Theme: Living Bridges

TEDx Dartmouth is a local independently organized TED event taking place in Hanover, NH. This year's theme is "Living Bridges" and we have an amazing lineup of 12 talks and performances in celebration of Dartmouth's 250th anniversary.

A living bridge is formed by communities guiding the pliable roots of a tree across a river or stream and allowing them to strengthen and grow over time until they can support the weight of a human being. They are the means of connectivity for societies, modern and premodern, natural and industrial, traditional and trendy. They represent the resilience and patience of pioneers and the cultures that grew from just a seed of an idea. These bridges are people. Communities. A lifestyle. Making the impossible possible. We invite you to attend this year’s TEDxDartmouth conference, where our speakers will connect us to forgotten communities, critically examine what it means to be human, and bridge diverse fields to effect change. Our 2019 conference will celebrate ideas, innovations, and experiences that unite us as a global community and cut across obstacles and boundaries. Take the road less traveled and see where it takes you.

Spaulding Auditorium
12 Lebanon Street
Hanover, New Hampshire, 03755
United States

Charlotte Rankin

Social Activist + Advocate for Prison Reform

Charlotte Rankin was a participant in the Telling My Story class while the documentary It's Criminal was filmed. Since her release from the Sullivan County House of Correction in 2010, she has been consistently working with Professors Pati Hernandez and Ivy Schweitzer. Currently, Charlotte is a TA for the class at Dartmouth College and sits on the Board of Directors of Telling My Story. Since Charlotte's release from the county jail, she has worked her way up the corporate ladder to become an industrial production supervisor. Charlotte is now able to provide the opportunity of gainful employment to other convicted felons. She has been able to get her company to ban the box asking about criminal background and give convicted felons the opportunity to explain their circumstances. Charlotte is working hard in her community to raise awareness about addiction, social inequality, prison reform, and, most importantly, the connections between mental health illness and addiction.

Christiana Rose

Interdisciplinary Artist + Composer

Christiana Rose is an interdisciplinary artist who blends the disciplines of sound, circus arts, film, dance, theater, and interactive technology. Growing up in Colorado as a musician and gymnast, music and movement have always been important aspects of her life but it wasn’t until she studied as a double-degree student at Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music that she realized she could integrate them. At Oberlin, she also discovered circus and circuitry. A light bulb went off and ever since her creative practice has explored the tangled web of relationships between humans, nature, and machines. Rose's work often involves collaboration and specializes in electroacoustic and interactive music composition, sound design for film and theater, partner acrobatic and aerialist performance, and experimental improvisation. She has presented work in festivals, galleries, and conferences in the US and Europe. Rose is currently pursuing her masters in Digital Musics at Dartmouth College.

Donald Pease

Professor of English + Chair of the Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies Program at Dartmouth College

Donald E. Pease, the co-Chair of Dartmouth’s 250th-Year Celebration, is the Ted & Helen Geisel Professor of English and Founding Director of the Futures of American Studies Institute at Dartmouth. The author of Visionary Compacts: American Renaissance Writings in Cultural Context, The New American Exceptionalism, and Theodor Seuss Geisel; the editor or co-editor of 14 volumes including Cultures of U.S. Imperialism, Futures of American Studies,Re-Mapping the Trans-National Turn in American Studies, and American Studies as Transnational Practice; Pease has received Guggenheim, Ford, Mellon, NEH, and Hewlett fellowships; the degree of Doctor of Philosophy honors causa at Uppsala University, and the Carl Bode-Norman Holmes Pearson Prize for life-long service to American Studies.

Ivy McGregor

Philanthropist + Social Entrepreneur + CEO of TheIVinc

Philanthropist, Social Impact Leader, Change Agent and simply a friend to Humanity - Ivy McGregor’s genuine love for humanity and heart for the marginalized and disenfranchised is like none other. She is globally recognized for her commitment to changing the world through the power of service, as her work has transformed the lives of millions in numerous countries. Ms. McGregor is the CEO and Chief Architect of TheIVinc. Innovative Vision strategic consulting as well as the Director of Social Responsibility for Parkwood Entertainment, the company founded by Beyoncé. With over 25 years of experience in social enterprise and global partnerships, her mission is to strengthen the awareness of global citizens who serve as answers to the issues of the world.

Ivy Schweitzer

Professor of English at Dartmouth College + Film Producer

Ivy Schweitzer is Professor of English and past chair of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Dartmouth College. Her fields are early American literature, American poetry, women’s literature, gender and cultural studies, and digital humanities. She is the author of several scholarly works and editor of several anthologies, including the Heath Anthology of American Literature. She is the creator of The Occom Circle, a digital edition of works by and about Samson Occom, an 18th century Mohegan Indian writer and activist, and co-producer of the full-length documentary film entitled It’s Criminal: A Tale of Prison and Privilege, based on the courses she co-teaches in and about jails. In 2018, she blogged weekly about the year 1862 in the creative life of Emily Dickinson. She is currently organizing screening and panels for It’s Criminal, working on the second phase of The Occom Circle, and transforming the White Heat blog into an e-book.

