The Envoy

The sixth annual student-organized TEDxCUNY conference will be held on March 10 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. 

This will be the first in-person TEDxCUNY conference since 2019. This year’s “Who We Are” conference theme will focus on reintroducing TEDxCUNY to students and celebrating the identities of its students and New York City.  

“It’s easy to lose our individuality in this world, but we have the agency to decide what defines who we are, which is constantly evolving,” said Emily Madray, one of the co-organizers of the conference. 

“The COVID-19 crisis forced a lot of us to stay secluded but we hope with this conference we’re able to reinvigorate and reunite this community.”  

The conference will last from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is free for all students and CUNY affiliates. Students can get tickets online and are required to show their CUNY identification upon entrance. General admission is $23. 

Workshops will be held in between talks, with activities ranging from topics like dance and movement, to theater making and improv acting. Students can also look forward to merch giveaways.  

Currently, there are a total of 10 speakers. Eight speakers are professionals in the various fields of STEM, social sciences and media. Two CUNY student speakers were chosen through the annual TED Student Speaker Competition held last year. 

Amy Morales Lara, who attends the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, is one of the winners. She is a master’s student in clinical social work with a bachelor’s in music industry and technology already under her wing. She currently works as a researcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and seeks to combine counseling with creative expression. 

At this year’s conference, Lara will present a talk entitled “Art as Social Work.” She believes the event may help anyone who is deeply thinking about who they are in the world and who they are becoming.

“We’re a collection of things we learned and we’re more than what we do,” said Lara. 

“[The conference] is not just sitting and listening to people talking for a few hours but also connecting with like-minded people.” 

The full schedule for all talks and workshops is to be announced. All updates are posted on their Instagram account.