Arete Honors Magazine Spring 2020 by Middle Tennessee State University

UNIVERSITY HONORS COLLEGE MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY | SPRING 2020

A GRAND PIANO

Economics professor follows interest in public choice from Italy to MTSU

ANCESTRAL ADVOCATE

Transfer Fellow Gareth Laffely infuses history and hope into music

SPRING 2020

ARETÉ MAGAZINE is a twice-yearly publication of the MTSU University Honors College, distributed free to faculty, staff, alumni, and friends. DEAN John R. Vile EDITOR Marsha Powers UNIVERSITY EDITOR Drew Ruble CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Carol Stuart SENIOR DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE MARKETING SOLUTIONS Kara Hooper GRAPHIC DESIGNER Brittany Blair Stokes UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHERS Andy Heidt, J. Intintoli, James Cessna, and Cat Curtis Murphy UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT Sidney A. McPhee UNIVERSITY PROVOST Mark Byrnes VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS Andrew Oppmann CONTRIBUTORS Judy Albakry, Darby Campbell, Sandra Campbell, Teresa Carter, Laura Clippard, Anthony Czelusniak, Gina Fann, Austin Ford, April Goers, Jimmy Hart, Gina Logue, Susan Lyons, Philip E. Phillips, Morgan Posey, Nottely Seagraves, Vicky Travis, Ekaterina Valuiskaya, and Randy Weiler COVER PHOTO Ennio Piano, by J. Intintoli 2,500 copies, printed at Falcon Press, Nashville, Tenn. Designed by Creative Marketing Solutions 0120-8296 / Middle Tennessee State University does not discriminate against students, employees, or applicants for admission or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, disability, age, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, or any other legally protected class with respect to all employment, programs, and activities sponsored by MTSU. The Assistant to the President for Institutional Equity and Compliance has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies and can be reached at Cope Administration Building 116, 1301 East Main Street, Murfreesboro, TN 37132; Marian.Wilson@mtsu.edu; or 615-898-2185 The MTSU policy on nondiscrimination can be found at mtsu.edu/iec.

Photo by J. Intintoli

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Students

Faculty and Staff

Alumni and Friends

Class Notes

A GRAND PIANO

Economics professor follows interest in public choice from Italy to MTSU

BUCHANAN CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE

Political economists gather to honor Nobel winner’s 100th birthday

HIGHLIGHTING A LEGACY

Alumni who benefited from Buchanan award are beginning to make their own marks on the world

FROM THE DEAN�S DESK

Keep on Puffin!

engagingthanmoredifcult,Honorsstudentsasa group are overachievers, and when birds of a feather ocktogether,theyobservethosearoundthem.They often focus on students who are getting the best grades (sometimes seemingly effortlessly), garnering national awards, presenting their research, and qualifying for prestigious graduate and professional schools. Others are virtuosos in art, music, or theater. Many have mastered multiple languages. Just as in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is reputed to be king, so too, Honors students sometimes wish that they might be in an environment, perhaps like that of some of the high schools they once attended, where they stood academic head Members of the media were wowed when scientists and shoulders above their classmates. They might releasedavideoofanadorablepufnbirdinIceland rememberthattheirparentsonceproudlylmedtheir picking up a stick in July 2018 to scratch itself. This rststepandrecordedtheirrstword.Nowthey wasapparentlythersttimeanyonehadlmeda pressure themselves to execute academic cartwheels sea bird using a tool, and this discovery called into while effectively competing in an intellectual Olympics. question the familiar adage about individuals with By willingly joining the company of others with “bird brains.” They may be smarter than we thought! above-average talents, intellectual abilities, and Oneofmyrstreactionswastothinkhowattering motivations, Honors students set a higher bar against itwouldbetobetherstpersontoachieveany which to measure their own accomplishments. By positive accomplishment, especially one related to doing so, however, they are exercising and developing masteringtechnology.Ibeganthinkingofothertricks thatImightperformifIwereapufntoentertain their potential to its fullest. Itseemsunlikelythatonepufnwilleverincreas photographers and viewers. Recognizing the value of the beinghuman,Ialsomusedthatscientistshadyetto well-beingoffellowpufnsbyteachingthemhow identifythepufnbynameandguessedthatfellow to scratch themselves with a stick. But, by accepting pufnsprobablyhavenoideaofitsfame.Evenwere the challenges of an Honors education and aiming forchallengingcareers,Honorsstudentssignicantly thepufntowieldahammer,itisunlikelythatitwould contribute to the greater good. Although they garner recognition from its fellows. may feel that their own contributions are relatively meager compared to those of similarly gifted and ambitiouscompanions,mostwillnd—toborrow anotheraviananalogy—that,bymovingbeyondthe colonyofpufns,theywillhavethethrillofyingwith the eagles.

