Theme: Beauty of Things Unseen

Welcome to TEDxEmory 2016: The Beauty of Things Unseen. Since our first event in 2011, TEDxEmory has grown tremendously. For TEDxEmory 2016, we challenge ourselves to engage in powerful discourse and innovative thought by searching for eye opening ideas. This year each speaker is discussing a topic related to our theme, “The Beauty of Things Unseen,” so we encourage you all to do the same and observe those things in life that tend to be forgotten or dismissed!

WHSCAB Auditorium, Emory University
1440 Clifton Road
Atlanta, Georgia, 30322
United States

Brandon Smith

Brandon’s purpose and passion is to eliminate all workplace dysfunction, everywhere. Known as “The Workplace Therapist,” Brandon is a leading expert in leadership communication and workplace relationships. His work has been spotlighted in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal to FastCompany. He is the founder of The Worksmiths LLC, a boutique executive coaching and culture consulting firm that works with organizations ranging from non-profits to Fortune500 companies. In addition, Brandon regularly combats workplace dysfunction on regional NPR affiliates and biztalk1190 where Brandon assists listeners with navigating their career and work-life challenges. When he is not out fighting workplace dysfunction, Brandon teaches at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School on topics related to leadership and management communication where he has won numerous teaching awards for his work in the classroom.

Carine McCandless

Carine McCandless is the author of the New York Times Bestseller The Wild Truth, a memoir of her life. She is also an accomplished self employed entrepreneur, social activist and mother. In addition, she has worked alongside Sean Penn and Jon Krakauer in providing valuable insight in telling the story of her brother and literary Icon Chris McCandless a.k.a. Alexander Supertramp. She has also been interviewed by several literary publications including Outside Magazine, The New Yorker, Newsweek, People, Good Housekeeping, The Los Angeles Times and several international publications. Carine has also made guest appearances on TV broadcasts such as PBS, MSNBC, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CBS Sunday Morning, ABC News 20/20, and several national and international radio shows.

Daniel Horowitz Garcia

Daniel Horowitz is the regional manager for StoryCorps in Atlanta. Before joining StoryCorps, he pursued a Masters in History at Georgia State University and worked as a writing consultant and tutor. He has 20 years' experience in nonprofits in Atlanta and around the South organizing around labor, environmental, criminal justice, and anti-poverty issues. In addition, he has worked as a popular educator using history and historical research in educational projects with trade unions and anti-poverty organizations in Florida and Georgia. He has authored three popular education manuals, edited three others, as well as journal articles and numerous presentations.

Eddy Von Mueller

Eddy Von Mueller is a Senior Lecturer in the Emory Department of Film and Media Studies, where he also serves as the Faculty Coordinator of the Film and Media Management Concentration. His scholarly work examines history of the entertainment industry and the intersections of technology, economics, and aesthetics in screen media. His scholarly publications explore subjects as varied as silent adaptations of the works of William Shakespeare, the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa, the police procedural genre on film and television, and the use of science fiction as tool for communicating and teaching science. He is the co-editor of a forthcoming anthology of essays in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s iconic novel, Frankenstein. A working filmmaker, his most recent feature, The Lady From Sockholm (2007), an all-puppet film-noir, played at over 40 film festivals around the world.

Fadel Zeidan

Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D is an Assistant Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy and the Center of Integrative Medicine’s Associate Director of Neuroscience at Wake Forest School of Medicine. His program of research is focused on understanding and identifying the psychological and neural processes that mediate the relationship between self-regulatory practices and health. Specifically, Dr. Zeidan’s research has uncovered the specific brain mechanisms involved in mindfulness meditation-based pain relief. He is currently developing meditation-based interventions to best target chronic pain.

