Damascus University Hosts First Ever TEDx Event in Syria

Organized by a group of university students, the first ever TEDx event will be held in Syria on January 29. The theme will be “ideas out of the box” and the event will be hosted in the TEDx signature style. 25 of the university’s students and 10 high profile speakers of multiple disciplines, including the medical, education, media and development fields, will be attending and participating. There will be live streaming of the event on the TEDxYPU YouTube channel.

The event’s leading organizer, Massa Baali, said, “TEDxYPU is the first TEDx event in Syria, as we succeed to get the TEDx university type organizing license from TED international organization. All organizers and volunteers are university students.” The concept behind TED, which is to spread groundbreaking, innovative ideas in 18 minutes or less, has extended to venues and platforms around the globe in which organizers create an event under the same discipline and then it get approved by the TED organization. Baali said that this TEDxYPU’s most important goals are to “spread inspiring ideas, encourage dialogue, and form a TEDx community in Syria.” The sponsorship and head public relations manager, Eyad Al-Akkad, added that in choosing speakers, the team was extremely selective, aiming for experts in their chosen fields that may be able to impart valuable knowledge on the crowd, and encourage growth and discussion.

For more information: Visit the TEDxYPU official website and follow them on Twitter and Facebook.