Students, faculty able to showcase research

A rapt audience member from the March 6 faculty data blitz

As a way to showcase the research works of ETSU students and faculty, the psychology department has been offering a “Brown Paper Bag Series.” The speakers vary from faculty to graduate students, but there have been outside speakers presenting research or discussing academia jobs as well.

“Our brown bag meetings typically meet once every two weeks,” said Ginette Blackhart, associate professor and assistant chair for the department of psychology. “The idea is that attendees bring a lunch — why it's called a brown bag series — to the presentation. We typically have our faculty and graduate students present their research, present information relevant to our field, or have open discussions about topics relevant to our field.”

While the meetings are geared more toward faculty and graduate students, undergraduate students can still attend, although most of the meetings do not count as credit for the speaker series — a requirement for psychology majors.

The past two brown bag presentations came from Wallace Dixon, psychology chair, with his presentation of “Things I learned about accreditation that I wish I never knew: Reflections from a former accreditor,” and the most recent one this past friday featured graduate student Samantha Sprague as she presented her research.

“We have also opened up a couple of brown bag meetings for Speaker Series credit for undergraduate psychology majors,” Blackhart said. “The brown bag that met on Friday, March 6, was one such meeting. In that meeting, we had a faculty data blitz in which 10 psychology faculty each gave five minute presentations on their research.”

The faculty data blitz on March 6 featured a myriad of topics that ranged from sex offender treatment to social anxiety.

The presenters at the faculty data blitz were Andi Clements, Ginni Blackhart, Shannon Ross-Sheehy, Matt Palmatier, Jon Webb, Jill Stinson, Eric Sellers, Matt McBee, Stacey Williams and Jamie Hirsch.

After the success of the faculty data blitz, there will be a student data blitz coming up in May.

“We are going to have a graduate student data blitz in which our graduate students will do the same, that meeting will also count for Speaker Series credit for our majors,” Blackhart said. “We are planning to have at least one data blitz each semester as part of the series. I would like to have an undergraduate data blitz next fall in which undergraduate students currently conducting research can give brief five minute presentations on their studies.”

For those interested in attending the student data blitz, it will take place on friday, May 1 from 1 until 2 p.m. in of Rogers-Stout Hall Room 102.

The psychology department is encouraging students to attend the brown bag series and psychology speaker series including the data blitzes because of the many benefits that can come from participating in these events.

“I like the data blitzes for a couple of different reasons,” said Blackhart. “Faculty and students are able to learn about several different research studies in a short amount of time, enabling us to become more familiar with the research currently being conducted in the department. It also forces us to be able to present our research concisely as presentations are only five minutes in length, a valuable skill within and outside our discipline.”

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