Picured above is the group of students who participated in the TedX series in 2018.
Established 11 years ago, the TEDxPhillipsAcademyAndover series has offered the opportunity for Andover community members to speak publicly about topics of their choice. Over the years that it has been run, the series has welcomed former Head of School John Palfrey, former Reverend Anne Gardner, as well as over 40 student speakers, with some speeches reaching tens to hundreds of thousands views on the TEDx Talks Youtube Channel.
Despite a pause during Covid-19, the TEDx event will return on April 27. The upcoming program is a result of the collaborative effort involving the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library (OWHL), the OWHL Student Advisory Board, and dedicated faculty and staff, including Derek Curtis, Programming and Digital Content Producer and OWHL librarian, and Eric Denby, Instructor in History.
An acronym for “Technology, Entertainment, and Design,” TEDx distinguishes itself from TED talks — the “x” symbolizing its independence. According to TEDx, these events were initiated “in the spirit of TED’s overall mission to research and discover ‘ideas worth spreading.’” Camille Torres Hoven, Director of the OWHL and a co-organizer of the TEDx events, shared insights into the strict guidelines involved in TEDx talks.
“Basically, the difference between a TED talk and a TEDx talk, which is what we’re doing, is organized by the community. We pick a theme, we pick the participants, we have to follow TEDx rules, and I think that’s what’s going to trick people up. There are these lines, and TEDx has a bunch of rules, so I’ve sat in quite a bit of webinars where I’m tested to make sure I’m following the rules. But it really is up to us to do it and follow their guidelines. They are very strict, the lettering has to be a certain way, there has to be a red carpet, [and] three cameras facing certain directions, it’s very intricate and interesting. Even though a TEDx is community organized, they have to follow all these guidelines,” said Torres Hoven.
In the 2021 TEDx event at Andover, Elizabeth Zhang ’22 delivered a talk entitled “Are you good enough for America,” highlighting the parallels between modern-day immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Act. Zhang elaborated on what inspired her to give the talk.
“In the past the papers that I’ve spent a lot of time writing for humanity classes didn’t really go anywhere except for the teacher. After the teacher handed back the paper it would sort of sit in my Google Drive. Nothing happened to those ideas. In History 300, after I spent an ungodly amount of time writing and researching, I really wanted to be able to do something with this work. My task for that was transforming that into a TED talk,” said Zhang.
The theme of the upcoming TEDx talk, “The New Normal: Youth Voices in a Fractured Age,” aims to spotlight the perspectives of the younger generation, serving to connect the younger generation’s experiences to today’s dynamic society. Curtis, also a co-organizer of the TEDx events, detailed the societal nuances that underlie the chosen theme.
“We realized fairly early on that what we wanted to do was to find a theme that emphasized where young people are today, where teenagers are today, in what feels like a quickly changing world. It’s not our mother’s world. It’s not our father’s world. It’s not anybody’s world. Lingering things, but still a very new space, and if you think about any particular kind of field out there, any aspect of life, it all feels like things are kind of becoming like we’re in a very new moment… We’re a new generation, and this theme would allow a lot of different students to come together with their own ideas around that,” said Curtis.
Towards the end of this term, applications will be sent out to students interested in becoming speakers for the event. Curtis encouraged students to apply to give a speech and community members to attend, emphasizing the talks as an opportunity to illuminate pertinent topics in society.
“I want young people to have this opportunity to present their ideas, and I want people to show up and see how vital, how much is going on here, that students are doing really good work and they have ideas about a whole range of issues that we should be listening to. I genuinely believe that… You’re going to hear some teens talking about things that really matter to them, that are important, and it’s about supporting them, learning from them, engaging. It’s another kind of way in which people can start a conversation about issues,” said Curtis.
