Starting a Hugging Revolution: Catherine Young at TEDxNewHaven

Catherine is a writer, artist, and interaction designer whose work primarily explores human perception and its relationships to creativity and play. She received her degree in molecular biology and biotechnology from Manila and fine art education from Barcelona. She also has six years of professional journalism experience. As a poet, she has read her work at the Poetry Brothel of Barcelona, as well as the BOWWOW poetry series at New York's Bowery Poetry Club. Her work combines the arts and the sciences to create stories, objects, and experiences that facilitate joy and human connection.
One of her projects, DrawHappy, where people draw their happiness, started as a simple exercise while on a trip to Iceland and has since received submissions from all over the world. She is currently a Fulbright scholar finishing up her MFA in Interaction Design at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)