Theme: Coalescence

This February 25th, we invite the Wellesley College community to partake in a celebration of the transformative power of curiosity, learning, and teaching through the platform of TEDxWellesleyCollege: Coalescence. We are proud to present speakers who boldly examine what it means to come together with ourselves, our communities, and our world.

Wellesley College
106 Central Street
Wellesley, Massachusetts, 02481
United States

Anne Jiang

Student

Anne Jiang (she/her) is a current senior from Southern California majoring in Economics and Music. Having struggled deeply with her mental health throughout high school and college, she is an outspoken activist for mental health awareness and is passionate about helping those around her succeed in their mental health recovery. Anne is particularly interested in Asian-American narratives of eating disorder recovery and is committed to sharing her story to increase visibility on this intersection. Her academic focus is on post-colonial economic development, and she hopes to work in some capacity in the development or legal fields. Next year, Anne will move abroad to pursue her studies and career in France. Anne lives in the French House at Wellesley College with her beloved cat, Pamplemousse.

E. B. Bartels

Senior Editorial Writer

E.B. Bartels is a nonfiction writer, a former Newtonville Books bookseller, and a GrubStreet instructor, with an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from Wellesley College. Her writing has appeared in Slate, Salon, Literary Hub, WBUR, Catapult, Electric Literature, The Believer, and The Rumpus, among others. She is the author of Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter, a narrative nonfiction book about the world of loving and losing animals, exploring the singular nature of our bonds with our companion animals, and how best to grieve for them once they’ve passed away, which was published in August 2022 by Mariner Books/HarperCollins. E.B. lives in Arlington, Massachusetts with her husband, Richie, and their dog (Seymour), tortoise (Terrence), pigeons (Bert and Dan), and dozen African cichlids (all named Milton).

Eleanor Dunne

Student

Eleanor Dunne is a student at Wellesley College.

Isabel Flessas

Student

Isabel Flessas is a member of the Wellesley College class of 2024 and is majoring in Biological Sciences. Isabel advocates for the rights of donor-conceived people through her writing and was featured in a Wall Street Journal article about identity disclosure among recipient parents. A Boston native, Isabel has grown up surrounded by the biomedical industry’s influence. Isabel enjoys spending time with her friends and half siblings. In her free time she enjoys sewing, cooking, and exploring the outdoors.

Jasmine Lunia

Student

Jasmine Lunia is a Wellesley College student interested in studying neuroscience. Jasmine is passionate about ensuring mental and physical healthcare is accessible to all. She has participated in various programs surrounding public health research, and during high school, she had the opportunity to research access to menstrual hygiene products in South Asia. Jasmine plans to pursue a career that involves the intersection of neuroscience and public health. Outside of activism, research, and school, she enjoys reading, volunteering, vegan baking, and exploring Wellesley’s beautiful campus.

Kellie Carter Jackson

Professor of Africana Studies

Kellie Carter Jackson is the Michael and Denise Kellen 68’ Associate Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. She is the author of the award-winning book Force & Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence which won the SHEAR James H. Broussard Best First Book Prize, was a finalist for the Frederick Douglass Book Prize and the Museum of African American History Stone Book Prize and listed among 13 books to read on African American History by the Washington Post. Her essays have featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, NPR, and other outlets. She has also been interviewed for her expertise on multiple platforms. Carter Jackson is also a Historian-in-Residence for the Museum of African American History in Boston. Lastly, she loves a good podcast! She co-hosts the podcast, “This Day in Esoteric Political History” and hosts “Oprahdemics: The Study of the Queen of Talk” by Radiotopia.

Liseli Fitzpatrick

Professor of Africana Studies

Liseli A. Fitzpatrick, Ph.D. is a Trinidadian poet and professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College, MA. In 2018, Fitzpatrick made history as the inaugural Ph.D. in African American and African Studies (AAAS) at The Ohio State University (OSU). Fitzpatrick’s life’s work is rooted in emancipatory and empowering principles and practices. By sacrificially placing herself within the walls of western institutions of learning, Fitzpatrick consciously sets out to undo the perils of miseducation and injustice by diversifying, humanizing, and harmonizing the tone, content, and complexion of the curriculum. She is a member of several committees, organizations, and sisterhoods including the Wintergreen Women Writers' Collective, Ile Ase, and Ohemma Ku. Fitzpatrick is a 2022-2023 HistoryMakers Faculty Fellow and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Resilient Sisterhood Project (RSP), Boston, MA.

Lucy Goldberg

Student

Lucy Goldberg is a Wellesley College sophomore from Washington DC. She attended Walt Whitman high school in Bethesda, MD, graduating in 2021. Lucy has been involved in politics since middle school, and was a fellow of Jamie Raskin’s Democracy Summer program in 2019. She is a member of DC’s Adas Israel synagogue, and worked as an assistant teacher there from 2016 until the pandemic in 2020. Since being diagnosed with autism in 2021, she has advocated for making education spaces more accessible. Outside of class and work, she enjoys creative writing and spending time with her bird, Jinkx.

Sarah Wells-Moran

Glaciologist

Sarah Wells-Moran is a recent graduate of Wellesley College and a glaciologist. At Wellesley, she was a physics and geosciences double major, graduating in December 2022, and an undergraduate research assistant in the MIT Glaciology Group. Through her work with the MIT Glaciology Group, she fell in love with glaciers and ice physics, and is planning to pursue a PhD in glaciology in Fall 2023. This summer, she spent two months on the Juneau Icefield learning how to safely live and research in glaciated terrain. Through her research, she has developed a better understanding of the ways in which large calving events affect future sea level rise. In her free time, she likes to cross stitch, boulder, and snuggle with her cat, Pepper.