The Scoop

TEDxLSU 2019 -- illuminate

1/7/2019

Words by: Melissa Thompson and Annemarie Galeucia
Graphics by: Andre Dugal

Shortly after TEDxLSU 2018, the organizers gathered to start the process of planning for the 2019 event. Yes, it really is a year-long planning process. For much of March and April we spent time reflecting on every detail of the 2018 event, thinking through how each element we planned (and elements that surprised even us) made for an immersive, day-long, intellectual experience for our Baton Rouge community. And somewhere along the way, we started dreaming about and planning for the 2019 event.

A few details quickly emerged and goals were established. And one main goal we were certain of -- the ideas featured on the TEDxLSU stage and experiences our attendees shared needed to shed light on topics that would spur conversation and action in our community. The more we talked about the 2019 event, the more we kept coming back to the phrase shed light...to illustrate...to embellish...to throw light on...to enlighten...to elucidate.

With that, we introduce the 2019 theme...

There are some things we know, and others that appear only through a glass darkly to us, operating just beyond the forefront of our consciousness. How do we reach through that darkness to grasp new meaning and expand our understanding? We seek to illuminate that which is still only dimly within our grasp.

Illumination is a reciprocal process; what to you is fully illuminated can be only a spark of an idea to another person. To spread that idea, we take care to illuminate our own knowledge for others, and to receive and spread the spark of knowledge that those around us offer.

With that illumination comes a deeper sense of clarity, and from there…

How, you ask, do these themes come about? It starts with a single word or phrase that represents the trajectory and growth of TEDxLSU. But it’s bigger than that - as a team, we take stock of where we are as a growing community, and of what’s happening in our collective timeline as local members of a global experience. And we find a singular element that anchors us as we begin the curate the event.

From there we begin to articulate all the different ways this word manifests, and it becomes bigger than its definition. It becomes a charge to continue to not take for granted that good ideas are worth spreading. The theme becomes a lens through which we can challenge ourselves to make it better, deeper.

What Homo Naledi Teaches Us About Being Human

11/2/2018

In 2015, Juliet Brophy and her fellow researchers named a new species in the genus Homo. This discovery disrupted all of the preconceived ideas of the human evolutionary pattern and forced scientists to re-ask the questions, “Who are we?” and “Where did we come from?” In this inquisitive talk, learn about the discovery of Homo naledi and why it has scientists’ wheels turning.

LSU Geography and Anthropology Assistant Professor Juliet Brophy peers back in time for new insights into the origins of humanity. A paleoanthropologist who specializes in the study of teeth, Juliet has been involved in excavations at several fossil localities in South Africa since 2003 and previously served as the Director of Bovid Studies at the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. She played a lead role in a 2015 effort at the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star Cave near Johannesburg, South Africa, that turned up homo naledi, a human-like species that lived alongside the first modern humans. Her work included the “tooth booth,” an international collaboration of scientists who studied teeth that are tens of thousands of years old. Currently, Juliet is working on developing an open-access database that examines similarities between the teeth of early human species to other hominins, comparisons she believes can answer some of the most pressing questions about the fascinating evolution of the human animal on our planet.

Millennials, Policy Makers and the Collaborative Promise of Local Media

10/26/2018

Millennials are the most highly educated, ethnically diverse and creatively cross-disciplinary demographic in American history. They want to reinvigorate their cities, but are struggling to connect to traditional government and mass communication platforms to make policy changes. According to Rebekah Monson, this is where local media can play a role in community development. In this talk, Rebekah details the importance of local media when it comes to framing conversations, rather than providing one-sided relays of information, between policymakers and millennials. Rebekah Monson’s career is a study in the possibilities that lie at the intersection of technology, storytelling and civic engagement.

