TEDxCUNY is preparing for its ninth annual conference, bringing together students, educators and professionals from across New York City.
In an interview with The Ticker, co-organizers Rachel Ruggeri, a sophomore at Hunter college and Saanavi Goyal, a senior at Macaulay Honors College at City College, shared what attendees can expect from this year’s event.
“This year there are seven speakers including professors and professionals working within New York City, as well as the student speaker, who is a Baruch student,” Ruggeri told The Ticker.
This year’s theme, “Playback,” focuses on shared experiences across CUNY and NYC, encouraging the audience to reflect on what they’ve learned from past experiences and how those moments shape discovery and insight, as well as the future.
The tagline, “Rewind, Reflect, Reimagine” highlights the importance of pausing and looking back to celebrate resilience and redefine old narratives.
“For me, it’s about looking back,” Goyal said. “We’re in such a busy city and we’re all on very busy schedules with school and everything else we do. Our conference gives people the time to pause, rewind and just look at everything we’ve done and who we’ve become and to [use that to] move forward.”
This year’s lineup of professional speakers includes filmmakers who have worked on CUNY documentaries alongside students, someone involved in the music venue industry, a lawyer focusing on advocacy work in NYC and two educators sharing their experiences as teachers and professors.
A student speaker will also present a talk on environmental studies and public policy.
While there are fewer speakers than last year, each will still have 12 to 18 minutes to present their talks, in accordance with TEDx guidelines.
Last year’s theme, “Fast Track,” explored the impact of speed on shaping the future across various fields such as technology, law and liberal arts.
Its conference featured nine speakers along with performances and workshops.
This year, attendees can expect additional performances and longer, more interactive workshops.
“Part of our team is dedicated towards contacting companies and getting samples of products,” Ruggeri said. “That way all of our attendees can receive a free swag bag [as well].”
Ruggeri, an English and Education major at Hunter College, added that the theme of “Playback” resonates with her own experiences as an education major.
“I think a lot of teachers have a backstory of this one person who is their inspiration,” she said. “Along the way, we also have these teachers that make us reflect on things we don’t want to bring forward with us. For me, ‘Playback’ is about thinking about all of the experiences that influenced me to become an educator and [deciding] what I want to take forward and what I want to avoid and leave behind,”
This is Ruggeri’s second year on the TEDxCUNY team and her first as an organizer. Last year, she served as a curator on the speakers and programming team.
“In the education field, you’re working with the future of New York City directly,” Ruggeri said. “That comes [with] a lot of thinking about what has gone into the science of teaching and building this education system. Thinking about all these things — from first learning to read to [participating in] extracurriculars — has been really important to me.”
For those interested in getting involved, TEDxCUNY offers open applications throughout the year for students, professors and professionals within NYC.
Every year, the team reviews submitted applications alongside internal recommendations, which include nominations for professors and people they have worked with.
“Each year we [also] look for volunteers who can help us,” Goyal said. “It’s usually a two to three month commitment where you help promote [the conference through] campus pop ups [and outreach].”
The team also hosts promotional events across CUNY campuses.
Their most recent pop-up took place on March 26 at Baruch College during club hours and featured sponsors like Raising Canes and Patagonia, offering free refreshments and promotional discounts.
In addition to talks, the conference is designed to create a curated experience for the audience through performances and workshops led by local artists and businesses.
“Everyone should attend this conference at least once while they’re still in CUNY, it’s free for all CUNY students,” Goyal said. “You really learn a lot from our speakers, [and] the workshops, performances and companies you don’t usually [have access to].”
“It’s a day filled with CUNY professors, staff, administrators and students from different schools,” she added. “It’s a great opportunity to see what CUNY is about and how the community comes together for one day.”
This year’s TEDxCUNY conference will take place on April 17 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College of Criminal Justice from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Attendees are not required to stay for the entire event, but they are encouraged to stay for as long as possible to fully experience the conference and take advantage of opportunities that are available.
