TEDxTufts

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Art Trapotsis

  Entrepreneur, Author, Endurance Athlete

  Art Trapotsis is an entrepreneur, author, and lifelong endurance athlete who has spent threedecades testing one big question: Is there a way to excel in work, family, and fitness without letting one quietly fall apart?He is the founder of Keep It Tight Athletics, a Boston-based cycling club, and host of the New England Endurance Podcast, where he highlights everyday athletes and community builders across the region. A co-owner of a leading laboratory equipment manufacturer, Art now serves on multiple boards that support advanced manufacturing and hardware startups. Art has represented the United States at the ITU Triathlon Age-Group World Championships and is the author of The Everyday Athlete: How to Balance Work, Family, and Fitness for Life.

• Audrey Appleby

  Entrepreneur, Singer-Songwriter

  Audrey Appleby studied Psychology and Drama at Tufts, Dance MFA Studies at Sarah Lawrence, and MBA at NYU Stern Graduate School of Business. Embracing her entrepreneurial spirit, she launched the career passion of her life, creating MagicDance On The Water, a Dance and Music School with Dance and Dance Therapy for ages one to 100. She is also a Singer Songwriter.

• Deborah Schwartz

  Writer, Attorney

  Deborah is a Tufts graduate who obtained her Masters in History at Columbia University. After receiving her J.D. from Boston University School of Law, she launched her career as a healthcare attorney. Today, Deborah's passion is writing. A New Yorker to the core, Deborah reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in 2011.

• DeVante Love

  Shaman, Scholar, Artist

  DeVante Love (they/them) is an Afroindigenous lay monk, a psychoanalyst, and PhD candidate in Tufts' Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies Department. Their research explores how healing and liberation become possible through our everyday performances…from the movies/TV we watch to the ways we move our bodies. DeVante holds a master's in Clinical Psychology, during which they developed a Depth Psychological framework that transforms everyday hobbies like watching movies or working out into contemplative practices supporting the development of emotional and spiritual intelligence. This research inspired their upcoming book, Netflix and Heal: A Monk's Guide to Inner Peace Through Movies, which guides readers through cinema therapy techniques and spiritual practices that turn movie-watching into a healing journey.

• Emily Ruhm

  PhD Student

  Emily Ruhm is a PhD Student at Tufts Fletcher School, and her research focuses on the intersection of violence, vulnerability, and humanitarian access in sub-Saharan African crises. She works at the World Peace Foundation and serves as a Teaching Fellow on a variety of courses on gender, humanitarian assistance, and international development.

• Jessica Foley

  Postdoctoral Researcher

  Jessica Foley is a postdoctoral researcher at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Center for Research on Aging here at Tufts. She works on the comparative biology of aging, and is broadly interested in finding natural solutions to biomedical problems.

• Jody Boykins

  Undergraduate Student

  Jody Boykins is currently an undergraduate at Tufts University and have been a student of the TUPIT program since 2022. His research focuses on adolescents who struggle with substance abuse, the associated risk and protective factors, the long-term effects and relation to incarceration, and the impact of programming on formerly incarcerated students.

• John O'Brien

  Clinical Psychologist

  John M. O'Brien, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, author, and expert in civility and interpersonal communication. Dr. O'Brien is dedicated to promoting kindness, mutual respect, and healthier relationships in both personal and professional spheres.

• Julie Dalton

  Author, Organic Farmer, Beekeeper

  Julie Carrick Dalton is the award-winning author of The Last Beekeeper, Waiting for the Night Song, and The Forest Becomes Her (coming in July 2026). A former journalist, organic farmer, and beekeeper, she is a frequent speaker on the topic of fiction in the age of climate crisis at universities, museums, libraries, and conferences around the world.

• Seona Maskara

  Undergraduate Student

  Seona Maskara (A26) has served as a research assistant at the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) since her sophomore year. She is passionate about equitable civic education, and channels that into her work researching political homes at CIRCLE and implementing them in other areas of her life, such as JumboVote, Tufts University's non-partisan voter advocacy organization.