By accepting the challenges of an Honors education . . . students significantly contribute to the greater good.

John R. Vile

areté

A number of students who have won our highest scholarships fear that they may have been selected by mistake.OthersfallvictimtotheImposterSyndrome, noun (ahr-i-tey) where they focus on their own inadequacies and doubt their intellectual competence. the aggregate of qualities, as valor and virtue, making up good character Too often, Honors students put more pressure on themselves than their status warrants, and no wonder. EventhoughHonorscoursesaretypicallymore

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Students register to vote during Constitution Day 2019.

CONSTITUTION DAY 201 9 Honors Dean John R. Vile

Mary Evins, director of MTSU's American Democracy Project

Cody Maness

On-campus voter registration

Kylie Dykgraaf

Laura Morgan

Maya Swaminathan

Students waiting to read aloud from the Constitution

Tre Hargett, Tennessee secretary of state Students

NEW BUCHANAN FELLOWS INAUGURATED Twenty freshmen, including four out-of-state students, were inaugurated as Buchanan FellowsonSept.6atthePaulW.MartinSr. HonorsBuilding.The16in-statestudents represented 14 Tennessee high schools and one home school. SeniorBuchananFellowCassidy Johnson and junior Mark Blackmon welcomed the new scholars, and Buchanan Fellow alumna Tandra Martin (’15) challenged the group. Martin, aRhodesScholarshipnalistandFulbright Scholarshiprecipient,iscurrentlyprogram coordinatorfortheOfceofActiveCitizenship andServiceatVanderbiltUniversity. Honors Transfer Fellow Gareth Laffely provided music for the occasion.

Tandra Martin

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

The 2019 class of Buchanan Fellows

Mark Blackmon

Cassidy Johnson

Inauguration of new Buchanan Fellows

HONORS AMBASSADORS

Honors Ambassadors gather together to discuss plans for the Fall 2019 semester. Pictured are (l–r): front, Madonna Ghobrial, Gabriella Morin, and Georgey Weismann, and back, Cody Maness, Connor Chase, Roqué Marcelo, and Gareth Laffely.

GRANT TO BOOST TRANSFER EXPERIENCE The Jennings A. and Rebecca Jones Foundation has awardedtheHonorsCollegeagrantof$15,0ayear for each of the next three years in order to enhance the educational experiences of transfer students within the college. Whenmakingapresentationtothefoundation, Honors Dean John R. Vile pointed to the increasing number of transfer students that the college has been attracting and that “the best indicator of success in college is success in college.” Vile was joined by Gabriella Morin, who described her positive experiencesintheHonorsCollege,andbyGareth Laffely,atransferstudentfromVolunteerState CommunityCollege. The executive director of the Jones Foundation is Lisa Mitchell,whosesonClaytonwasanHonors student who subsequently went to pharmacy school.

The foundation is named for the founder of the former NationalSavingsLifeInsuranceCo.anddirectorof MurfreesboroBankandTrustCo.andhiswife,who servedasanofceranddirectorofthefoundation. The Jones Foundation seeks to encourage innovative nonprotprojects,primarilythroughinvestments in educational institutions driven by exceptional leadership, focused on serving motivated students. ThefoundationsupportstheChairsofExcellenceat MTSU’sJenningsA.JonesCollegeofBusiness. Vile notes that the funds will be used to support study abroad, registration fees for conferences, presentations at professional associations, submission costs for publications, and other educational enhancements that will increase the competitiveness ofMTSUstudents.

Students

PKP HOLDS FALL INITIATION CEREMONY

University mascot Lightning poses with the officers of MTSU’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi (l–r): Philip E. Phillips, John R. Vile, Maria Bachman, Gina Logue, Sandra Campbell, Jasmin Laurel, Beatriz Dedicatoria, Cody Maness, and Dianna Rust.