Jake Epstein

Entrepreneur + Co-Founder of Artificien

Jake Epstein is a Dartmouth '21 studying Engineering Sciences and Computer Science with experience working at a number of early growth stage ventures and at a family office in the blockchain space. He is the co-founder of Artificien, a start-up focused on providing fair and equitable data access to enterprises seeking to train artificial intelligence or machine learning. In his free time, Jake sits on the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship Student Board of Directors and is Co-President of the Dartmouth Investment and Philanthropy Program, a student managed public equity fund. He was also a national champion on Dartmouth’s fencing team in 2018.

Lisa V. Adams

Physician + Associate Dean for Global Health at Dartmouth College

Lisa V. Adams is a physician, TB/HIV researcher, the Associate Dean for Global Health and Director of the Center for Global Health Equity at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and Dartmouth College. In all her roles, she develops and oversees cross-cutting global health programs for faculty and students to promote health equity, most recently with partners in Tanzania, Rwanda, Eswatini, Kosovo, and the Arctic region. Her research focuses on improving the delivery of TB care to vulnerable populations, including people living with HIV, children, and those suffering from drug-resistant TB. She writes and speaks widely on the importance of ensuring that all people have an equal chance at health.

Odette Harris

Neurosurgeon + Expert in Traumatic Brain Injury

Odette Harris is a Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University. She is an acclaimed neurosurgeon and a recognized expert in traumatic brain injury. In 2018, she was named to the 2018 Ebony Power 100 list compiled by the editors of Ebony magazine, as a leader in her field and having positively impacted the African-American community. She has written and spoken extensively on her research and academic contributions.

Pati Hernandez

Social Activist + Creator of Telling My Story

Pati Hernández is the creator and facilitator of Telling My Story and adjunct professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at Dartmouth College. After arriving in North America from Chile in 1983, she worked with the Bread and Puppet Theater of Glover, VT for over 20 years. She has directed Dance and Theater productions since 1988 in Puerto Rico as well as productions with FOMMA in México and University Settlement in New York. She started developing Telling My Story in 1995 at the University Settlement on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. In 1999, she began using the Telling My Story approach to create a platform for self-empowerment through listening and speaking with populations in crisis, including inmates, people on parole, victims of domestic violence, and recovering addicts. In 2007, the program was developed as the academic course Telling Stories for Social Change at Dartmouth. Currently, Pati is training facilitators to offer their own versions of the program.

Pete McBride

Photographer + Filmmaker for National Geographic

Native Coloradan Pete McBride has spent two decades studying the world with a camera. A self-taught photographer, filmmaker, writer, and public speaker, he has traveled on assignment to over 75 countries for the National Geographic Society, PBS, Smithsonian, Outside, Esquire, Google, The Nature Conservancy, and many more. After completing his Grand Canyon project, National Geographic named him and Fedarko, “Adventurers of the Year.” McBride’s book The Grand Canyon: Between River and Rim (Rizzoli) is available where fine books are sold and his feature-length documentary, Into the Grand Canyon, is available on the National Geographic Channel and Hulu.

Rosi Kerr

Director of Sustainability at Dartmouth College

Rosi is a life-long athlete, adventurer, and problem-solver who applies her passions to fighting climate change. Rosi unwittingly entered the energy field when she and her graduate school classmates at Yale developed a business plan to turn waste from salmon processing plants in Alaska into biofuel which led her to a series of energy start-ups. In 2010, Rosi returned to her alma mater where she works as the Director of Sustainability, helping college students develop the tools they need to change the world, using Dartmouth as a proving ground for ideas, action and inspiration.

Staci Mannella

Paralympian + Advocate for Students With Disabilities

Staci Mannella has astounding vision although she is visually impaired. As a Dartmouth student and member of the U.S. Paralympic Alpine National Team, she has proven that her dreams are limitless regardless of her visual acuity. Staci was born with Achromatopsia, a genetic eye condition that has left her legally blind. In spite of these challenges, she has been very successful throughout her ski career, winning many medals on the national and international ski racing circuits. Some of her career highlights include a bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships, and an opportunity to represent the U.S. at two Paralympic Games (Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018). She has been instrumental in advocating at Dartmouth for accessibility and students with disabilities.

Terren Klein

CEO + Founder of College Pulse

Terren is the CEO and co-founder of College Pulse–a leading online survey and analytics company dedicated to understanding the attitudes, preferences, and behaviors of today’s college students. College Pulse offers custom data-driven marketing and research solutions, utilizing its unique Undergraduate Student Panel and online analytics platform which provides insight to brands, companies and organizations. The company’s polling platform includes 250,000 undergraduate college student respondents from more than 800 four-year colleges and universities in all 50 states. Prior to founding College Pulse, Terren worked as a research associate at Public Religion Research Institute–a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to conducting high-quality public opinion research–as well as an analyst at Bridgewater Associates. Terren graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 2017, where he majored in Government with a concentration in political theory and data science.

Tyné Freeman

Musician + Composer + Ethnomusicologist

Tyné is a vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. She has released several independent records, and has performed throughout the U.S. and internationally. Tyné was a 2013 YoungArts national winner, as well as a selected performer in the Kennedy Center's 2015 Millennium Stage Series. Her most recent album, Bridges, was a finalist in the 2018 Independent Music Awards. Tyné has been featured in Seventeen Magazine, and is a contributing author in various publications, including 2 Billion Under 20 (St. Martin’s Press, 2015). She completed her undergraduate and master's degrees at Dartmouth College.