On March 19, Belmont’s Society of Physics Students presented a series of gameplay videos highlighting the different physics concepts involved in successfully playing the hit video game Portal 2. Dr. Scott Hawley is the faculty advisor for this club.
Society of Physics Students Present Portal 2 Convo
Hummel Presents Poetry
This month Heather Hummel, adjunct professor in the English Department, presented her poetry at the Mother/Nature conference at the University of Southern Mississippi. She completed a thirty minute reading for the poetry panel, Oil and Urbanity: Contaminations of the Natural World. Click here to read Hummel’s work.
Also recently, Hummel’s poem, “Tornado Season,” was accepted for publication in Meridian (2012) as well as The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume VI: Tennessee (published 2013 by Texas Review Press). In addition, Hummel attended the Conference on College Composition and Communication, in St. Louis, Mo. as a Professional Equality Grant recipient. Recipients are chosen because they have exhibited a sustained interest in the teaching of writing.
Students Host Game Day
The Mathematical Association of America and Association for Computing Machinery Student Chapter hosted Game Day on March 16. Thirty-two people, including students, faculty, and even a stray physicist, enjoyed the food, games and fun. Students began congregating at 3:30, a half hour before the event officially began, and were still there when the event officially ended at 9 p.m.
Giordano Publishes Book Chapter
Dr. Pete Giordano in the Department of Psychological Science has published a book chapter titled “Confucius and Buddha in the College Classroom: Relational Virtuosity in Teaching and Learning.” The chapter appears in The Handbook of College and University Teaching: A Global Perspective, edited by J. Groccia, M. Al-Sudairy, and W. Buskist (Sage Publications, 2012).
Neuroscience Major Awarded RISE Internship
Belmont student Andrey Borisyuk, a neuroscience major, has been awarded a RISE internship for this summer. RISE is a summer internship program for undergraduate students from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, earth sciences and engineering. It offers unique opportunities for undergraduate students to work with research groups at universities and top research institutions across Germany for a period of two to three months during the summer. RISE interns are matched with doctoral students whom they assist and who serve as their mentors. The working language is English. All scholarship holders receive stipends from the DAAD to help cover living expenses, while partner universities and research institutes provide housing assistance.
RISE internships were first offered in 2005 to applicants from the United States and Canada. In 2009 the program was extended to the United Kingdom. Following the first intake of around 100 students in 2005, the number of participants has increased steadily. In 2011 as many as 306 candidates (out of 1,600 applicants) were awarded an internship. Click here to read more.
Math Alumna Recognized for Volunteer Efforts with Hands on Nashville
Kacie Kleja (Mathematics, ‘06) was highlighted on the Hands on Nashville website for her volunteer efforts with senior citizens at Bordeaux Hospital and J.B. Knowles Home for the Aged. At these facilities, Kleja connects with seniors by playing bingo and other games through her regular commitment to Game Night. Since 2008, Kleja has been volunteering with Hands on Nashville.
Of Game Night Kleja says, “The residents look forward to having a night of fun and conversation. For some of the residents, it is truly the only interaction that they have and they are so appreciative of the volunteers.”
Kleja saud she loves connecting with people and her volunteer efforts not only offer companionship to the seniors but also a chance for them to be active and social.
Graduate English Students Present, Publish Papers
English graduate student Kelsey LeCrone recently presented her paper, “The Relationship Between Reading and Listening in Literature,” on a panel titled, “Retextualizing Traditional Texts” at the Voice and Voicing in a Technological Era, A NEXUS Interdisciplinary Conference. The paper was a discussion of the fundamentals of reading and listening from a reading science and rhetorical viewpoint combined with a discussion of some of the key issues surrounding reading and listening in terms of how literature is interpreted and an overview of her case study.
Literary magazine Bartleby Snopes recently published a short story by English graduate student Shellie Richards. Her story, “Quick & Painless” also won the magazine’s story-of-the-month contest. Click here to read Shellie’s short story.
Education Faculty Collaborate with Haitian Educators
Sally Barton-Arwood and Annette Little, faculty members in the Department of Education, spent spring break working with educators at Siloë School in Grand Goave, Haiti. Barton-Arwood and Little worked in classrooms, interviewed teachers and met with school leaders as part of a needs and strengths assessment. This trip was part of Belmont’s initiative to develop meaningful and sustainable contributions to Haiti working with through Cooperative Baptist Fellowship missionaries in Haiti.
Barton-Arwood Serves on Mayor’s Advisory Board on Exceptional Education
Sally Barton-Arwood (Education) was recently asked to serve on Mayor Karl Dean’s Advisory Board on Exceptional Education. The Mayor’s Advisory Board was formed in January 2008 to assess policy and program strengths and weaknesses for students who are identified as receiving special education services within Metro Nashville Public Schools. Moving forward, the Advisory Board will focus on assessment and community-based classroom opportunities.
Professor Shares Story of Salvation, Cultural Integration
The Bible was once just a reference book on a library shelf for Asian Studies Professor Qingjun Li. Then as a professor twice recognized as a “Teacher of Excellence” at Zhengzhou University in China, religion was taboo in academia.
“The education that I received was that there was no God, and there was no Savior in your world but you. Religion was like opium; it made your mind numb,” said Li, who grew up in China. “I never thought I could use the Bible for myself as a companion.”
She shared her story of “Finding Faith in the Land of the Dragon” during chapel on March 14. In China, the dragon stands as a symbol of power, good luck and achievement.
Then a friend named Sherri Love would share stories of Jesus Christ with Li, sometime for hours.
“She planted a seed in my heart, but I did not become a believer all of a sudden. I still had questions and struggles,” Li said. Love would mail her books on Christianity, and Li began attending church secretly in someone’s home with other Chinese intellectuals. Soon thereafter, a pastor from Hong Kong baptized her in a bathtub.
“After that, I had a shift, and I had someone to rely on. That was only the beginning of my faith,” she said.
Her journey with Christ continued to flourish as Li became a graduate student in the United States. She used the Bible, once just a reference book, to find comfort when she struggled with language barriers and cultural nuances using Corinthians 12:9, Philippians 4:4 and Psalm 23.
Li has a Ph.D. in English and is the author of three books.
