Interfaith Ideas
Tuesdays with TED
Center for Spirituality sponsors series promoting interfaith dialogue
by Robin L. Flanigan
Last November, Tiffany Staropoli 鈥96 told about 65 people in the Linehan Chapel that she could not have found the peace and serenity that guides her today if it weren鈥檛 for her cancer diagnosis. She talked about how hearing she had Stage 4 colon cancer in May 2013 ultimately led to 鈥渢he best version鈥 of herself because she decided to focus on embracing life instead of perpetuating the anger many people channel to fight the disease. And about how we need to become open to a 鈥渃ountercultural approach鈥 to the challenges we鈥檙e given because 鈥渢he worst news today could lead to the best circumstances tomorrow.鈥
Staropoli鈥檚 appearance was the highlight of the Center for Spirituality鈥檚 Tuesdays with TED series, which promotes discussions about the world鈥檚 most innovative ideas using videos recorded at TED conferences. TED is a nonprofit organization that started in 1984 with a conference combining talks on technology, entertainment, and design. Talks now are given in more than 100 languages.
鈥淲e see the universal quest for personal meaning and understanding about the world,鈥 says Lynne Boucher, director of the Center for Spirituality and advisor in the Hickey Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue. The series 鈥渞elates to our ongoing goal of helping students transform their thinking and engagement with what鈥檚 around them. Because they are hearing from people with different perspectives, they can dig deeper into what they believe, and that will, in their time at Nazareth, help their actions be more resonant with those beliefs.鈥
Two years ago, while brainstorming with student leaders about new programs the Center for Spirituality could offer, Boucher recalled Mitch Albom鈥檚 bestselling memoir Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life鈥檚 Greatest Lesson. She thinks a lot about that book and the deep discussions prompted by Morrie鈥檚 impending death. Familiar with TED Talks, Boucher suggested Tuesdays with TED.
So, on the last Tuesday of the month at 12:15 p.m. in the Center for Spirituality community room, students from different religious faiths and perspectives meet to watch a TED Talk鈥攖hen talk about the talk鈥攐ver pizza. The 45-minute bias-free zone serves a critical role in helping students explore their beliefs and spiritual values, according to Boucher, citing that at least 34 percent of incoming college students nationwide don鈥檛 have any religious affiliation.
Officially launched in fall 2013, Tuesdays with TED usually draws between 30 and 50 students. Topics have included gratitude and embracing vulnerability, but at times can get 鈥渁 little edgy,鈥 notes Boucher, referencing one talk that showed how simple videos can help ease interfaith tensions between Iraq and Iran.
鈥淲e try to find good ones about how to grow, and, if possible, how to grow spiritually,鈥 says music education major Alexis Scangas 鈥16, secretary for the Center for Spirituality and a member of the Interfaith Council, a religiously diverse group of student leaders who work to build community and plan special programs. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 not necessarily a requirement that they have to do with religion. We try to think everyone is spiritual just by being鈥 alive.
Scangas, from St. Albans, Vermont, was personally moved by the vulnerability talk, given in 2010 by University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work research professor Brene Brown. (On the official TED site, this particular talk has garnered more than 17.6 million views.) 鈥淭hat one really struck home with me,鈥 she says, 鈥渁nd I bought her book because of it. The concept was that the people who are happy in life are the people who open themselves up the most. To admit to someone that you鈥檙e not perfect is really hard, but I know that I can always think back to that talk.鈥
To reach more students, Tuesdays with TED organizers look forward to partnering more often with other on-campus groups. The Center for Spirituality teamed up in spring 2014 with the Lambda Association, which provides education, advocacy, and support to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community; that TED Talk was given by a gay Mormon missionary. Future plans also include the possibility of presenting one live talk a year.
Despite her serious topic, Staropoli, who describes a TED Talk as 鈥済oing to the spa for your brain,鈥 began her touching 12-minute presentation with humor: 鈥淚n my estimation, the best talks start with a colonoscopy story.鈥 She later talked about dancing when she needed a positive-attitude boost鈥攊n parking lots, in gardens, in her hospital bed鈥攁nd how she refused to let depression, anxiety, and an antagonistic attitude cloud her days. 鈥淢y journey was moving and gentle,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 was living the best year of my life.鈥 Staropoli emphasized that the same attitude can be applied to the life-altering events she calls 鈥渆veryday cancers,鈥 such as the loss of a loved one or divorce.
鈥淚t was inspiring to see how an ordinary person could do so much under such circumstances,鈥 says Maggie West 鈥16, president of the Center for Spirituality and a physical therapy major from Cortland, N.Y. 鈥淎nd it makes me really happy that this is something we鈥檙e doing here at Nazareth.鈥
Staropoli, featured along with four Nazareth College representatives at November鈥檚 TEDx Rochester event at East High School, said after her Linehan Chapel talk that she is proud of how Nazareth has changed, and not just physically, since she was a student. 鈥淚 took advantage of a lot of what the school had to offer, but there鈥檚 just so much more these days. It鈥檚 impressive to see what these kids have at their fingertips now.鈥
With Tuesdays with TED, students are given a safe and nurturing environment to share thoughts and reflections.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really trying to encourage people to embrace themselves as they are, by being who they are,鈥 says Scangas. 鈥淭hese talks are our evidence that the Center for Spirituality is right in what we鈥檙e doing. We can point to scientific facts and professional thinkers and well-known people and say, 鈥楾hey鈥檙e saying the same things we are.鈥欌
Robin L. Flanigan is a freelance writer in Rochester, New York.
Tiffany Staropoli '96 captivates the audience with her TEDx talk "The Language of Cancer."