themorewelearn,thelessweknow.

The TEDx McMaster U team grappled for an obscenely long time to establish the theme for our inaugural event. And rightly so - the theme would ultimately set the tone for the event, make a statement vague enough to encompass a broad range of talks, but profound enough to leave a lasting impression. We wanted a theme that would pay homage to academia whilst acknowledging the plights of education production; one that paid tribute to the virtues of academia whilst maintaining a somewhat critical lens. Through our discussions, we found ourselves in passionate debate about what it meant to be at McMaster University, to share the walls that have the ability to both captivate and confine, simultaneously. And as one of our Speaker Coordinators Kassandra Maxwell pointed out, we wanted to create a forum that would draw attention to the idea that “The more we learn, the less we know.”

This old adage came to mean a lot throughout the planning process. It cast a sense of modesty over the academy and over the learners that flow through it. It drew attention to eye-widening gaps in our knowledge, as well as the relativistic nature of “truth”. It also revealed the paradoxical nature of knowledge generation, where new insights are constantly revealed through research, but overload of information sometimes inhibits our ability to make rational decisions on a daily basis. Whether or not the The more we learn, the less we know strikes a cord, we hope that TEDx McMaster U fuels the discussion. We have assembled an engaging and diverse roster of speakers that will hopefully challenge the way you think about academia and how it fits into your world – or at the very least, present a few ideas worth spreading.

Medina AbdelkaderCurator, TEDx McMaster U 2011

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CLIFFmUrPhY & Moist TheatreThe dynamics of ‘yes’: improv in education

Moist Theatre is a Hamilton-based improv group featuring Matt Andaloro, Carson Gale, Ben McCutchen, Colin Murphy and Cliff Murphy. Between its members, Moist Theatre has more than 20 years of Improv experience, with training from Toronto’s Second City Training Center, Impatient Theatre Co. and the Bad Dog The-atre. They have also read a few books. Visit moisttheatre.com. Cliff Murphy holds a Master’s Degree in Science in Education from Niagara University. He has spent the last four years study-ing Improv and its impact on students’ group dynamics and has coached Improv groups at the Elementary, Secondary and Post-Secondary level.

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OURthemeCurator Medina Abdelkader

speaker CoordinatorsKassandra Maxwell Chris Martin Andrew Chong

Communcations CoordinatorIshani Nath

logistics CoordinatorsMatthew Blackshaw Joshua Wiener

Promotions CoordinatorJacob Morgan

Delegate CoordinatorJeremy Henderson

art exhibit CoordinatorLeah Klein

Partnership & sponsorship CoordinatorAshkan Javidan

Finances CoordinatorAshley Devenny

set designGraham Todd’s Art 3J03 class

PhotographersKristi BoultonWill Van Engen

Promotional speaker videographyKristi Boulton

Promotional speaker video editing Jason Lamb

Video production (at the event) Science Media Lab (Chris McAllister & Gregory Atkinson)

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PATRICKDeaneLearning and Knowing: Getting in the Mood

Patrick Deane is the seventh President and Vice-Chancellor of McMaster University. He began his five-year term on July 1, 2010. Dr. Deane came to McMaster from Queen’s University, where he served a five-year term as Vice-Principal (Academic). Deane was born and raised in South Africa where he studied English and Law at the University of Witwatersrand. He emigrated to Canada in 1978 and studied English Literature at the University of Western Ontario, earning his PhD in 1985.

PATANGIranGaCharITwixt Tweets and Twits: Testing Time for Teachers

Patangi Rangachari has a medical degree (M.B.B.S. 1965) from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India and a PhD. (Pharmacology) from the U. of Alberta (1972). Though he has worked in diverse places, McMaster University has been his sanctuary for more than half of his professional life . Before coming to McMaster University, he had never heard of problem-based learning (PBL) and was both amused and skeptical of what he thought was a ludicrous approach to teaching. That changed when he saw tutorial groups in action and realized the enormous promise of letting students take charge.

JOSEPHkImIt’s Time to Rethink How Students and Instructors Approach a University Course

As a Teaching Professor, Joe Kim is actively involved in all aspects of the scholarship of teaching and learning. He co-ordi-nates the innovative Introductory Psychology program at McMas-ter University which combines traditional lectures with interactive online resources and small group tutorials. The program was prominently featured in Maclean’s, Globe and Mail, and CHCH News. He also directs the Pedagogy and Applied Cognition Lab, which focuses on teaching, learning and technology.

JESSICAFranklInChallenging the Oppression Olympics

Jessica Franklin is a sessional faculty member and PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at McMaster University. Her research interests include racial and gender identity formations, black feminisms, as well as Afro-descendent and women’s social movements in Latin America and the Caribbean. Jessica has completed fieldwork in Salvador da Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo and was the recipient of the Canada-Latin America and the Caribbean Research Exchange Grant in 2007.

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HAYDENkInGCanoe Believe It? Implications of an Indigenized Academy

Hayden King teaches a variety of courses in the Indigenous Stud-ies Program at McMaster University. Hayden has also served as a Conference Board of Canada Scholar-in-Residence, the Director of Research for the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business and as the Senior Policy Adviser to the Ontario Minister of Aborigi-nal Affairs. Hayden is Ojibwe and Pottawatomi (Bear Clan), from Beausoleil First Nation on Chimnissing, Ontario. He is proud of both his Anishinaabe and European heritage.

