Is Sabrina Carpenter saving the English Language? Are societies that catastrophise over their imminent demise any better at overcoming major crises than those with a more optimistic viewpoint of the future? TEDx is returning to Queen’s University Belfast with bold ideas and big questions.
This year’s event is particularly special, forming part of Queen’s 180th anniversary celebrations and highlighting the University’s long-standing commitment to creating a space to share bold ideas.
The seventh edition of TEDxQueensUniversityBelfast will take place at Riddel Hall on Wednesday 3 December 2025, bringing together a diverse group of speakers from across the Queen’s community.
The theme for TEDxQueensUniversityBelfast 2025 is ‘Hope and History’, inspired by the renowned line from ‘The Cure at Troy’ by Nobel Laureate and distinguished Queen’s alumnus, Seamus Heaney. This theme captures the spirit of the event – a space where the lessons of the past meet the promise of the future.
The speaker line-up features a vibrant mix of Queen’s staff, students, alumni, and community partners, tackling topics ranging from personal resilience to political rhetoric and pop culture, and ideas sparking from deeply personal experiences to thought-provoking social commentary. Speakers include:
Queen’s Postdoctoral researcher Dr Emma Humphries who will use popular culture to help expose the myths behind ‘good’ language, inviting the audience to rethink their assumptions about language and correctness, with her talk, ‘How Sabrina Carpenter is “saving” the English language.’
Queen’s alumna and owner of much-loved Belfast coffee shop chain Kaffe O, Orla Smyth, who hopes that her talk ‘My hope is to make the Transplant Waiting list history’ will help reframe the narrative around organ donation.
British historian and archaeologist, Professor Richard Miles, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Queen’s, who will explore some of the political motivations and agendas that lie behind keeping us in a constant state of fear and agitation in his talk ‘“Boiling the Ocean”: Why predicting the end of the world is the oldest trick in the politician’s playbook.’
Queen’s is part of the global TEDx community, joining over 3,000 events hosted around the world each year that aim to foster learning, connection, and meaningful conversation.
Professor Sir Ian Greer, President and Vice-Chancellor at Queen’s, said:
“We are delighted to welcome TEDx back to Queen’s this December. As we mark our 180th anniversary, this year’s theme is particularly poignant, recognising the value of our shared past and the hope we carry into the future.
“TEDx is an incredible platform for showcasing the voices of our University community. The stories and ideas shared are a testament to the power of education, innovation and imagination.”
Queen’s Postdoctoral researcher Dr Emma Humphries, said:
“I’m very excited to be able to share my research with a wider audience and in a different format. I’m interested in how we judge the way people speak, write and sign. That might be a casual comment about ‘sloppy’ grammar or assumptions about someone’s intelligence or class based on their accent. These judgements are all around us and go some way to reinforcing social inequalities. I hope to break down the myths around ‘correct’ language and encourage us all to rethink our language-based assumptions.”
Speaker Orla Smyth, who is a Queen’s alumna, having studied for an undergraduate in Law and postgraduate in Criminal Justice Management at the University, said:
“I’m really looking forward to returning to my alma mater and delivering a TEDx talk about a subject matter that is so personal to me. My talk draws on the theme of hope and history, aiming to help reframe the narrative around donating organs, with the hope of making the Transplant Waiting List history.”
The event is free and open to the public, but spaces are limited, and registration is required via Humanitix. More speakers to be announced and tickets will be available from Wednesday 5 November. Visit the TEDxQUB webpage for more information.
