Theme: Ideas Worth Spreading

Ten unique speakers from the university and Northern Colorado community will come together to speak on a diverse range of subjects, fitting into the TED mission, “Ideas Worth Spreading”.

Lory Student Center Theatre
Colorado State Uniersity
Lory Student Center Theatre
Fort Collins, Colorado, 80523
United States

Denver Taiko

DENVER TAIKO, founded in 1976, is a nonprofit organization comprised mostly of third, fourth and fifth generation Japanese Americans honoring our cultural heritage through the exhilarating performance art of taiko. Our group ranges from energetic and talented teens to accomplished veterans who have performed with Denver Taiko nearly from its inception.

S4ssTR4in

Two Dancers, both college students, take time to do what they enjoy doing...Dance

Ashley Wylde

student

Ashley Wylde is a queer and genderqueer writer, activist, and Colorado State University student. Her passion derives from exploring the complex ideas of gender, sex, and sexuality through creative expression. Ashley strives to make conversation about these difficult subjects as accessible and digestible as possible. She regularly engages topics of identity and subjectivity on her YouTube channel, encouraging viewers to consider, share, contribute to the conversation, and find solidarity. Ashley also serves as a volunteer speaker for the Visible Voices program through the GLBTQQA Resource Center on campus, is a member of the Campus Recreation Inclusivity Committee, and was recently selected as a recipient of the national 2016 William N. Wasson Student Leadership & Academic Award, presented by NIRSA.

Bryan Dik

Associate Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University and Co-founder of jobZologyTM

Bryan J. Dik, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University and Co-founder of jobZologyTM. He has published widely on topics related to work as a calling; meaning and purpose in career development; measurement of vocational interests; and career counseling interventions. Bryan is co-author of Make Your Job a Calling: How the Psychology of Vocation Can Change Your Life at Work, and co-editor of two other books: Psychology of Religion and Workplace Spirituality and Purpose and Meaning in the Workplace.

Elizabeth Sink

Communication Studies Instructor

Elizabeth Sink hails from the Midwest, where she graduated in 1999 with a Bachelors degree in Interdisciplinary Communication Studies from Aquinas College, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She completed her Masters Degree in Communication Studies here at Colorado State University in 2006 and has been teaching here ever since. Her current scholarship, teaching, program and curriculum development considers our current cultural/socio/political landscape and advances progressive means of communication between differing religious/non-religious people. She is interested in the ways civically-based higher education affects students’ motivation for involvement in their communities, perceptions regarding their own biased and/or polarized views, understanding self-efficacy, and critical thinking processes.

Janet Seahorn

teacher, administrator, and consultant

Janet Seahorn, Ph.D has been a teacher, administrator, and consultant for over thirty years. She currently teaches a variety of classes on neuroscience and literacy as an adjunct professor for Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO. Jan has a Ph.D in Human Development and Organizational Systems. Her background includes an in-depth understanding of human development and neuroscience research as well as effective practices in organizational systems and change. She conducts workshops on the neuroscience of learning and memory, the effects of “at-risk” environments (i.e., poverty), brain development, and researched-based instructional practices. Jan has worked with many organizations in the business and educational communities in creating and sustaining healthy, dynamic environments. Dr. Seahorn has researched and studied the effects of trauma on the brain and how excessive or extreme trauma can impact changes in the brain’s neuro network and how that change impacts behaviors in s

Jennifer Barfield

assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University

Jennifer Barfield is an assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University. Originally from North Carolina, Jennifer arrived in Colorado in 2007 armed with a Ph.D in Conservation Biology and a love of animal reproduction. Her interest in bison was sparked by a drive through Wyoming and a meeting with a bison handler from South Dakota. After learning of the plight of Yellowstone bison, she developed a breeding program with her collaborators at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the USDA to preserve the genetics of these animals using assisted reproduction. Ultimately this led to the establishment of the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd. She is the scientific lead for this project and the efforts to bring bison back to the shortgrass prairie of northern Colorado.

Jennifer Harman

Associate Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University

Dr. Harman is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University and is the Program Coordinator for the Applied Social & Health Psychology Program. She is an accomplished and awarded teacher, and has published many peer-reviewed articles and textbooks on intimate relationships, such as The Science of Relationships: Answers to your Questions about Dating, Marriage and Family. She is also a contributor to ScienceofRelationships.com, a relationship science resource for the on-line community, and is interviewed as a relationship expert for many national and international media outlets (Chicago Tribune, the Denver Post, NY Magazine, datingadvice.com, and the Irish Independent). She has more recently applied her research expertise in social psychology to better understand and find solutions for parental alienation because she has been a target of it herself.

Jessica Witt

Jessica Witt is an Associate Professor at Colorado State University, in the Department of Psychology. She studies how a person's ability to act influences perception. She is also a Gold medalist who competed on the US National Ultimate Frisbee team in 2005.

Kimberly Ming

Kimberly Ming is a film director, performance poet, and public speaker. Her passion for building intercultural understanding has led her to launching several multimedia projects related to being "Mixed" or multiethnic/racial. Some of these include the film "The LatinAsian: A Chinese and Puerto Rican Woman" (on youtube) and www.themixedcommunity.com. Did we mention she is also an Alum of Colorado State University? Connect with Kimberly via social media by searching for @KimberlyMing_ and #KimberlyMing

Lisa Wickman

Student

A Colorado native, Lisa Wickman is a senior at Colorado State University pursuing a degree in Biological Science with a minor in International Development. As part of her undergraduate experience, she took several trips to the Center for Marine Resource Management, housed within the School for Field Studies field station in the Turks and Caicos Islands, where she studied sharks with Dr. Aaron Henderson. Her experiences have transformed her view of sharks and the oceans and have instilled in her a passion to make people care about these remarkable creatures and marine ecosystems. She is engaged to be married this summer in Durango, Colorado where she will then become a high school science teacher. She believes that education is the key to changing the future and hopes to lead Colorado students on trips to the ocean that will foster the same appreciation she has for marine ecosystems

Monica Rivera

Director, Women and Gender Advocacy Center

Monica Rivera is originally from the east coast and currently works at CSU in the Women and Gender Advocacy Center. Additionally, she is an Instructor in the Women's Studies and Ethnic Studies Departments where she teaches courses on violence prevention, gender socialization, and the representation of identity in popular media. Monica earned her undergraduate degree in Sociology from Syracuse University and her graduate degree in Sociology from CSU. In her free time, Monica is a documentary photographer and enjoys spending time with family. She is married to a fellow social justice educator and is the proud adoptive mom of two stinky dogs and 2 little dudes, Mateo and Santino.

Xajés Martinez

Fraternities and Sorority Life at Colorado State University

Xajés (think of “ah yes” when you pronounce “za-hess”) often finds themselves dreaming about a better future, a good slice of pizza, and everything in between. Xajés' role on campus involves helping members of fraternities and sororities ascend to greater heights. I crafted this to be simple like the past speakers' bios, and if it's too short the next one hopefully has content that can be edited down.Xajés has a passion to create, often seen scribbling down ideas or capturing the colors of life. Xajés is a trans professional in higher education and works with fraternities and sororities at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Prior to working at Colorado State, Xajés received their BA in Communication Studies from Texas Christian University and their MA in Educational Administration and Leadership from the University of the Pacific. Xajés often finds themselves dreaming about a better future, a good slice of pizza, and everything in between.