Theme: Playing the Game

The theme for this year’s TEDxMiddlebury conference is “Playing the Game”. We all play “the game” in one way or another, and we want to highlight the ways in which each of us learns to navigate the games, and by extension, the systems that surround us. This event is about questioning the different strategies we might use and our varying definitions of what success can be. It is about the personas we take on to “win” different rounds, about being honest in the face of expectations, and about deciding whether or not to play by the rules. It is about experiencing moments of defeat and deciding to keep playing, and knowing when and why we quit.

CFA Concert Hall
Middlebury College
Middlebury, Vermont, 05753
United States

Gabbie Santos

Student Speaker

Gabbie Santos is a senior International Politics and Economics major from the Philippines. After graduating from an all-girls high school and then studying in Canada, Gabbie journeyed to Middlebury College, where growth and learning became more than just attending classes and engaging in thought-provoking conversations. Sophomore year Gabbie discovered that in the alphabet soup (LGBTQ+), the ‘T’ finally resonated with his own experiences of a mismatch between physical appearance and gender identity. Gabbie today identifies as male transgender. On his last stretch at Middlebury, he is excited to share his current, most authentic self with our community. He invites the audience to think critically about the consequences of “winning,” and to see that everyone is playing the game. Perhaps by raising our consciousness and questioning what we do to fit ourselves into this scheme, we can find agency in rewriting the rules of this game that we play.

Kaamila Mohamed

Theatre Practitioner/Performance Poet

Kaamila Mohamed is an artist, educator, and advocate. As a theater practitioner and performance poet, Kaamila believes that art can transform individuals and communities. She founded and directed BlackOUT Boston, an ensemble of young, queer Black artists who created original performance pieces in order to challenge antiblackness, homophobia, and transphobia. In 2012, Kaamila co-founded the organization Queer Muslims of Boston (QMOB) which she co-led through Spring 2016. QMOB provides a space for LGBTQ Muslims to connect and build community. She served several years on the planning committee of the annual retreat for LGBTQ Muslims hosted by the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD). Currently, she serves on the MASGD Steering Committee. Kaamila is a speaker, panelist, workshop facilitator, dialogue facilitator, and emcee.

M Jackson

Glaciologist

M JACKSON is a self-described glacier nerd, adventurer, and environmental educator pursuing a doctorate degree in geography and earth science at the University of Oregon as she researches glaciers and climate change in the Arctic. Jackson is a two-time U.S. Fulbright Scholar and received a 2015-2016 Fulbright-National Science Foundation Arctic Research grant to research how glacier change impacts communities on the south coast of the island in Höfn, Iceland. Jackson has worked for over seven years for the National Geographic Society as an Arctic Expert, leading expeditions and lecturing about the Arctic, glaciology, climate change, and environmental sciences. Jackson released her first book in 2015, While Glaciers Slept: Being Human in a Time of Climate Change, which explores the parallel between changes in the climate and family in the face of loss.

Marco Mezzavilla

Technology Evangelist

Marco Mezzavilla is a Research Fellow in Engineering at NYU Poly with a keen passion for both technology and liberal art. After a diploma in Classical Studies, he completed his B.Sc., M.S and PhD in Information Engineering at University of Padua. At NYU, Marco co-leads a number of activities related to 5G research. He is Technology Evangelist and co-founder at Snapback, a core-technology startup based in Rome. For more information on Marco's research, visit http://www.marcomezzavilla.space/. For more information on the graphic design featured in this talk, visit http://www.lenclostudio.com/.

Mattie Brice

Games Critic

Mattie Brice is a play and games artist, critic, and educator. Starting from media criticism centered around cultural and literary theories, she grappled with the video game and wider tech industry’s problems with diversity, from representation of marginalized peoples in the content of games to their positions of power and visibility in the creative process of making games. Mattie was a part of a DIY movement within video games that created games inspired by personal experience using tools that didn’t require programming. She became an activist for marginalized creators and players in games and organizes academic conferences (Queerness and Games Conference) and community events (Lost Levels). Mattie currently teaches about play design and art activism at New York City schools (NYU, Parsons) and does grad work in the Integrated Digital Media program at NYU.

Sarah Finnie Robinson

Founding Partner of WeSpire

Sarah Finnie Robinson is the Founding Partner at WeSpire, the science-based behavior-change platform that engages employees for purpose and positive impact. With a configurable behavioral-science library comprising hundreds of action-based programs, WeSpire involves individuals and entire organizations to drive measurable results on sustainable goals.

Will "Kasso" Condry

Graffiti Artist/Community Art

Artist Willie Condry Jr. — popularly known as KASSO was born and raised in Trenton, NJ. He is a pioneering force in the Trenton art scene, working with numerous nonprofit organizations: One Simple Wish, Albus Cavus, NJTL(National Junior Tennis League), Home Front, City Without Walls, Isles Youth Build and The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. KASSO is the founder of the S.A.G.E.(Styles Advancing Graffiti's Evolution) Coalition, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization composed of a diverse group of visual artists, engineers, fabricators, musicians and teachers who are dedicated to initiating, planning and establishing inner city beautification projects.