Theme: The Agora

TEDxLAU promises to take you back to the very birthplace of ideas this year as part of its agora-themed main event.

The event will feature a line-up of 14 speakers and performers who will be sharing their ideas on our stage. We also have a thrilling set of activities as you experience our social space and 'bargain' your way through our ancient market.

TEDx is an independently-organized event which provides speakers and attendees with the opportunity to engage in a TED-like event, following the successful international TED platform for ideas. TEDxLAU began in 2012 as the first university event in Lebanon and has pulled off three successful main events so far...and is out for more!

From human rights to science and technology, our multi-disciplinary line-up of speakers and performers promises to engage, discuss, intrigue, and grab you in order to spark discussions relevant to the modern times we live in.

TEDxLAU aims to immerse you in the full experience: from stage to social space, September 24 is a day to remember. Be ready to listen, debate, connect, and love ...

One ticket grants you access to our full day of events as you engage with 14 speakers and performers. Be ready to participate in the social space as well! A ton of activities await as we re-create the ancient Greek Agora. So let's go back in time!

Gulbenkian Theatre
LAU Campus, Chouran, Koraytem
Beirut, Beyrouth
Lebanon

Aaed Ghanem & Rita Jamijian

Aaed Ghanem, the founder of Beirut Yoga Center, is a yogi and a therapist. Aaed began practicing yoga at the age of 15 and spent several years afterwards exploring many different yoga traditions and visiting many countries like India, Nepal and Thailand. Rita Jamijian began practicing Yoga and meditation at the age of 16. Her mission is to inspire people through the practice of yoga, bring balance and joy into their daily life and let them connect with their own personal wisdom and expansive potential that resides within.

Joy Karam, Cynthia Karam, and Elsa Saade

Cynthia, Joy, and Elsa are sisters from the same mother. She was the one who played the piano for them from even before they were born, and as they grew up, music ran through their veins. It all started on the echoing stairs of the house where a lullaby turned into three different voices feeding into one melody almost 10 years ago. They kept investing in it each in their own way. Though they come from diverse backgrounds and fields, they make it a point to find a common melody to sing along to on Saturdays. It was where they connected and where they made a decision to keep their common memories going as they sing the songs we all know in the way we wholeheartedly and spontaneously have always done.

Narjes Jaafar and Sally Beydoun

We often judge people before we hear their stories, and this is what Sally Beydoun and Narjes Jaafar are trying to battle. Narjes, a second year medical student, and Sally, a fifth year pharmacy student, are not at TEDxLAU to present a drug that will make people less judgmental and empathize before they jump to conclusions. They are actually going to put their medical background behind and join forces to present their personal journeys with the hijab.

Bassam Lahoud

Bassam Lahoud is a professor at the Lebanese American University with a degree in Civil Engineering. He is also an artist, photographer and reporter. He loves travelling and documenting the places he visits through his art photography and articles. This is how he shares his vision with the world.

Carine El Boustani

Carine El Boustani is a young journalist who feeds off of the inspiration she gets from her daily struggles. She is also an Endometriosis fighter. Despite the pain she lives with, she thanks 'Endo' for allowing her to discover the power of inner strength and self-acceptance. She embraces the thrill of transforming a negative experience into a positive one and keeping an open mind about the unplanned events that she encounters.

Deema Dakakni

Deema Dakakni is an instructor of English at The Lebanese American University. She holds two Master’s degrees and is enamored with research in all its facets and forms. Coincidentally, this fetish of curiosity and mind food has opened doors of intellectual abundance and is the reason why she is here today, unveiling some of the mysteries of sound and healing. Life is research- and research is work in progress.

Jad Karbala

Jad Karbala is a premed student at LAU, and soon he’ll be off to medical school. While fully committed to his studies and future, he is also very passionate about socially engaging activities, which is why he is also a GC-LAU MUN trainer, teaching school kids how to take the stage and become diplomats, on stage and off.

Jason Steel

In 2000, Jason Steel was invited to attend the Royal College of Art, London, and awarded both the Princess of Wales Bursary in conjunction with the British Fashion Council and the Thames & Hudson prize for ‘excellence and innovation.’ On graduating, he taught his newly developed approaches at leading fashion schools in the UK and South East Asia. This international work lead to his arrival in Beirut in 2013 and the creation of the LAU Fashion Design degree which sees students exploring the human condition for fashion outcomes.

Maya Bassil

Maya Bassil is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition at LAU with a B.S. and M.S. in Nutrition & Dietetics from AUB and a Ph.D. in Human Nutrition from McGill University, Canada. She has always been fascinated by research in the field of Nutrient Metabolism. In simple terms, this field studies how the human body processes food components and how this can improve or harm health. While most researchers in this field focus on the major nutrients that have Calories, such as Carbs, Fats and Proteins, her research has drifted away from mainstream science to explore other “covert” nutrients, minerals in particular.

Micky Chebli

Micky Chebli is currently a Finance Director in a family office based in the Middle East. Prior to that, he spent 25 years in the banking sector in Beirut, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and New York. After the 2008 financial crisis, he made a drastic change of lifestyle and engaged in regular sports and philanthropic activities. From a beginner level, he has now run 7 marathons and biked in various European regions. More recently, as he was turning 50, he embarked on a bigger mission to challenge himself, inspire his kids first and others also by cycling from Paris to Beirut on a 4000-kilometer, 30-day ride.

Norma Moussally

Norma Moussally has a degree in clinical psychology from McGill University. She has been a student counselor and a university professor for many years yet what she enjoys the most and her true passion in life is wasting time. According to her over-achieving family, friends and maybe even sometimes her boss she is a worldwide expert on the art of leisure and aimless loitering. Her life goal is to elevate the ScArt (part science/part art) of Idleness to new peaks and share the wisdom that there is more to life than increasing its speed.

Rana Khoury

Rana Khoury was was never fond of doing one thing, and one thing only. Today, she is a Creative Director in a leading communication agency. At 18, she started working as a journalist while studying Political Sciences at AUB, where she was also the president of the Human Rights and Peace club, two causes that remain with her today. Her love for culture and engaged art led her to be a board member of the Samir Kassir Foundation, where she contributes in organizing the Beirut Spring Festival. In her latest “activist” journey, she founded, with a small group of people, Beirut Madinati, a political and electoral campaign for Beirut Municipal elections, in which she was also a running candidate.

Serene Dardari

Serene Dardari doesn’t believe in countries, selfies or sugar-free food. She handles communications and outreach for a Lebanese NGO called SAWA for development and Aid and is also working on her own start up, a media network called SHAMS. With a background in international affairs, business, and communication arts, she also plans to integrate her social work into her theater productions.

Shaun Agostine

Shaun Agostine is a 13-year-old award-winning pianist and composer. His passion for piano started at the age of three and he composed his first piece of music at the tender age of eight. All of his compositions are inspired from his desire to tell the stories of our lives.