Honors Student Initiates

Seventy-threeofMTSU’sbrighteststudentsbecame membersoftheUniversity’smostprestigious honorsociety,PhiKappaPhi,inaNov.12initiation Jarod Ball ceremonyintheStudentUnionBallroom. ExerciseScience Jason Martin,interimdeanofMTSU’sWalker Mark Blackmon Library,servedaskeynotespeaker.Philip E. Phillips, SocialWork chapterpresidentandHonorsCollegeassociate Alyssa Chaney dean, presided over the initiation ceremony and presentationofcerticates.StudentvicepresidentTourism and Hospitality Management Cody Manessintroducedtheinuentialfaculty Daniel Cheek selected by new initiates. Accounting

Audrey Creel History Victoria Deckard Theatre/English Sandra Flavin Theatre Emily Gleason AnimalScience Rebecca King Video and Film Production Mary Evins (History) receives a membership certificate from Philip E. Phillips, MTSU’s PKP chapter president.

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Kaylee Lindgren SocialWork

Elizabeth Murphy Accounting Danny Ponder Psychology Steven Quinn AudioProduction Colleen Roberts Biology/Spanish Emily Rouse ExerciseScience George Schroeder Biology Allison Wheeley Marketing Spencer White Video and Film Production Ethan Young History

Jason Martin, Walker Library’s interim dean, delivers the keynote address.

Phillips presents a membership certificate to Rebekka King (Religious Studies).

Phillips recognizes influential faculty member Martha Hixon (English).

Buchanan Fellow Mark Blackmon is congratulated by Barbara Turnage, interim associate dean of the College Barbara Turnage and Edwards of Behavioral and Kimberly Health Sciences.

Judy Albakry,HonorsCollegeadvisor,andMary Evins (History), an Honors resident faculty member, also were initiated into the chapter. Members of the Honorsfacultyrecognizedasinuentialfacultywere Martha Hixon, Rebekka King, and Dianna Rust. ABOUT PKP PhiKappaPhi,establishedin1897torecognize excellence in all academic disciplines, continues that tradition today as well as engaging the community of scholars in service to others. Juniorinitiatesmustrankinthetop7.5%oftheir class,whileseniorsmustrankinthetop10%of their class.

Cody Maness introduces influential faculty chosen by PKP initiates. Students

TAKING HER SHOT

MTSU student veteran earns research experience at Yale By Marsha Powers

We’ve had to endure and systematically deal with all kinds of obstacles, and we just won’t quit.

“Marinesghttowin”accordingtotheU.S. MarineCorpswebsite,andMTSUstudentveteran TeresaCarteriscertainlynoexceptiontotherule. “We’vehadtoendureandsystematicallydeal with all kinds of obstacles, and we just won’t quit,”Cartersaidinastatementthatreectsher life story, including her recent application to a seemingly out-of-reach research opportunity at YaleUniversity. Carter,a26-year-oldPsychologyandpre-med Carterdecidedto“shoothershot,”thesame HonorsstudentatMTSU,lastspringapplied advice she offers others. for one of seven slots nationwide to participate And she was selected as a participant in the in a summer program that immerses student nine-weekResearchExperienceforVeteran veteransinresearch.Herlackofscienticresearch Undergraduates(REVU)programonYale’scampus. experience and a looming application deadline did Designed by Yale astrophysicist Marla Geha and not deter her.

Teresa Carter outside of the Martin Honors Building

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

supportedbytheHowardHughesMedicalInstitute, abouttheefcacyofphageU136Bonmultiple the new program offers opportunities for military strains of E. coli andcontributedtothescientic veterans interested in science careers to participate community’s ability to characterize the resistance of in real research. bacteria to phage. Carter,theonlystudentselectedfromTennessee, Carter,asoon-to-berst-generationcollege andsixotherstudentveteranstraveledtoNew graduate, grew up poor and wants to inspire others, Haven,Connecticut,wheretheywereimmersed suchasheronlysister’syoungson.Shealsowantsto in research projects in pathology, quantum make use of her strength, which is helping others. The physics, microbiology, geothermal dynamics, and presidentofMTSU’sBlueRaiderAmericanVeterans neuroscience led by senior faculty members. Organization(BRAVO),Carterisactiveincommunity Aself-describednerd,Carteracceptedand outreach with varied service organizations such as conquered the steep learning curve she encountered. Habitat for Humanity and local hospice centers. ShespentthesummerwithcolleaguesinPaul AstherstMarineinherfamily,Carterworkedve Turner’s Yale ecology and evolutionary biology lab, years in aviation maintenance, ensuring the safety of testing the reactions of antibiotic-resistant strains navigation, communication, and electrical systems. of E. coli bacteria to the introduction of bacterial ShetraveledfrequentlyandwasdeployedtoJapan phages—anenvironmentverydifferentfromher and Guam. worldasanavionicstechnicianonF-18ghterjets. Cartersaysshesawmentalhealthissuesinthe AccordingtoCarter’sprogrampresentation, military and realized how great it would be for “Let’sTalkAboutPhage,Baby:UsingGrowthCurves veterans and service members to have a doctor who toQuantifyBacterialResistancetoPhage,”the had been deployed and understood the resulting summer research yielded valuable information anxietyandpost-traumaticstressdisorder(PTSD).

