Aaron Weinstein is a visiting assistant professor of politics at Fairfield University. He received his Ph.D. from Brown University in 2016, and has also taught a Salve Regina and Tufts universities. His research focuses upon the American civil religion (the symbols, beliefs, and rituals that attach Americans to the nation), and his scholarship has appeared in American Political Thought and the Journal of Religion and Society. He has also contributed to The Providence Journal and Starting Points Memo, a journal from the Kinder Institute. He lives in Providence, R.I. with his wife, Jessica.

A journalist by profession, Akshobh Giridharadas was based out of Singapore as a reporter and producer with Channel News Asia, Singapore covering international business news. He writes on diverse topics such as geopolitics, business, tech and sports. His previous endeavours include working at ESPN STAR and FOX networks. He is a TEDx and Toastmasters public speaker and is currently at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts specialising in international affairs.

https://www.orfonline.org/contributors/akshobh-giridharadas/

Annie is a senior at Tufts majoring in Environmental Studies and Sociology. When she’s not studying, she can be found playing frisbee with the women’s ultimate team or giving tours on campus. She is also a volunteer for Groundwork Somerville where she takes care of local elementary school gardens. Annie’s home is in Tacoma, Washington where she loves to kayak in the Puget Sound and go hiking with her dog. She is incredibly excited to give her TEDxTufts Talk on farming and sustainable agriculture.

As a Tufts alumni and current lecturer in the Anthropology department at Tufts, Lara is looking forward to talking about evolutionary medicine at the upcoming TEDxTufts conference!

Lara has a PhD in Biological Anthropology from Boston University, where she studied orangutan reproductive hormones and behaviors. She was previously a lecturer in the Human Evolutionary Biology department at Harvard, where she developed and taught classes on topics including evolutionary medicine, human and primate reproduction, and science communication. Lara lives in Reading, MA with her husband and two children.

Matthew Stewart is a senior at Tufts studying political science. He is excited to share his ideas about serious jokes, or the intersection of politics and comedy, at this year’s TEDxTufts event.

Matt studies on the effects or consumption of satirical news, in addition to performing in comedy at Tufts. A member of The Institute sketch comedy group, he also performs stand up and is a part of 180 Consulting.

Robert Clayman is a 1975 graduate of Tufts. Over the past eight years he has been a tutor with Reading Partners, a national non-profit organization committed to ensuring that all children in kindergarten through fourth grade are proficient readers. As both a tutor and a member of the Board of Reading Partners D.C., he has become increasingly aware of the poor state of literacy among elementary school students and the vital importance of reading to a child’s well-being. Robert is looking forward to speaking about on Illiteracy at this year’s TEDxTufts event.

At Tufts, Robert led the Lecture Series bringing speakers of note to campus like Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer, I.F. Stone and Robin Morgan. Though not nearly as prominent as these individuals, he feels that almost 45 years later the shoe is on the other foot: not choosing the speaker, but being one.

After graduating from Tufts, Robert attended Emory University School of Law, and began a forty year career representing labor unions and workers ranging from migrant farmworkers to flight attendants. Robert retired from the practice of law at the beginning of 2018.

Taylor currently teaches a course at Tufts University on the original hip-hop dance: b-boying / b-girling / breakin'. He is excited to bring together ideas of movement and philosophy on the TEDxTufts stage!

In 2015, Taylor completed his Bachelor's at Brown University with a dual-concentration in economics and philosophy. Known in the hip-hop community by the name "RTHYM", Taylor has been dancing for over a decade and represents his crew, Swift Charakterz, and travels across North America to test his skills in different local dance scenes. He experiences hip-hop as a way to comprehend the self, communicate honestly with others, and develop a sense of family / community. He aims to share his inspiration by teaching, battling, DJing, and organizing community events.

As dual Ph.D. student in Computer Science and Cognitive Science at Tufts University, Vasanth is excited to bring his ideas on everyday creativity and the future of Artificial Intelligence to this year’s TEDxTufts stage!

Vasanth’s research is in Artificial Intelligence and explores the computational principles behind creative problem-solving and common sense reasoning at the Human-Robot Interaction Lab. He previously received an M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. Prior to coming to Tufts, he was a lawyer and practiced Intellectual Property law for nearly a decade at Ropes & Gray in Boston.