A graduate of the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication, Rebekah worked as an editor, design director and reporter at multiple publications before landing in South Florida to pursue an advanced degree in interactive media. It was there where she started to explore the power of technology and “civic hacking” to increase community engagement and improve the way citizens interact with their local governments. She co-founded Code for Miami, a Code for America group of volunteers working to transform civic technology in Miami-Dade County, and Hacks/Hackers Miami, a grassroots organization of journalists, designers and developers dedicated to reinventing media. Rebekah is co-founder and chief operating officer for WhereBy.Us, a local media startup that connects people to their cities through storytelling and experiences. Its publications, Miami’s The New Tropic and Seattle’s The Evergrey, produce email newsletters, original stories and events that reach more than a million locals each year. For Rebekah, encouraging community interest and involvement drives civic engagement, which makes for better cities and citizens.

Teaching Computers to Solve Skeletal Jigsaw Puzzles

10/19/2018

What happens when forensic anthropologists and computer engineers collaborate? It might just look like something straight out of a fictional crime show. In this talk, learn how computer engineer Xin Li and his team are building the first ever digital skull restoration and face reconstruction pipeline to help forensic specialists and investigators name unidentified bodies more efficiently.

LSU computer engineering professor Xin (Shane) Li leverages the power of computer graphics and artificial intelligence to make the unreal possible. As the head of the Geometric and Visual Computing Group at LSU, Shane works with his team to develop and apply 3D visual data processing and analysis technologies to various forensic, medical, and health tasks. Through his work with the LSU Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services (FACES) Laboratory, Shane strives to digitally restore human skulls and reconstruct faces of unidentified bodies, to help forensic investigations.

A native of China and graduate of SUNY Stonybrook, Shane joined the LSU faculty in 2008 and today is an associate professor jointly in the Division of Electrical & Computer Engineering and the Center for Computation & Technology. He also serves as an adjunct professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Through his use of computer graphics, medical modeling, geometric modeling, and large-scale data processing and visualization, Shane takes the complex and makes it workable for any challenge thrown his way.

The JFK Assassination: One Insider’s Personal Story

10/12/2018

In an interview with political scientist Stacia Haynie, Richard Lipsey shares his personal experiences as a 24-year-old Army First Lieutenant serving as the aid to the Commanding General in charge of diplomatic protocol and security. Following the 1963 assassination of US President John. F. Kennedy, Jr., Richard was assigned to guard the president’s body. Afterward, Richard was sworn to secrecy for 15 years in compliance with the National Secrets Act, leaving him unable to talk about his experience witnessing such a historic moment. In this talk Richard shares his story, taking us back to what it was like to be 24 years old in one of the most pivotal moments in American history.

Over the past 60 years, Richard Lipsey has built a remarkable career spanning everything from firearms distribution to searsucker suits to civic and philanthropic service. Richard has earned multiple accolades, including the Anti-Defamation League’s Humanitarian Award following Hurricane Katrina. What most people don’t know is that at age 24, Army First Lieutenant Lipsey found himself at the epicenter of one of the most pointed days in United States history: November 22, 1963.

Storytelling of Coastal Land Loss

10/5/2018

It is often easy to use empty metaphors or scientific jargon to explain the impacts and future related to coastal land loss. But when scientists take the time to elevate the voices of people that are losing their homes and livelihood, science and stories blend to have deeper impacts on those looking from the outside. In this talk, Madelyn Smith shares her photography, and the stories of people photographed, to illuminate the urgency and broader impacts of Louisiana’s coastal land loss.

When LSU student and storyteller Madelyn Smith set out to document the environmental changes to Louisiana’s coastal areas, her training in coastal science enabled her to intellectually comprehend the natural processes at play. But witnessing first-hand the people and places impacted by coastal erosion inspired her to tell the story of coastal land loss in a much more personal way - by leveraging her skills in storytelling. Her work seeks to humanize the problem of coastal land loss and illuminate the traditions and culture that will be lost without a comprehensive action to save Louisiana’s endangered coast. Madelyn spent a year traveling across the bayous and wetlands of coastal Louisiana photographing and writing about the communities and cultures threatened by coastal erosion for Louisiana Gone, her book (coauthored by Trent Andrus) dedicated to telling the stories that are disappearing with the state’s coast. A natural resource ecology and management major with a minor in painting and drawing, Madelyn leverages the powerful opportunities that occur at the intersection of art, social science and science.

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