Ideas 2023
Innovation & insight meets conversation. Curated talks and workshops with global thinkers and doers.
We're changing our Ideas Series! There will be 3 days of summits, each having 5 events related to the topic of that day.
DAY 1: Climate & Transportation Summit • DAY 2: Tech & Democracy Summit • Day 3: Social Equity & Activism Summit
Columbia Digital Storytelling: Blockchain Fairy Tales PART 1
Tech & Democracy Summit
Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab (DSL) is a pioneering next-generation media lab that creatively integrates the arts, humanities and technology to tackle some of the world’s impossible problems.
The DSL presents Blockchain Fairy Tales, a collaborative world-building workshop. Those formerly known as the audience will become architects of the future as we explore playful worlds, contend with magical threats, and face the question: What if happily ever after is not guaranteed?
Columbia Digital Storytelling: Blockchain Fairy Tales PART 2
Tech & Democracy Summit
Join us for Part 2 of Blockchain Fairy Tales: Now that your imagination is ignited and challenged, transform inspiration into activation. We invite you to explore the magical elements inherent in decentralization–the ability to co-create and co-author with Artificial Intelligence, to collaborate more effectively, and to create a shared vision of our futures.
Democracy and the Struggle for the Right to Vote
Tech & Democracy Summit
Join author and award-winning journalist Ari Berman and award-winning scholar, educator, and author, Khalilah Brown-Dean, for a discussion on the history and contemporary relevance of voting rights. Berman is the author of Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America and Herding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics. Brown's book Identity Politics in the United States traces the confluence of public policy, law, and institutional design in structuring political divisions.
Driving Connections
Social Equity & Activism Summit
WORKSHOP: How do we drive connections towards a more just world? By unpacking our own narratives, we can understand equitable barriers and use our story to drive connections and motivate community action. In this workshop with Mike Keo, we will learn and discuss how effective storytelling can become the gateway to local change.
Ebb and Flow: Water and Migration
Climate & Transportation Summit
The fight to save the planet begins with the drive to safeguard our towns. Learn how to do that in this discussion with climate change experts Bruni Pizarro and James O’Donnell. Moderated by John Dankosky, this panel will break down big concepts like climate justice and migration patterns into the effects on sea levels and storm water across Connecticut’s cities and towns. Just the kind of environmental insights you need to take smarter local actions.
El Futuro es Ahora: Activism and Influences in the Arts
Social Equity & Activism Summit
Join us for a Behind the Actor's Studio-style interview with powerhouse practitioners in social change and cultural equity! Grantmakers in the Arts President Eddie Torres will be joined by Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre Founder and Artistic Director Rosalba Rolón in a session that will engage personal narrative to illuminate pathways of activism in the performing arts. Listen in as Eddie and Rosalba grapple with the tension between the individual and the societal as related to decisions on cultural values and funding. Come curious. Leave inspired.
Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition
Climate & Transportation Summit
WORKSHOP: New Haven is home to one of only 100 Clean Cities around the country that brings together public and private stakeholders to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by cutting the use of petroleum in transportation. We’ll explore options for alternative and renewable fuels that are available to the city — and how you can be part of creating the city’s clean transporation system of tomorrow.
Housing Insecurity Resource Fair
Social Equity & Activism Summit
Spend time with the people and organizations dedicated to supporting the unhoused and addressing housing insecurity. Educate yourself on the resources for support and advocacy on this critical social issue.
Participating Organizations include New Haven Legal Assistance Association, Inc, New Reach, Mothers and Others for Justice, and more.
Keynote: Amelia Winger-Bearskin
Climate & Transportation Summit
Amelia Winger-Bearskin will showcase her art and science storytelling work and demonstrate how new technologies can help preserve and engage with ancestral knowledge. Attendees will discover how innovative formats can engage future generations. Additionally, Amelia will discuss how her collaborations with scientists have enriched her artistic practice.
Following this talk will be a reception and book signing event for those who purchased a Premium Ticket. Books will be available for purchase.
Keynote: Baratunde Thurston
Tech & Democracy Summit
Talk about your consummate mutli-hyphenate! He’s the New York Times best-selling author of “How to Be Black.” An Emmy-nominated storyteller. Host of the PBS television series America Outdoors and the podcast How to Citizen with Baratunde. One of the greatest TED talkers of all time. Please join us in welcoming Baratunde to our festival to give us his perspectives on where our nation is — and where we can take it.
Following this talk will be a reception and book signing event for those who purchased a Premium Ticket. Books will be available for purchase.
Talk to Me About Water
Climate & Transportation Summit
WORKSHOP: Join a talented group of data scientists, water scientists, AI researchers, and artists for an engaging workshop called “Talk to Me About Water.” Through music, games, and conversations, the workshop aims to encourage conversations about the global water crisis in a meaningful and playful way. You'll have the opportunity to learn from experts in their respective fields, including Martha Bearskin, Amelia Winger-Bearskin, Nour Batyne, Devin Ronneberg, and Eamon O'Connor. By the end of the workshop, you'll walk away with new insights and inspiration to help make a difference in the world.
The Art of Artificial Intelligence
Fellows Ideas Event
Listen in on a discussion between Brennan Buck, senior critic at the Yale School of Architecture and Ira Revels, founder of Black Tech Futures, on the pros and cons of using AI across artistic disciplines. Moderated by Rania Das.
The Future of Automobiles
Climate & Transportation Summit
Are flying cars, self-driving vehicles, and biomass-mobiles really in our future? Learn just how far — and how soon — technology will transport us into the future with this podcaster, author and frequent contributor to the New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine and NPR. Explore why speaker Jack Hitt says that “we are living through the most intense frenzy of transportation creativity since the 1890s.” Moderated by Larry Rifkin, host of America Trends podcast and former programming chief for Connecticut Public Television.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Artificial Intelligence
Tech & Democracy Summit
Artificial intelligence has been both idolized and demonized. Some have welcomed it into their businesses. Others fear it will destroy our lives. This lively presentation will help you take a fresh, informed, balanced look at how AI is impacting our lives now...and what we can do to ensure it will continue to be a force for good in the future. Speakers include Dr. Anat Lior, Bonnie Kaplan, and Michael Lynch. Moderated by CT Public’s Lucy Nalpathanchil.
Understanding Housing Insecurity
Social Equity & Activism Summit
A world without housing insecurity. A realistic goal? Only if we better understand the inter-related array of steps that can lead to its elimination. Deepen your understanding and broaden your perspectives of this critical issue with the help of panelists Kellyann Day, CEO of New Reach, social worker Antwan Nedd, New Haven Housing Authority Director Karen DuBois-Walton, community organizer Billy Bromage, and New Reach's vice chair board member Aisha Bello.
Voices of Social Equity
Social Equity & Activism Summit
How we tell the stories about ourselves, traumatic or otherwise, can be used to categorize us in ways that are not always equitable. Are marginalized groups expected to share traumatic experiences when dealing with institutions of power? Join sociologist, Aya Waller-Bey, community engagement storyteller Mike Keo, and Andrus Awardee Betty Bajek to explore what’s contributing to this issue, why it hurts us all, and how we can best address it.