THE McMASTER CYBERNETIC ORCHESTRAMembers are David Ogborn (director), Andy Stone (vi-suals), Chris Aucoin, Melonie Fullick, Aaron Hutchinson, Alyssa Lai, Devin Lindsay, Amy Mcintosh, Elise Milani, Andrew O’Connor, Rob Petti, Jason Rule and Kearon Roy Taylor

The Cybernetic Orchestra is a new musical ensemble that combines performance, laptops and loudspeakers in innova-tive and surprising ways.

NICKroGersEveryday Mathematics - From Fourier to Autotune

Nick Rogers received his undergraduate and masters degrees in Mathematics at the University of Guelph, and is pursuing a PhD here at McMaster University in Computational Engineering Sci-ences. His research focuses on the application of mathematics to problems which range from fluid flow to human intelligence. He is particularly excited by surprising connections between seemingly unrelated disciplines in mathematics.

KYLEemPrInGhamWhy Doesn’t Everybody Care About the Environment?

Kyle is a fourth-year undergraduate student at McMaster Univer-sity, pursuing a degree in Biology with a minor in Geography, and focusing on ecological and environmental disciplines. He is also the Co-Founder and Editor of The Starfish, an ecoblog dedicated to the McMaster Community. As a presenter at the most recent Global Citizenship Conference, and at many scientific conferenc-es this year (CREST, OBD, and BUS), Kyle is ready to explore the environment in a more social context and provide holistic insight on the issues facing our natural ecosystems.

MICHAELeGanLooking Backward to Look Forward: History for a Sustainable Future

Michael Egan is associate professor of History and director of the Sustainable Future History Project at McMaster University. He is the author of Barry Commoner and the Science of Survival: The Remaking of American Environmentalism (MIT Press, 2007) and co-editor, with Jeff Crane, of Natural Protest: Essays on the History of American Environmentalism (Routledge, 2008). He is working on a global history of mercury pollution and a short his-tory of environmental sustainability.

WILLIAMmUrPhYCould Everything Be The Opposite of How It Appears?

William Murphy is currently leading KPMG’s significant expan-sion of its Climate Change and Sustainability Services practice in Canada. His responsibilities include a diversity of areas pertaining to business and sustainability. William’s major advisory clients include many of Canada’s largest financial institutions, pension boards, utilities and telecommunication companies. He received his Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University in 1982 and qualified as a Chartered Accountant, Ontario in 1984.

NATALIErasoYoga Improves Athletic Participation

Natalie Raso is a fourth-year student in McMaster’s Honours Arts & Science program, and a certified yoga teacher. Natalie has ex-perience teaching to individuals from many backgrounds and age groups such as high performance athletes, people of all abilities, senior citizens, and teenagers. In addition to her love of yoga, Natalie is passionate about social policy and community devel-opment, and hopes to continue learning about the relationship between a community’s socioeconomic status and their health outcomes.

KATHLEENmartInGInIsExercising Self-Control: Rethinking Solutions to Canada’s Physical Inactivity Crisis

Kathleen A. Martin Ginis is a professor of Health and Exercise Psychology in the Department of Kinesiology. Her research program focuses on psychosocial influences and consequences of physical activity participation. She has a particular interest in knowledge translation and advancing physical activity participa-tion among people with spinal cord injury. Her research has been featured on CBC’s Quirks & Quarks, and in “O” The Oprah Maga-zine, Men’s Health & Fitness and Shape Magazine, among others.

ERICABarnesMalawian Tea

Erica Barnes is a final year Civil Engineering student at McMaster University and an active member of the university’s chapter of En-gineers Without Borders Canada (EWB). In the summer of 2008, Erica had the opportunity to work in Malawi, Africa with a local water and sanitation non-governmental organization called Fresh-water Project as an EWB Junior Fellow. Erica worked alongside local Freshwater staff to implement a new field reporting system and develop a strategic plan for the organization.

STAIRWELL ACOUSTICS(From Bass to Soprano) Jordan Milko, Harrison Crui-kshank, Jeff Wyngaarden, Matthew Ing, Yang Lei, Drew Mack, David Campbell, Alaine Coschi, Jesse AshbourneKatelyn Cassin, Margaret Mansell, Rebekah Pullen and Maryann Ashley

Three years ago, a bunch of friends were pulled together by their love of singing to form an acapella group - today, that group is known as Stairwell Acoustics.

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Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty

Maz Jobrani: Did you hear the one about the Iranian-American?

Adam Sadowsky engineers a viral music video

Arthur Potts Dawson: A vision for sustainable restaurants

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Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty

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Our speakers might be cautioned against selling from the stage, but we could shamelessly plug these organizations all day.

An extremely heartfelt thank you to the following on- and off-campus organizations, without whom this event simply would not have taken place.

The Science Media Lab provides media production, web development, e-learning consultation, and technical support to the Faculty of Science and broader McMaster community. The Science Media Lab proudly sponsors the video production of the 2011 TEDx McMaster U event.

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SPECIAL THANKSChris McAllister & Gregory Atkinson

Jeff Cudahy & Antony PaoliniMichael Wooder

Graham Todd & the Art 3J03 class Taras Cymbalisty

Patrick DeaneIlene Busch-Vishniac

Allison SekulerMichael Vandersteen

Peter Bauce Frank Berry

David WalkerLee HillmanJeff Trzeciak

John MaclachlanDoors Pub & Pizzeria Shirin’s Fine Foods