The Beyond series hosted its flagship event; Minds Aflame, in Williams Auditorium. Students of all walks of life gathered to engage in the discussion of globalization.
Minds Aflame featured talks from industry experts, Ferris professors and students.
Among the speakers was Student Government President Wayne Bersano, who did a spoken word poetry piece with Enefe Adaji. Bersano spent a semester studying abroad in Germany and saw first-hand how globalization impacts the world. Adaji, an international student
from Nigeria, has also seen the impact of globalization.
When Adaji approached Bersano about the possibility of doing a spoken word piece for Minds Aflame, Bersano immediately jumped on board.
“When I ran for president, one of my core values was diversity and I’m passionate about it in my personal life, which is why I studied abroad,” said Bersano, a hospitality management major. “I’m a huge promoter of diversity and Minds Aflame brought that information to students.”
“Minds Aflame was similar to a Ted Talks series, specific to diversity and globalization,” Bersano said. “The spoken word poetry was composed of many different students’ stories dealing with diversity, my own story included. We wanted to talk about stereotypes and how you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Aly Hill, a public health major, said that she enjoyed the similarities of Minds Aflame to Ted Talks.
“I thought it was really interesting and I feel like I learned a lot about globalization that is going to help me when I take my upcoming trip to Honduras,” Hill said. “My favorite part was the spoken word poetry that was done by Wayne and Enefe. It was very moving.”
Other speakers at Minds Aflame included Dr. Olukemi Fadayomi, Dr. Paul Blake, David Whitman, Asher Jay, Dr. Jacqueline Peacock, Dr. Peter Bradley, David Murcko and Olmeca.