Theme: Tomorrow Shaping Today

Our school is proud to join several other Louisiana institutes that have held TEDx events in the past, including Louisiana Tech University, Louisiana State University, and Tulane University.

TEDx has finally made it's way to the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Our school is proud to join several other Louisiana institutes that have held TEDx events in the past, including Louisiana Tech University, Louisiana State University, and Tulane University.

Our theme is "Tomorrow Shaping Today." It's allusive language begs it to be explained through our speakers and performers. We know the past is important we when are making the decisions of today. We can look at the past and learn from it, and that in part is what our theme is about. However, the future is also important and arguably moreso because it is the unknown. It is our choices today that influence the future, and we have the power in the present to decide our future, to plan for our future, and to bring about progress in the future.

Bringing this platform to the university gives us a chance to showcase the thinking and discoveries of our local innovators. We can enjoy the new perspective of the students, learn even more from the knowledge-rich professors, and connect with the local brains of our community. By bringing together the speakers and the audience, we can create a dialogue that promotes awareness and action.

700 University Avenue
Monroe, Louisiana, 71209
United States

VAPA Student Group

Students of the Visual and Performing Arts Department at ULM

This super group is comprise of saxophonist Mason Howard, graphic designer Taylor Jenkins, and dancers Cory Thaxton and Dashia Vance. These five students are within the Visual and Performing Arts department at University of Louisiana at Monroe. Mr. Howard has played at many performances and tours, Ms. Jenkins has been featured in Louisiana Road Trips and multiple galleries. Ms. Murray, Ms. Vance, an Mr. Thaxton have all been involved in many dance ensembles. The group’s goal is to display the dynamic nature of combining music, art, and dance within a single performance while each system expresses the theme in their own art form

Benjamin Hickey

Curator of Collections & Exhibitions

Benjamin Hickey received his Master’s Degree in art history from the University of California, Riverside. Hickey’s recent exhibition, Shared Earth: The Ancient Mound Project, was a collaboration between the photographer Jenny Ellerbe and Poverty Point, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The project explored the history of mound building in Louisiana using artifacts from Poverty Point and photographs that situated the mounds within a broad historical continuum. Among his upcoming exhibitions are projects with the artists Dean Dablow and Beili Liu. His recent acquisitions include work by Ron Adams, John James Audubon, Shayne Dark, Jenny Ellerbe, Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Jim Isermann, Eugene Martin, and Greely Myatt. He was also a contributor to Life Streams: The Cuban and American Art of Alberto Rey, published by SUNY Press, as well as Improvisations in Time: Eugene J. Martin and the Masur Museum of Art, published by Masur Museum of Art Press.

Diana Greenlee

Station Archaeologist

Dr. Greenlee is the Station Archaeologist at the Poverty Point World Heritage Site and an Adjunct Professor of Archaeology at University of Louisiana at Monroe. She earned her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Washington in Seattle in 2002 and has been the Poverty Point Station Archaeologist since August 2006. She collaborates with other archaeologists to study the landscape using geophysical survey, soil coring, and excavation to learn more about the plants, animals, and lithic resources used by the people of Poverty Point. She recently discovered an unknown ancient mound! Diana was deeply involved in the Poverty Point World Heritage initiative–from making the initial application to the U.S. World Heritage Tentative List to taking the role as lead writer of the nomination dossier to attending the 2014 World Heritage Committee meeting as a member of the official U.S. delegation. She recently coauthored the book Poverty Point: Revealing the Forgotten City.

Kilian Garvey

Assistant Professor of Psychology

Dr. Garvey earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy and comparative religion at the Virginia Commonwealth University and a doctorate in cognitive neuropsychology at the University of Toledo. His interdisciplinary research explores the interaction of affect and cognition in the development of fundamental, existential, and normative postulates about the world. His current projects are focused primarily on the effect regional pathogen prevalence might have on political, religious, economic, and cognitive characteristics.

Paul Sylvester

Professor of Pharmacology

Dr. Sylvester received his B.S. degree in Biology from Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo, MI and his Ph.D. in Physiology from Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI. He completed his postdoctoral training in Experimental Therapeutics at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY. Prior to his arrival at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, Dr. Sylvester was a faculty member for 10 years in the College of Pharmacy at Washington State University in Pullman, WA. Dr. Sylvester is an endocrinologist and his research interests have focused on endocrine-dependent diseases, particularly breast cancer. Dr. Sylvester and his collaborators have also been awarded 4 U.S. and international patents and has several additional patents pending review.

Tiffany Jackson

TEACH Project Director & Coordinator

Tiffany Jackson is a certified educational administrator & staff developer with nearly 20 years of classroom experience that ranges from early childhood to higher education. She holds a BA in Early Childhood Education from Northeast Louisiana University and an MS in Educational Leadership from Western Governors University. Jackson describes herself as an "eduvator," or "educational innovator" that loves the challenge of problem solving. She values the capacity of technology & the arts to encourage higher order thinking & develop 21st century skills within today's youth. Currently, Jackson is the Project Director & Coordinator for the TEACH Project grant at ULM & has formed a partnership with two community agencies to create summer STEM camps, that serve over 100 K-12 grade students from underrepresented populations. Her efforts have been acknowledged by Generation Ready as she received their "Best Practices- Excellence in Education- Award."

Tom Nicholson

President and CEO of Strauss Interests

Tom Nicholson is the President and CEO of Strauss Interests, a Monroe-based group of companies engaged in investment and commercial real-estate management. He previously served as President of Central Bank, the largest bank in Northeast Louisiana; Louisiana Equity Capital Corporation, a small venture capital firm; and the Ouachita Economic Development Corporation. He is a graduate of the College of Business at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and received a Master of Science degree in Finance from Louisiana State University. He also attended the Institute for Strategic Management at The Wharton School. His community service has included the chairmanship of the Monroe Chamber of Commerce, the United Way of Northeast Louisiana, and several other area organizations. He has served in a variety of volunteer roles with ULM, including serving on the University's Strategic Planning Committee and as the President of the ULM Alumni Association for two terms.