Carter (l) with songwriter Marcus Hummon during the 2019 Operation Song, featuring area songwriters with veterans and student songwriters in the Bragg Media and Entertainment Building Students

Her goal is to become a psychiatrist and workwithveterans.InadditiontotheYale REVUprogram,Carterhadabackupplan lastsummer.Sheappliedandwasaccepted toaPTSDresearchprogramatSyracuse Universityandhadtochoosebetweenthetwo opportunities, both of which would provide valuable experience. AnativeofLongBeach,California,Carter is aiming high for medical school, just as in other areas of life. Her plan is to apply to Yale, NewYorkUniversity,UCLA,Vanderbilt,Emory, theUniversityofNorthCarolina,andother exceptional med schools. Sheadmitstoadmiringinspiringheroines and successful underdogs and lives a life inuencedbyherdad’sfavorite,oft-repeated quote, “A coward dies a thousand deaths, but abravemanonlyone.”Withinuencelikethat, no wonder she chooses to risk failure rather than miss an opportunity to be a successful underdog and inspiring heroine herself.

Jody Chamerlain (l–r), Marcus Hummon, Robert Jason, Carter, and Kwantisha Farmer during Operation Song

Carter with members of the Yale REVU group

Carter (l) at MTSU's inaugural Faculty and Staff Stole Ceremony

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Members of the 2019–20 Scientia et Humanitas staff include (l–r): front, Jenna Schull (editorin-chief) and Isabella Morrissey; and back, Jay Baldwin, Gabriella Morin (associate editor), and Katherine Mills.

English Professor Maria Bachman (l) and Honors Associate Dean Philip E. Phillips (r) pose with members of the newly revived Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society. Student members are (l–r): front, Chloe Creel and Gabriela Medellin, and back, Dawn Copeland, Nash Meade, and Tre’yana Ogilvie.

2019–20 SCIENTIA FALL 2019 STAFF

INTERDISCIPLINARY SEMINARS

SIGMA TAU DELTA MEMBERS Students

SOVIET UNION TO HONORS DEGREE Transfer Fellow excels at overcoming obstacles across the globe By Ekaterina Valuiskaya,

an Honors Transfer Fellow majoring in Finance

A field near Ekaterina Valuiskaya's home in Ukraine

Iwasbornin1987inUkrainewhenitwasstillcalled ComingtotheUnitedStateswaslikemovingto theUkrainianSovietSocialistRepublicandwas part planet.Everythingwassomuchdifferent another oftheUnionofSovietSocialistRepublics(USSR).IfrommylifeinUkraine.Allthemeasuresaredifferent donotrecallanythingabouttheSovietUnion,whichounces, Fahrenheit, miles, pounds, and yards. fellin19,butIdorememberthe190swhen Everyonedrivescars,everyonespeaksforeigntome, Ukrainebecameanindependentcountry.Itwasa andfoodisverydifferent.Ididnotknowasingle timeofrecessionandchaos.Workingpeoplewere person on a whole continent except my husband. not being paid for months, there was a shortage of Itwasscaryandexcitingatthesametimebecause food in grocery stores, and people struggled to make thereweresomanynewopportunities.Ithinkthe ends meet. most challenging for me was learning to drive a In204,Igraduatedfromhighschoolandwentto car.Iwasterriedofdriving,anditwasnoteasyto university.Englishwasmymajoreldofstudy,andI overcome my fear. earnedamaster’sdegreeinforeignlanguages.Upon In2018,IbecameacitizenoftheUnitedStates.It graduation,Iworkedasaninterpreterforseveral wasyears important for me to have the right to vote and and met my future husband, who happened to be participate in the life of a society, to have full rights American.In2013,wemarriedandcametotheUnited andresponsibilities.Ihavemyfamilyinthiscountry States.IneverthoughtIwouldleavemynativecountry now, have invested in my education, and plan to build and start my life all over on the other side of the world. a career here.

