Posted 8:33 a.m. Friday, Jan. 9, 2015
Faculty, staff and student presenters come together to share talks surrounding the theme "What gives us pause."
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Donleigh Gaunky, a UW-L political science major, served in the U.S. Army from 2001-08 with two deployments in Iraq. He is one of five speakers at UW-L’s second annual TEDxUWLaCrosse event. Photo courtesy of Marc Manke.[/caption]
It’s estimated that 22 veterans a day commit suicide, according to a report from the Department of Veterans Affairs released in 2013. UW-L veteran student Donleigh Gaunky plans to add context to that statistic when he takes the stage as one of five presentations in UW-L’s second annual TEDxUWLaCrosse event from 4-6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 29, at Annett Recital Hall in the Center for the Arts.
“I’ll actually talk about my own suicide attempt to give people an understanding of how complex this issue is,” says Gaunky, who served in Iraq. “We don’t talk about the people who survived — just the people who’ve passed.”
The title of Gaunky’s talk is “Beyond the 22.” The number, he notes, doesn’t account for people who attempted suicide. He thought TEDx, with talks published online, was the perfect public forum to open up more conversations about the context behind the veteran suicide rate.
Many are familiar with TED Talks, an award-winning video site that is a branch of the TED non-profit organization. TEDx events are independently coordinated to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences locally.
UW-L’s first TEDxUWLaCrosse event in November 2013 was such a success that a committee aligned to coordinate another.
“This is a great way to get these complicated ideas simplified and reach out to people beyond campus,” says Jessica Thill, a UW-L staff member and primary organizer of the event. “I think it reflects well on our institution and the amount of scholarship and service happening here.”
UW-L Associate Professor of Psychology Ryan McKelley’s 2013 TEDxUWLaCrosse talk has so far received more than 27,500 hits on YouTube and was voted one of the TEDx editor’s top picks for August 2014.
“I can’t tell you how many total strangers have contacted me to share how the talk personally impacted them,” says McKelley. “It has resulted in some new speaking engagements for regional high schools and as far away as Silicon Valley parent-teacher associations.”
View McKelley's TEDxUWLaCrosse talk:
At this year’s event, Gaunky and four other people from the UW-L community will give talks surrounding the theme “What gives us pause.” The four other presentations include:
Donleigh Gaunky, a UW-L political science major, served in the U.S. Army from 2001-08 with two deployments in Iraq. He is one of five speakers at UW-L’s second annual TEDxUWLaCrosse event. Photo courtesy of Marc Manke.[/caption]
It’s estimated that 22 veterans a day commit suicide, according to a report from the Department of Veterans Affairs released in 2013. UW-L veteran student Donleigh Gaunky plans to add context to that statistic when he takes the stage as one of five presentations in UW-L’s second annual TEDxUWLaCrosse event from 4-6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 29, at Annett Recital Hall in the Center for the Arts.
“I’ll actually talk about my own suicide attempt to give people an understanding of how complex this issue is,” says Gaunky, who served in Iraq. “We don’t talk about the people who survived — just the people who’ve passed.”
The title of Gaunky’s talk is “Beyond the 22.” The number, he notes, doesn’t account for people who attempted suicide. He thought TEDx, with talks published online, was the perfect public forum to open up more conversations about the context behind the veteran suicide rate.
Many are familiar with TED Talks, an award-winning video site that is a branch of the TED non-profit organization. TEDx events are independently coordinated to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences locally.
UW-L’s first TEDxUWLaCrosse event in November 2013 was such a success that a committee aligned to coordinate another.
“This is a great way to get these complicated ideas simplified and reach out to people beyond campus,” says Jessica Thill, a UW-L staff member and primary organizer of the event. “I think it reflects well on our institution and the amount of scholarship and service happening here.”
UW-L Associate Professor of Psychology Ryan McKelley’s 2013 TEDxUWLaCrosse talk has so far received more than 27,500 hits on YouTube and was voted one of the TEDx editor’s top picks for August 2014.
“I can’t tell you how many total strangers have contacted me to share how the talk personally impacted them,” says McKelley. “It has resulted in some new speaking engagements for regional high schools and as far away as Silicon Valley parent-teacher associations.”
View McKelley's TEDxUWLaCrosse talk:
At this year’s event, Gaunky and four other people from the UW-L community will give talks surrounding the theme “What gives us pause.” The four other presentations include:
- UW-L staff members Ashleigh Williams and Lisa Weston will present "Sunburns and Dieting: Analogies to Help People Understand Oppression and the Work Needed to Fight It."
- Members of Awareness Through Performance will perform a spoken word piece, "It Could Have Been Me,” which explores the personal and societal implications of the killing of unarmed black men and women.
- UW-L student Grayson Bush will perform a spoken word piece that relates his own stress, struggle and love for his family to the beauty of the natural world.
- UW-L faculty member Tesia Marshik will talk about the myth of learning styles.