An evening of celebration and discussion!

Thank you to all who made TayTalks a tremendous success! The event garnered a great deal of attention, drew a big crowd, and was enjoyed by both "Swifties" and non-Swifties alike. You can watch the entire event right here, and individual videos of each presentation are linked below.

"TayTalks started as a collaboration between two colleagues, Jenny Smith and Stephen Maynard Caliendo, and quickly became a campus-wide effort. On September 25th in Wentz Concert Hall, students, staff, and faculty from across the college and neighbors from our community came together for one evening to discuss and celebrate both the liberal arts and Taylor Swift. 10 professors applied their expertise to this figure who captures the public interest like few others. Undergraduate and graduate students shared creative writing, singing, and research inspired by the artist. This was no solo act with so many collaborators from across the college: from the Office of Institutional Communication: Mary Bass, Hannah Brauer, Jeremy Borling, Jacob Imm, Kim MacGregor, and Olivia Rosenberg; from Fine Arts: Andrew Butler, Colin Trevor, and Jennifer Holloway; from Admissions: Valla Aguilar; from Alumni and Development: Mary Reynolds; from our volunteers: Sam Sarff and Shelly Galasso; from our amazing staff: Christine Drover, Stella Parthenios, and Hannah Pruett. 'Karma takes all my friends to the summit.'"

-Dr. Jennifer Smith, professor and chair of English; director of general education

North Central College students talking at the Tay Talks event.

Presenters

Physical therapy faculty posing with a cutout of Taylor Swift.
Sarah Tylkowski, Jamie LaPenna and Leanna Blanchard.

Thank you especially to our faculty presenters: 

Leanna Blanchard, assistant professor of physical therapy 

Laura Cameron, academic services librarian, Oesterle Library 

Suzanne Chod, professor of political science; coordinator of gender and sexuality Studies

Shelly Hall, adjunct assistant professor of business law

Katherine Heller, professor of mathematics

Susan Kempinger, assistant professor of physics

Jamie LaPenna, lecturer in physical therapy 

Shaheen Moosa, associate professor of philosophy; assistant dean of interdisciplinary programs and initiatives, College of Arts and Sciences

Jason Rice, associate professor of sports management

Sarah Tylkowski, assistant professor of physical therapy

 

And our student presenters:

Seanah Battung-Wenz '27

Maggie Dooley '23 / M '27

Kelvyn Palacios Perez '27

Caitlin Suda '27 (photo below)

A North Central College student playing a guitar.

TayTalks in the Media

Learn how TayTalks came to be!
Q&A with Jennifer Smith

Naperville Sun article (subscription required)

Story on WGN-TV Chicago (video provided)

Photos and Video

Re-live the celebration with replays of every faculty presentation from TayTalks (or watch the entire event on YouTube), as well as a highlight video and more photos!

Photo credit: Sally O'Donnell

 

People making friendship bracelets at the Tay Talks event.
A student talking into a microphone at the Tay Talks event.
A woman standing and speaking on the stage of the Wentz Concert Hall.
A bowl of Ring Pops at the TayTalks event.
A pair of hands making a friendship bracelet.
A student talking into a microphone at the Tay Talks event.
A woman talking on the stage of the Wentz Concert Hall.
A male student presenting at the Tay Talks event.
A table covered in supplies for making friendship bracelets.
A large group of people standing in the lobby of Wentz Concert Hall.
Women sitting and smiling in the Wentz Concert Hall.
A man wearing a Travis Kelce t-shirt.
A student makes a heart with her hands and shows off her friendship bracelet.
Students posing with a cutout of Taylor Swift.
Three women talking and posing on the stage of the Wentz Concert Hall.
A man wearing a Taylor Swift t-shirt.