Theme: Embracing Uncertainty

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Grand Ball Room, University Union
1 University Circle
Macomb, Illinois, 61455
United States

Christopher Morrow

Professor of English

Christopher Morrow is an associate professor at Western Illinois University where he teaches courses on Shakespeare, early English drama, and New Media. His research, recently, has focused on adaptations of Shakespeare, specifically comic and game adaptations. His essays have appeared in Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America and South Central Review.

Curtis Howd

Philosophy Student

Curtis Howd is a student philosopher at Western Illinois University. His main philosophical interests are aesthetics and philosophy of art and music. His independent research areas are primarily focused in art definition, demarcation, and aesthetic value. He participates in undergraduate research day, notably taking second place in podium presentations in 2015. He is the president of the Student Philosophical Association at WIU, and hopes to go on to graduate school to become a professor of philosophy.

David Banash

Professor of English

David Banash is a Professor of English at Western Illinois University, where he teaches courses in contemporary literature, film, and popular culture. He is the author of _Collage Culture: Readymades, Meaning, and the Age of Consumption and editor of Steve Tomasula: The Art and Science of New Media Fiction.

James Stegall

Choral Director of WIU + Professor of Music

Dr. James Stegall is the Director of Choral Activities at Western Illinois and the 2013 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer. He conducts the University Singers and Madrigal Singers and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in choral conducting and literature.

John Adams

Retired Professor of Educational Psychology

Dr. J. Q. Adams is an Educational Psychologist who has studied social interaction in schools for over 40 years. He has provided professional development learning for teachers, administrators, and governing boards in 100’s of schools across the nation. Adams has received numerous awards for his teaching and leadership in multicultural education.

Marjorie Allison

Professor of English

Dr. Marjorie Allison is a professor of English at Western Illinois University, where she teaches a wide range of courses including the British Novel, Ethnic and Nonwestern Literatures, Women and Literature, and most recently Climate Fiction. She obtained her PhD from the University of Minnesota, and her most recent publication was in MOSAIC and is entitled: "(Not) Lost in the Margins: Gender and Identity in Graphic Texts)."

Merrill Cole

Professor of English

Merrill is a man who was diagnosed with HIV while in college. At the height of the US AIDS crisis he decided to pursue graduate work and the intellectual life, not knowing that he would live to receive two advanced degrees and enjoy a career in academia.

Richard Hardy

Director of Honors College + Professor of Political Science

Richard J. (Rick) Hardy is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Centennial Honors College at Western Illinois University. He received his undergraduate degree with honors in political science at Western Illinois University and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. He has served on the faculties of Northern State University, Duke University and the University of Missouri-Columbia, and has taught a wide range of courses in American politics, U.S. Constitutional law, the U.S. Supreme Court, and civic leadership.