Theme: Patterns & Symmetry

Patterns can be found in almost everything. As a species we are greatly drawn to patterns and often look for them even when they don’t exist. There are patterns in a wide variety of fields from behaviour to wave interference to language or themes in literature. It is well known that people with more symmetrical features are found to be more attractive. Symmetry is beautiful, be it in a butterfly, someone’s face or a perfect circle. We hope that a theme of Patterns and Symmetry will lead to the speakers at TEDxDurhamUniversity examining their fields from a new perspective in order to throw up fresh insights and generate ideas worth sharing.

Joachim Room
The College of St. Hild & St. Bede
Durham University
Durham, Durham, County, DH1 1SZ
United Kingdom

Durham University Gospel Society

Durham University Gospel Society was born in 2011. From humble beginnings with a regular line-up of just five singers and a drum, the choir now boasts more than forty members from all areas of the University. Their performances have spanned the length of Durham, from the College of St Hild and St Bede, to the cathedral, to a wedding in Bearpark. The Gospel Society are always looking for new opportunities to share their music and spread their ethos of community, love and joy, and have sung in local churches and college acoustic nights.

Alexandre Borovik

Professor Alexandre Borovik became a mathematician because, as a child, he was puzzled by this question: Why does the mirror changes left and right but does not change up and down? He continues to solve similar — maybe a bit more technical — conundrums.

Luna Centifanti

Dr. Luna Centifanti is a Senior Lecturer in psychology at Durham University. She is a recognized expert on child psychopathic traits, and her work on the effects of callous-unemotional traits on behaviour during development earned her the Neville Butler Memorial Prize for longitudinal research. Dr Centifanti has contributed to books and academic journals on child psychopathology and mental health, and is currently editing a handbook on the subject of developmental psychopathology.

Natalia Inacio

Natalia Inacio earned her spot at Durham through working hard to gain a sponsorship in her birthplace, Macao. However, while in England, circumstances beyond her control removed her financial aid. She was forced to leave the university, and through a twisting series of events, is now a waitress and photographer in London.