BGU Takes Centre Stage as TED Talks Come to Lincoln
Lincoln is to host its first ever TEDx event next month – and two academics from Bishop Grosseteste University will be among the speakers.
The theme of TEDx Brayford on 28th October will be Past, Present and Future, and the event will take place at The Collection and Usher Gallery.
Dr Jack Cunningham, Programme Leader for Theology and Reader in Ecclesiastical History at BGU, will be talking about Robert Grosseteste and exploding the myth that the Middle Ages were characterised by ignorance.
Lyndsay Muir, Senior Lecturer in Drama Education, will give a talk called Tea with Trans: What’s On and Off the Menu.
A TEDx event is a local gathering where live TED-like talks and videos previously recorded at TED conferences are shared with the community. TEDx events are fully planned and co-ordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis.
TED talks can be watched online after the event, and many attract millions of viewers from across the world.
“I will be talking about Robert Grosseteste, especially his work as a 13th-century scientist, and setting out to explode the myth that the Middle Ages were the ‘Dark Ages’ full of superstition and ignorance,” said Dr Cunningham.
“Grosseteste had some very sophisticated ways of looking at the world: he was the first person to know what caused a rainbow and he has been called the first scientist.
“Most impressive is his idea about cosmology and how the universe began, which is remarkably similar to the modern Big Bang theory.
“I want to show that even though he worked 800 years ago with little access to the modern tools of science, he may well have had an enormous impact on our modern understanding of the universe we live in.
“In fact, Robert Grosseteste is the perfect figure to illustrate the fact that the past, present and future are always inextricably linked.”
Lyndsay Muir said: “My talk will discuss self-identified trans people creatively orchestrating conversations with the wider population. There are all sorts of myths circulating about trans people, so what if you could just sit down and have a chat with someone and find out what they’re like?
“The problem is, where would you start, if you didn’t know someone and didn’t want to be rude or offend them? The idea is to have a conversational menu that gives you somewhere to start – their name , what they enjoy talking about and what they really wouldn’t want to discuss.
“In my talk I’ll be explaining how this idea evolved, what it hopes to do and how it has been tried out.”
Alongside the two keynote talks Dr Elinor Vettraino, Programme Leader for Business and Enterprise at BGU, will be running two ‘fishbowl’ sessions with groups of speakers focusing on moving forward and future thinking.
To find out more visit https://www.tedxbrayfordpool.com.
Notes to editors:
• Bishop Grosseteste University was established in January 1862 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2012.
• It is an independent higher education institution based in Lincoln which awards its own degrees at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate level.
• It changed its name from Bishop Grosseteste University College to Bishop Grosseteste University in November 2012.
•BGU has over 2,300 students, including undergraduate, postgraduate and research, with over 280 students at collaborative partners across Lincolnshire.
• To learn more about Bishop Grosseteste University visit www.bishopg.ac.uk
For media information please contact:
Jez Ashberry
Shooting Star
01522 528540
07780 735071
jez@weareshootingstar.co.uk
[BGU234TEDtalks]