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

It was important for me to have the right to vote and participate in the life of a society. MyrstjobintheUnitedStateswasa seasonal position as a cashier in an outdoor gearstore.ItwasthenthatIdecidedtogo backtoschoolandlearnsomethingthatIcan use in this new country. Obviously, everyone spokeEnglishmuchbetterthanIdid,and myprofessionwasnotinhighdemand.I decided to apply to a community college acrossthestreetfrommyrstjob.Itwas SouthwestTennesseeCommunityCollege inMemphis,andImustsayitwasoneofthe bestdecisionsIevermadeinmylife.Imet many wonderful, inspiring, and smart teachers who truly became my mentors in this new country.IstudiedBusinessAdministration and earned an associate’s degree with a 4.0 GPAtwoyearslater.IappliedfortheHonors TransferFellowshipatMTSUandwaspicked fortheprogram.Itwasabighonorandabig responsibility.Writingathesis,thebiggest project of my bachelor’s degree, was worth all the hard work and gave me the valuable experience of being a researcher and a project manager.

Ekaterina Valuiskaya Students

DuringmystudiesatMTSU,Ichanged mymajortoFinancebecauseIfoundit more interesting and challenging. Both the JonesCollegeofBusinessandtheHonors Collegeopenedmanyopportunitiesformy professionallife.Ihadtwointernshipsduring my junior year, working as an intern for the Tennessee Valley Authority during my spring semester and interning at Alliance Bernstein thatsummer.LastspringIalsovisited historicalsitesinWashington,D.C.,and Virginia with the Honors study away trip. Iusedtothinkthathavinganinternational background made me inferior to others in thiscountry.NowIrealizethatitisoneof mybiggeststrengths.Ihavetheexperience of living in a different culture, speak several languages, am a very open-minded person, and feel comfortable traveling abroad and meetingnewpeople.Iwasstrongenough tostartmylifeoverinanewcountry.Iwill alwaysbegratefultoMTSUforgivingmea chance to change my life.

Valuiskaya in the Honors building

John R. Vile (l) and Valuiskaya during the 2018 Transfer Fellows inauguration

Sunflowers near Valuiskaya's home

I used to think that having an international background made me inferior to others in this country. Now I realize that it is one of my biggest strengths.

Valuiskaya's homeland of Ukraine

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Among those representing the Honors College at Gareth Laffely’s Spirit Song screening at the Tennessee State Museum were (l-r) Sarah and Gordon Bell, Laffely, Ella Morin, Dean John R. Vile, and Rebekka King.

MUSEUM SCREENS FILM WITH LAFFELY

Gareth Laffely,aseniorHonorsTransferFellowatMTSU,performed onatraditionalNativeAmericandrumandutesattheTennessee StateMuseum’sspecialscreeningofadocumentarythatfeatureshim. The movie, Spirit Song,waslmedatGeorgeLucas’famed SkywalkerRanchinCaliforniaandincludessongsfromthealbum Voices of the Guardians. The album is a collaboration between Laffely,aNativeAmericanutist,composer,andmusician,andLance Bendiksen,anEmmyAward-winningproducer,composer,andpianist, withnarrationbyWesStudi(Dances with Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans, Avatar). StateRep.HaroldLoveJr.attendedthefreescreeningNov.7and introducedLaffely,a2019winnerofTennesseehighereducation’s HaroldLoveOutstandingCommunityServiceAward.Twenty-ve Honors students, faculty, staff, and friends also traveled by bus to NashvilleforthescreeningandtheopportunitytoseeLaffelyperform in person. The21-year-old,whoseNativeAmericanancestrytracestothe Mi’kmaqandCreetribes,followedupthedocumentaryscreeningand performancewithaQ&Asession.NowaMarketingmajoratMTSU, LaffelywastheyoungestperformertoreachNo.2ontheBillboard NewAgeMusicTop10chartswhenhewasjust17. Spirit Song isanofcialselectionofthe2019AmericanDocumentary FilmFestivalandtheGeorgeLindseyUnaFilmFestival.

