Belmont Associate Dean of Nursing Dr. Martha Buckner has been appointed to Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam’s State Board of Nursing.
Buckner serves as executive director of Partners in Nursing at Belmont University and has a wide range of clinical experience with adult post-operative and nutrition support patients. She also has teaching experience in nursing pharmacology, nutrition and adult health.
“We appreciate Gov. Haslam’s recognition of Dr. Buckner’s expertise and her steadfast commitment to the highest professional nursing standards. I know she will work tirelessly to promote and protect the health of Tennesseans,” said Belmont Dean of College of Health Sciences and Nursing Cathy Taylor.
Established in 1911 by the Tennessee Legislature, the Board of Nursing’s mission is to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of Tennesseans by requiring that all who practice nursing within this state are qualified and licensed to practice. The board consists of 11 members appointed by the governor for four-year terms, and responsibilities center around three broad functions: licensure, education and practice.
In March, nine students from Belmont University presented their research at the Alpha Chi National Honor Society Convention at the Union Station Hotel in St. Louis, Mo. Faculty advisor Dr. Sarah Ann Fleming (Mathematics) also attended the convention. The annual Alpha Chi convention is organized around student presentations by juniors and seniors from their respective chapters.
Dr. Douglas Murray, professor of English, presented two papers at the American Society for 18th-Century Studies in Williamsburg, Va. on March 22. The first paper was entitled “Truths Universally Acknowledged?: Jane Austen in the Gen Ed Curriculum,” and the second paper was entitled “‘Feast of Reason and Flow of Soul’: Hospitality in the Life and Work of Margaret Doody.”
Three current Belmont English students and one recent graduate of the master’s program had papers accepted at the 109th Meeting of the Tennessee Philological Association on Feb. 20 through 22 at Lipscomb University. Dana Perry, a December Master of Arts alumna, delivered a paper called “Shattering the Myth: Lorraine Hansberry’s The Drinking Gourd.” Cathy Kelly presented “Nabokov, O’Neill, and the Pathos of Place.” Will Hodge presented “REMYTHX: Adaptation as Remix in Eugene O’Neill’s Desire under the Elms and Mourning Becomes Electra.” Misty Ayres-Miranda presented “Electra’s Release in Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra.” Dr. David Curtis, professor of English and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, moderated the session and presented another paper at the conference.
On March 20, three Belmont Department of English faculty presented at the Conference on College Composition and Communication held in Indianapolis, Ind. Dr. Sarah Blomeley and Dr. Amy Hodges Hamilton presented together on a panel entitled “Open(ing) Wounds: Accessing Trauma in the Classroom and Community.” Blomeley’s talk was titled “In Loving Memory: Public Grief and the Future of Mourning in America,” and Hodges Hamilton’s talk was titled, “When Access to the Personal Becomes Pedagogical: Childhood Cancer and the Composition Classroom.” In addition, Dr. Jason Lovvorn gave a talk called, “Open Sourcing the College Composition Teacher: Using MOOCs for Professional Development and Pedagogical Improvement.”
The Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE)
Psychological Science faculty and students attended the annual meeting of the 
