The Ohio State University is a place where innovation flourishes. With faculty, staff, students and alumni from diverse and exciting backgrounds, new ideas are ubiquitous. MAGNIFY brings these ideas to the TEDx stage by highlighting the best and brightest the Ohio State community has to offer. MAGNIFY comes from our desire to highlight groundbreaking concepts as well as scrutinize the seemingly smallest of details. In 2020, our goal is to foster an environment of hope; we want to not only look at the past with a critical lens but also visualize the possibilities of change that the future holds. With this, we will be able to further the mission of TED: ideas worth spreading.

SPEAKERS

SPeakers

RADICAL HISTORIAN

Greg Anderson loves to share his fascination with the many different worlds that humans have inhabited.

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LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGIST

Anna Babel studies the complex relationship between language and social categories. She is particularly interested in language contact, the politics of minority languages, and migration.

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DISABILITY STUDIES SCHOLAR

Noah Bukowski is a Ph.D. student in the English department specializing in disability studies. Bukowski researches how disability is culturally produced and teaches ways to make the world more accessible for all.

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PROFESSOR, RESEARCHER

Tsonwin Hai teaches Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. Her research focuses on how our cells respond to stress signals, and how these responses affect our immune system, which in turn affects disease progression.

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LITERARY SCHOLAR, EDUCATOR

A narrative theorist, Katra Byram investigates the roles different kinds of stories play in human experience, as they shape self-understanding and meaning in our lives.

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POET, ACTIVIST, VISIONARY

Imani Harris is a spoken word poet from Cleveland, Ohio who is dedicated to showing the educational and social possibilities of introducing spoken word poetry and rap music into academic spaces. Centering her research in Hip-Hop Feminist Pedagogy, Imani uses her platform to elevate marginalized voices.

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TRUTH SEEKER,

TRUTH TELLER

Less concerned about repeating historical phenomena that produced racial inequality and more concerned about allowing these phenomena to continue, historian Hasan Kwame Jeffries studies the African American past in order to make a more equitable American present.

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ASPIRING STAND-UP COMEDIAN

Cal Murata is an aspiring stand-up comedian who has had the pleasure of opening for comedy favorites like Ken Jeong, Creed Bratton and Mark Normand. Cal wants to spend his life traveling around the world and making everyone laugh.

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SUSTAINABLE FASHION ADVOCATE, DESIGNER

Upon recognizing the harsh consequences the fashion industry has on the environment, Sarah has made it her mission to spread awareness and design sustainable clothing.

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VISUAL STORYTELLER

Kyoung Lee Swearingen has years of experience as a Lighting Technical Director at Pixar Animation Studios and her filmography includes numerous awards from the Academy Awards, BAFTA, and many others. Currently, Kyoung is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Design.

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RESEARCHER, SOCIOLOGIST

Jamie Wise studies how societies seek justice after genocide and armed conflict, drawing from her field research on Rwanda, Cambodia, and Syria.

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MARTIAL ARTS TEAM

They are a Chinese martial arts team made of OSU students that combines traditional forms and styles with contemporary acrobatics. Other famous practitioners of this martial art include Jet Li, Wu Bin, and Donnie Yen.

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