driscoll Hall on Villanova University’s campus.

The event will feature live speakers from the Villanova community sharing their creative, innovative and inspirational ideas based on the “Let’s Imagine” theme, an appropriate theme for a conference devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.”

The event will consist of a suite of short, carefully prepared talks, demonstrations and performances by alumni, faculty and students , on a wide range of subjects to foster learning, inspiration and wonder and to provoke conversations that matter. TEDTalks videos and live performances by artists of the Villanova University community were also be featured between lectures.

Driscoll Hall
800 E Lancaster Avenue
Villanova University, Driscoll Hall
Villanova, Pennsylvania, 19085
United States

Benjamin Bogardus

How to measure the success of international development projects

Ben is the Graduate Fellow for International Development and Sustainability in the Sustainable Engineering master’s program. His research looks at the sustainability of rural water systems in Madagascar, where he spent three months this summer working with Catholic Relief Services and other local partners while supervising five undergraduate interns from Villanova. He served with the Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa for three years from 2010 – 2013 working with animal husbandry and agroforestry in his village and with the administration to review and provide feedback on grant project proposals.

C. Nataraj

How engineers can help doctors save lives

Dr. C. Nataraj (Nat) is the Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Moritz, Sr., Endowed Professor in Engineered Systems and the Director of Villanova Center for Analytics of Dynamic Systems at Villanova University. Nat has been Chair of Mechanical Engineering, and the founding Director of the Center for Nonlinear Dynamics & Control. He has taught 23 courses, published a book and about 200 papers in dynamic systems, and serves on the editorial board of several journals. He has received funding from ONR, DARPA, NSF and NIH. Nat has been a Lindback Award finalist and is the winner of the Villanova Outstanding Research Award.

Candace and George Robertson-James

Much given, much required: caregiving and lessons of love"

George James, Psy.D, LMFT is a licensed marriage and family therapist who specializes in helping couples improve the quality of their relationship, reconcile conflicts and overcome intense situations such as affairs, lack of communication, parenting struggles and much more. Candace Robertson-James, DrPH is the associate director of the Office of Urban Health Equity, Education and Research, research manager at the Women’s Health Education Program, and assistant professor of medicine.

Janice Kelsey

Home-Scale Biodigester: Raising a Baby Dragon to Save the World

Janice Kelsey is a mom to many, an educator, and is currently working in the field of vertical aeroponic food growing. She is Co-Founder and Board Member (VP) for the U.S. non-profit Solar CITIES, Inc. and has been an active volunteer in Girl Scouts, Boys Scouts, Venture Crew and 4-H. She is currently a member of the Chester County Women’s Commission. Janice is active in bringing together a network of eco-minded individuals. Recently earning her International Permaculture Design Certification, she specializes in small-scale biodigestion. She offers hands-on workshops in aeroponics, biogas and a variety of other topics.

Jody Spangler

Home-Scale Biodigester: Raising a Baby Dragon to Save the World

First and foremost, Jody is the mom of many boys. Also a Board Member (Treasurer) for the U.S. non-profit Solar CITIES, Inc., Jody is also a Personal Chef by trade, a gardener by necessity, a master composter, and a homesteader raising Miniature Jersey and Dexter Cows. She is a lifetime volunteer with 4-H, Chester County Dairy Promotion and Ludwig’s Corner Fire Company. Her homestead was the recipient of the very first Solar CITIES 10m3 Biodigester in the United States, which is currently being used for manure management. Her homestead, Windy Hill Farms, is open to eco-tourism and workshops.

Katina Sawyer

Trans-forming Our Thoughts on Gender

Dr. Katina Sawyer is an Assistant Professor of Psychology, within the Graduate Programs in Human Resource Development at Villanova University. She holds a dual-PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Women’s Studies from The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Sawyer has published and presented her research on diversity in the workplace, as well as negative workplace behaviors, in many peer-reviewed outlets and at conferences internationally. She spends much of her time volunteering, by advocating for LGBT rights, educating inner city youth, providing career coaching to women in crisis, and working with and advocating for the rights of victims of human trafficking.

Ronald Hill

Changing the face of poverty

Ronald Paul Hill, Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Maryland is the Richard J. and Barbara Naclerio Endowed Chairholder, Villanova School of Business. He has authored nearly 200 journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers on topics that include impoverished consumer behavior, marketing ethics, corporate social responsibility, and public policy. Outlets for this research are Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Business and Society, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Human Rights Quarterly, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Harvard Business Review, and Journal of Public Policy and Marketing. His term as Editor of the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing extended from July 2006 until June 2012. His recent awards include: 2012 Williams-Qualls-Spratlen Multicultural Mentoring Award of Excellence, 2012 Villanova University Outstanding Faculty Research Award, 2010 Pollay Prize for Excellence in the Study of Ma

Stephanie Sena

Igniting the social justice generation

Stephanie Sena teaches history at Villanova University and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Her courses concentrate on history of imperialism in the Middle East and Africa, and the history of race and class in the US. In 2011 Stephanie founded SREHUP- the Student-Run Emergency Housing Unit of Philadelphia, to engage students in the work of ending chronic homelessness in Philadelphia. Stephanie also sits on the board of directors of Playgrounds for Palestine, a non-profit that builds playgrounds in the occupied territories. She traveled to Palestine in 2015 to work on the playgrounds.

Tiffany Southerland

Your Story is Your Strength

Tiffany F. Southerland, Esq. is a lawyer by training and change agent at heart. She has presented and written on various topics including professional development, diversity in higher education and the workplace, personal growth, and balancing personal values and career goals. In 2014, Tiffany founded Four Corners Coaching, a company dedicated to helping women understand and leverage their personal and professional experiences so they can clearly define and achieve their personal definitions of success. Tiffany received her Bachelor of Science in Human Development from Cornell University; a Master of Social Work from University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice; and later a Juris Doctor from University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Timothy Horner

Being white seeing black: Ferguson, neuroscience, and imagination"

Dr. Tim Horner is a faculty member and assistant director of the Center for Peace and Justice Education at Villanova University. His professional work focuses on the psychological road to atrocity that focuses on the perpetrators of violence. He seeks to understand the way in which people and institutions seek to confine, conform, and condemn entire groups of people. He teaches courses on social justice, the Humanities, and atrocity, especially genocide.

Valerie Joyce

Imagining ways to fill the great hole of history

Valerie Joyce is an Associate Professor in Villanova’s Theatre Department with a PhD in Theatre History and Performance Studies from University of Maryland. She has published and presented her research, which cuts across race, genre, and historical period, centering on cultural constructs of gender and the theatre’s role in shaping American womanhood, in peer-reviewed journals and at conferences internationally. Her current book project examines African-American women before Emancipation through her play, I Will Speak for Myself, which mixes performance texts and primary historical artifacts to illuminate African American women’s lost experiences from the Colonial period through the Civil War.