Speakers
.jpg)
Will Kennard
(Chase and Status)
One half of the infamous electronic music duo Chase and Status, Will Kennard AKA ‘Status’ is responsible for propelling the drum and bass genre to mass popularity since 2003.
Will shall be talking about educational inequalities, social mobility and the role that creativity plays in shaping the lives of young people, with the belief that music is a central way to educating the next generation.
Montana Brown
In 2017, Montana Brown became a household name for fans of the reality TV phenomenon that swept the UK: Love Island.
Montana is determined to use her platform at TEDxWarwick to raise awareness around the colossal impact that social media can have upon our escalating mental health crisis, and speak out about the weight of scrutiny and judgement that many celebrities are placed under. Her message is fitting for a time when the media plays a more dominant role in our society than ever before.
Chris Cook
Chris’ powerful discourse might just transform the way that we see journalism today…
Drawing on his experience as editor and partner at the groundbreaking ‘slow news’ company Tortoise Media, Chris will be talking about the revolution of current mainstream media, and why we should take a step back and begin to think like our friend the tortoise - slowly.
Ali Eslami
Ali Eslami is a research scientist at DeepMind from Google, a world leading research organisation in Artificial Intelligence.
Specialising in machine learning, Ali specifically works on how to make machines more independent learners.
He will be speaking on whether Artificial Intelligence is capable of creativity and its applications.
David Millar
David Millar’s stellar cycling career was characterised by the sort of achievements that professional cyclists dream of. David was the only British rider to have worn all leader’s jerseys in the Tour de France and wore the leader’s jersey in all three Grand Tours.
Amidst the creation of a legacy of excellence, his fall from grace was legendary as he became suspended for doping in 2004. Following the scandal, he was determined to become a courageous force for good within the sporting world, becoming an anti-doping campaigner. David’s tremendous story offers insight into how falling the furthest can eventually help us rise to unprecedented heights.
Leomie Anderson
Leomie is a high fashion model and Victoria’s Secret Angel from London. In 2016, she founded her own clothing brand, LAPP, promoting female empowerment through confidence, positivity and unity.
The Victoria's Secret model will be speaking about her own experiences as a black woman within the harsh modelling world. She will also discuss how her own personal struggles and the stagnant nature of the industry has inspired her to create her brand - using her own voice and attempting to make a difference.
Keegan Hirst
Keegan Hirst is a British Rugby League player. In 2015 he became Britain’s first openly gay player, sending shock waves across the media and prompting questions of the inclusivity of sport.
In his talk he will discuss the challenges he faced with his identity, his life, loneliness and how we are all ultimately seeking a sense of belonging and the ways we can achieve that.
Oliver Thorn
Oliver Thorn is a professional actor and Youtuber.
Amassing over 550k subscribers on YouTube, Oliver Thorn quickly became an internet sensation via his aim of providing a Philosophy degree for free. Inspired by the increase in tuition fees in 2013, Oliver decided to create a YouTube channel that would allow anyone, regardless of their background, to be able to learn some of the world’s greatest philosophical insights.
Oliver’s talk will be centred around responsible ways of creating and teaching online. With vast flows of information and an ever-expanding plethora of people claiming to be experts on the internet, Oliver shall bring some much-needed nuance and will raise understanding of how we can create and teach responsibly in our new cyber-age.
Maryam Namazie
In modern times, religious fundamentalism continues to oppress millions of individuals across the world whether this be women who are denied their rights to free association to individuals who are accused and convicted of ‘blasphemy’ for something as simple as using their right to freedom of speech. Maryam Namazie is a passionate campaigner against oppressive religious fundamentalism with particular focus on the Middle East that has many states that continue to apply sharia law.
Maryam has personal experience of this oppression having escaped from Iran in 1980 after the Islamic Revolution. Maryam will talk about how we can use creativity in order to resist religious fundamentalism. The creative strategies she will focus on include blasphemy, apostasy and nude protest as a radically creative solution to tackle oppressive religious hegemonies.
Aaron Unkown
Aaron started his career as a model, starring for Dior, Dolce and Gabbana and Tommy Hilfiger. Having said this, his talents transcend modelling as a music artist and lyrical poet, amassing 3.1 million views on his SBTV Warm up Sessions feature. The viral response to what was previously a hidden passion had led to him starting his own independent label. With no outside help, Aaron has been the creator, driver and leader of his own movement, inspiring millions of young people to defy the doubters and be their own person.
His talk will be about an "inner conversation". There is a stigma around talking to ones self, and those who did it are seen to be crazy.But he is here to campaign that the inner conversation is all we have. It's the foundation of embracing ones self. Motivation, self belief, creativity , but most of all our emotions are all based on our consciousness, and how we are aware of it. We don't realise how in control we actually are when it comes to emotions. This is the reasoning behind the composition "Letter to myself" which he will be performing a live rendition of.
Nicole Wilson
Nicole Wilson is a fourth year history student at Warwick University. Having studied at Warwick for two years, she found out that she was named in the notorious Warwick rape group chat. Having been the subject of bigotry from some of her closest friends, Nicole's trust and belief system collapsed.
The following year, whilst on her year abroad, Nicole was informed that some of the boys involved in the chat who were suspended from the University, would be allowed to return in the next academic year. This would mean that Nicole would potentially have to share the same seminar classroom with the same men that has spoken of her with such vitriol.
Nicole's talk will reflect upon the wider problem of lad culture at elite institutions, such as Warwick and why this is problematic for society, and what universities are now doing to fix the problem.
"Nick is the 'Executive Officer to the CEO' at the UK Atomic Energy Authority, the world leading organisation in South Oxfordshire working to deliver 'fusion' as the energy supply of the future. Nick is a graduate of the University of Bath and the University of York where he completed a PhD in plasma physics, based at the UKAEA, in 2014. He went on to join UKAEA through two prestigious research fellowships before taking up a position as a research scientist. During his research career he has led experiments on large scale fusion devices in the UK and across Europe, participated at conferences across the globe and published several journal papers exploring the physics of exhaust processes in fusion reactors. Nick was recently awarded the inaugural 'Malcolm Haines Prize' by the Plasma Physics Group of the Institute of Physics for excellence in early career research. Nick is a proud and passionate advocate for fusion energy and continues to extol its virtues in pubs, cafes, at science festivals, in public media and anywhere else he can find an audience!"
Gina Martin
Gina Martin is a writer, campaigner and broadcaster. She was named one of TIME Magazines #100Next Influential people, one of London's 1000 most influential people by London Evening Standard and Equality Champion of The Year at the Stylist Remarkable Women Awards.
Gina is most well known for creating and running the media and political campaign to make upskirting illegal and advocates for regular people creating change. Her debut book Be The Change is a practical and accessible toolkit for activists starting out and she was recently announced as an ambassador for UNWomenUK.
Gina's TEDxWarwick talk will be an authentic and human look into the reality of sexual harassment, being silenced, and subsequently going against the establishment. Gina will chart with humour and raw honesty how she changed the law despite being a nobody with no political or legal experience.Her talk will discuss the cultural problem with sexual harassment and challenge why regular people don't feel like they are good enough to make change happen.
.
