Rosanne Cash will be the keynote speaker for this year’s Ideas Festival Emory, which is set to take place Oct. 18 on the Oxford campus near Covington.
Ideas Festival Emory is hosted by Emory University’s Center for Public Scholarship and Engagement and features conversations, performances, and more from more than 30 scientists, scholars, musicians, filmmakers, and other creative minds, according to a press release. The 2025 festival follows last year’s inaugural event.
Rosanne Cash is a recording artist and the eldest daughter of country legend Johnny Cash. Her career spans more than 45 years and includes numerous number one country singles and four Grammy Awards. She is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has written numerous children’s books such as “Penelope Jane: A Fairy’s Tale.”
During the festival, Cash will record a live taping of the podcast “Sing for Science” with Dr. Robyn Fivush.
“Ideas Festival Emory is based on a simple idea: knowledge belongs to all of us,” Kenneth Carter, founding director of the CPSE and the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Psychology at Emory University, said in the release. “When people come together to talk about the challenges we all face, the closer we can get to solutions.”
According to the release, other speakers and performers include Kevin Young, poetry editor for The New Yorker; Kim Addonizio, award-winning poet and novelist and author of “Tell Me,” a National Book Award finalist; Anne Basting, a theater artist, scholar, and recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant; and Steve Carse, the co-founder of King of Pops. A full list of speakers can be found online.
“I couldn’t be happier about this year’s featured speakers,” Carter said. “They remind us that great ideas come from labs, libraries, and from songs, poems, neighborhoods, and lived experience. At Emory, we’re creating a space where those voices can come together where ideas aren’t just studied, they’re shared.”
Ideas Festival Emory will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 18. The event is free to attend, but guests should register. More information about registration can be found online.