Jonathan Bertulis-Fernandes

Jonathan Bertulis-Fernandes is currently studying at Emory University as a Robert T. Jones Memorial Trust (Bobby Jones) Scholar. Originally from London, Jonathan has studied both at the University of Hong Kong and Københavns Universitet, completing an MA in Social Anthropology and International Relations at the University of St Andrews in Scotland in 2015. He wrote his senior honours dissertation on the emergence of risk based responses to transnational terrorism, which has sparked an interest in understanding the ways in which risk increasingly becomes an organising principle in government policy internationally. He is enjoying living in Atlanta as well as having the opportunity to travel through the South. He has found sweet tea a revelation and consequently looks forward eagerly to a summer spent drinking far too many Arnold Palmers.

Karen Lynn Anderson

Karen Lynn Anderson is an award winning artist and Director of Tiny Doors ATL. Since debuting in Atlanta, her miniature public art installations have inspired a community of fans who believe in free, accessible, experiential art. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Rutgers University, earning a BA in Visual Art. She was also the recipient of the school’s prestigious Ruth Crockett Award two years in a row. A graphic designer and social media strategist, she volunteers as Applied Arts Director at Girls Rock Camp ATL. Anderson is a grant-recipient for her contributions to Art on the Atlanta Beltline, the largest outdoor public art exhibition in the south. Her work has been featured in NPR, HLN, Buzzfeed, ArtsATL, Atlanta Magazine, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Georgia Voice.

Kenneth Carter

Dr. Kenneth Carter is a Professor of Psychology at Oxford College of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he is actively involved in research and teaching. Dr. Carter has been a psychotherapist and researcher for more than 20 years; his work has garnered awards from the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and the University of Michigan. Before joining the faculty at Emory University, Dr. Carter served as a Senior Assistant Research Scientist in the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he researched smoking as a risk marker for suicidal behaviors in adolescents. In addition, he is actively engaged in translating research in psychology to everyday language, and has appeared in magazines such as mental floss and Readers Digest, and well as on news programs such as Connect With Kids and NBC’s Today show.

Kim Cobb

Kim Cobb’s research uses corals and cave stalagmites to probe the mechanisms of climate change, both past and present. With a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, she joined the faculty at Georgia Tech in 2004. Kim conducts fieldwork in on remote coral atolls and in the caves of Borneo in support of her research. Kim received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2008 in recognition of her climate change research, which regularly appears in Science and Nature. Through numerous public appearances, she is devoted to the clear and frequent communication of climate change science to the public. When she’s not SCUBA diving, caving, teaching, or writing grant proposals, she enjoys spending time with her four children, ages 5-8.

Matt Pipkin

Matt Pipkin is the founder/CEO of Speak Your Silence, a nonprofit on a mission to conquer the stigma of child sexual abuse. Matt was sexually abused at age 6 and, due to fear, shame, and guilt, kept his experience secret for the next twenty years. After finally sharing his story and seeking counseling a few years back, his life was changed when he discovered the truth about himself – that he is innately infinitely valuable. Matt believes that each of us possesses this same worth and brings truth, light, and value to the world when we speak from the heart.

Stephen Fowler

Stephen’s purpose in life is to spark transformative change throughout the world through the use of creative storytelling and music. A current senior at Emory University, he is an Interdisciplinary Studies major, where he has combined interests in journalism, marketing and advertising, digital media and music to culminate in a thesis about the rise of the internet rapper via the marriage of social media and hip hop. As a storyteller, his photos, videos, voice and words have won numerous awards and been featured everywhere from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to the Coca-Cola Company. As a musician, his performing, composing and arranging has taken hold in everything from jazz bands to barbershop quartets to projects for NASA.

Zainab Ghadiyali

Zainab Ghadiyali moved to US by herself at the age of 19 with $107 in search for a well rounded education. A data nerd, she spent a year at the largest university hospital, Charite in Berlin investigating effects of PSTD and Acupuncture followed by working with Foundation of International Medical Relief of Children where she built business models for self sustaining public health initiatives in India and Peru. She has degrees in Chemistry, Industrial Engineering and Computer Science and is now a Tech Lead for Advertiser Growth at Facebook where she builds products that improve the advertiser experience. She is also the co-founder of Goodmate, an award winning application and non profit, wogrammer, which is changing the way stories are told about women in tech.