The conference, called “Bodies: Being Human,” will take place in Memorial Hall from noon to 6 p.m. The event will have two sessions from noon to 2:30 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. as well as a breakout session in between.
“We have all different types of topics ranging from things like disability, things like anti-slut shaming, things like the importance of physical touch,” senior Olivia Nicolaus, one of the event’s organizers, said.
The speakers include comedy duo Krystyna Hutchinson and Corinne Fisher from the popular anti-slut shaming podcast “Guys We F****d.” UNC senior Sarah McShane will give a talk on the similarities of birth and death, and UNC professor Stephanie Zerwas will discuss how social media affects body image. Los Angeles hairdresser Kyle Krieger will talk about his battle with addiction.
Nicolaus said the breakout session will let attendees talk face-to-face with speakers. There will also be a 3-D printing center and virtual reality headsets.
For the first time, TEDxUNC is offering first-come, first-serve admission, which will continue to be free.
Nicolaus and her co-organizer senior Ashita Gona said TEDxUNC oversold tickets in past years, but several hundred seats were still left unfilled.
“The capacity of Memorial (Hall) is about 1,400, and we wanted to make it as accessible as possible, and we always had several hundred open seats,” Nicolaus said.
Senior Lindsey Terrell, in the marketing and publicity division of TEDxUNC, said representing the event as first-come, first-served has been a focus of marketing this year. Terrell said she thinks the change will bring more people to the event.
