Theme: Propelling Humanity Forward

Fordham University proudly presents TEDxFordhamUniversity: Propelling Humanity Forward, an event full of powerful ideas, thought-provoking discussions, and innovative solutions.

This TEDx event will bring together distinguished speakers—Fordham faculty and alumni—who are tackling some of the most critical challenges of our time. Through compelling talks, we will explore how social justice, liberal arts, science, and policy can shape a brighter future for all.

McNally Amphitheater | Fordham University
140 West 62nd Street
New York, New York, 10023
United States

Annika Hinze

Annika Marlen Hinze, Ph.D., is an associate professor of political science at Fordham University. She served as the director of the Urban Studies program from July 2016 to June 2024. Her research and teaching focus on urban politics, immigration policy, democratic theory, gender equality, and qualitative and mixed methods research. Specifically, Hinze is interested in housing, transportation, and sustainability, as well as social and immigrant justice in cities. Her first book, Turkish Berlin: Integration Policy and Urban Space (University of Minnesota Press, 2013), compares integration policy and lived integration of second-generation Turk-German women in two Berlin neighborhoods. She is also the co-author (with Dennis R. Judd) of the 10th edition of City Politics: The Political Economy of Urban America (Routledge, 2018), as well as the 11th edition of the newly titled City Politics: Cities and Suburbs in 21st Century America (Routledge, 2022), and co-editor (with James M. Smith) of the recently published 8th edition of American Urban Politics in a Global Age (Routledge, 2024). Hinze has been published in journals on topics including immigration, gender equality in academia, urban economic development, and nationalism. She has been a member of the editorial board of Urban Affairs Review since January 2023, and since July 2023, she has been the co-editor of the International Political Science Review, the flagship journal of the International Political Science Association. Hinze was a visiting researcher at the Russell Sage Foundation, where she worked on her book manuscript, A Country Behind A Wall: Immigration Policy, Public Discourse, and the Reality of the Borderlands, during fall 2024. Hinze studied English, North American studies, and modern history at Humboldt University and Free University in Berlin, Germany; holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois, Chicago; and has done field research in Canada, Germany, Turkey, and the United States.

Courtney Celeste Spears

Global Dance Educator

Courtney Celeste Spears, of Bahamian descent, is a global dance educator and former dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where she performed in more than 20 countries. She graduated summa cum laude from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program, received the Princess Grace Kelly Award in 2015, completed Harvard Business School’s “Crossover into Business” program, and was most recently named as one of Forbes magazine’s 2024 “30 Under 30.” Currently based in the Bahamas, Spears is the director of ArtSea Dance, an organization aimed at uplifting dancers in the Caribbean, and the director of two celebrated dance programs.

David Marcotte

David Marcotte, S.J., Ph.D., is a Jesuit priest, clinical psychologist, and member of the faculty in the Psychology Department at Fordham University, where he teaches courses on the psychology of wellbeing. His research interests focus on the psychology of resilience, personhood, and the development of interventions to increase well-being, especially for underserved groups.

Dustin Partridge

Dustin Partridge, Ph.D., the director of conservation and science at NYC Bird Alliance, is a pioneering scientist in urban green space conservation research in North America. His work, focused on wildlife conservation in New York City, has driven cities to reconsider the ecological value of small green spaces. Partridge’s published research has reshaped the national conversation on the role of cities in conservation, leading to significant policy changes in New York City. These include the passage of Local Laws 92 and 94, which mandate green roof and solar installations on new buildings, and the Green Roof Tax Abatement, which offers substantial financial incentives for green roof installations in high-need areas. An adjunct professor at Columbia University and a sought-after speaker in media and public forums, Partridge is a scientist whose approach to conservation is based on using science to drive solutions that benefit both wildlife and people.

Olivier Sylvain

Olivier Sylvain is a professor of law at Fordham University and a senior policy research fellow at Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute. His research is on information and communications law and policy. His most recent writing, scholarship, commentary, and congressional testimony are on the topics of online intermediary liability, commercial surveillance, and artificial intelligence. Sylvain has been awarded grants from the National Science Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and served as a senior advisor to the chair of the Federal Trade Commission from 2021 to 2023. He currently teaches Legislation and Regulation, Administrative Law, Information Law, U.S. Data Protection Law and Privacy, and information technology-related courses. Before entering academia, Sylvain was a Karpatkin Fellow in the National Legal Office of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York City and a litigation associate at Jenner & Block LLC in Washington, D.C.

Ronald DePinho

Fordham University trustee Ronald A. DePinho, M.D., FCRH ’77 is a past president and distinguished professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He studied biology at Fordham University, received his M.D. degree with distinction from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and performed his residency and postdoctoral training at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. His research career began at Einstein as the Feinberg Senior Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research and an ACS research professor. DePinho then joined the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, where he was the founding director of the Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Science and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association of the Advancement of Science, and the American Association of Cancer Research.

Tania Tetlow

Tania Tetlow is the first woman and the first layperson to be named president of Fordham University. Prior to beginning her tenure at Fordham, she was the first woman and first layperson to lead Loyola University New Orleans. Tetlow served as the Felder-Fayard Professor of Law at Tulane University, where she was also senior vice president and a key strategic adviser to President Michael Fitts. As a law professor, her research helped persuade the Department of Justice to reimagine its regulation of constitutional policing. She also directed Tulane’s Domestic Violence Law Clinic, for which she raised millions of dollars in federal grant funds. Before her career in academia, she was an associate at Phelps Dunbar, litigating complex commercial transactions. She also served as an assistant United States attorney, prosecuting cases involving everything from violent crime to fraud. She graduated cum laude from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American studies and is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, where she earned a Juris Doctor degree and was a Harry S. Truman Fellow.