JannaKay Bevis

Laffely plays “Loons on the Water” on two flutes made by Cherokee flutemaker Tony Francis.

More info About Laffely andSpiritSong: garethmusic.com To hear his music on YouTube: bit.ly/laffely State Rep. Harold Love Jr. Students

MAGICAL AND MUSICAL MUSES Honors student explores extraordinary scene in NYC By Austin Ford,

a senior Buchanan Fellow majoring in Music

New York City's Theater District photo by 123rf.com

After spending over a year and hundreds of hours historicmagicshopsintheworld,andImetseveral developing and performing an intimate, formal variety local magicians there. showbasedonsuccessfulNewYorkCitymagicshows ThenearbySteinwaygalleryisabeautifulglass andjazzclubs,HonorsCollegefundingenabledmeto building with pianos displayed in rows, but the real traveltoNYClastMaytoseeseveralshowsrsthand.gallery, which only serious customers usually see, is Icouldn’taskforabetteradditiontomycollegedownstairs.Wewerefortunateenoughtotourthe education;theexperienceinformedmeasIwrotemy downstairs recital hall and studio, a large room with at Honors thesis, wrote a new parlor magic show, and least a hundred pianos, a workshop, and a room with prepared my senior recital. 10SteinwayB’s,whicharejustanotchbelowtheir concertgrand.Itwasapianist’sCandyland. Friday evening, we saw “The Magician,” Dan White’ssold-outshowatTheNoMadHotelin midtown.WhitehasperformedonThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon numerous times, and his show wastheoneIhadtosee.Thelong,dimlylitroom had a small stage at one end and magic memorabilia scatteredonthewalls.White’sshowincludeda mainstream/classic magic repertoire, with even a few effectsthatIdo.Itwasencouragingtoseeconcepts ItraveledwithJacksonBieger,aperformerand thatIusebeingperformedatahighlevelthatfeltwell writerforourlocalshow,“AnEveningOutofTime.” within my reach. WearrivedinNewYorkonaFridaymorningand That evening, we also heard the Greg Glassman began exploring midtown Manhattan. Two of my QuintetattheSmallsLivejazzclubinGreenwich favoritestopswereTannen’sMagicShopandthe Village. One of my favorite drummers, Jason Brown, SteinwayPianogallery.Tannen’s,locatedacrossfrom who has played with jazz greats Monty Alexander and theEmpireStateBuilding,isoneofthemostfamous, Joey DeFrancesco, was performing with Glassman

It was encouraging to see concepts that I use being performed at a high level that felt well within my reach.

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

that night, and they did not disappoint. The musicianship and improvisation were astounding, andIhadtheopportunitytotalkwithBrown,sax playerStaceyDillard,andpianistJeremyManasia after the show. SinceIregularlybuskperformingmagic,we walkedthelengthofCentralPark,aknownbusking hub,Saturdaymorning.Thereweremusiciansevery hundred yards or so and an impressive team of acrobats, who drew a large crowd. Their stunts were excellent,butIwasmostimpressedbytheirhighly successful busking techniques (seeking donations for streetperformances).Within20minutes,theymadea lot of money. Saturdayafternoonwasatriphighlight,seeing SteveCohen’sshow,“ChamberMagic,”a90-minute, formal,intimatemagicshowinaNewYorkPalace hotelparlorroom.Cohen’shighlypolishedshowwas withoutquestionthebestmanifestationoftheartI lovethatIhaveeverseen,andIamthankfultohave itnowasaNorthStarofsortstoguidemyjourneyas a magician. That evening, we went to a music club in the EastVillagetohearanexcitingnewartist,Sammy Rae, whose music is based in soul, with heavy inuencesofR&B,jazz,rock,andblues.SammyRae and her band, The Friends, performed a creative, high-energy concert to a packed house. Following the concert, we caught an hour-long show at the famousComedyCellar.Asahugestandupnerdanda comedic performer, it was a delight to see a show in that venue. OnSunday,wewatchedtalentedmiddleandhigh school-agejazzmusiciansplayattheJazzStandard’s “JazzforKids”show.LaterSundayevening,we enjoyed another trip highlight, the Village Vanguard, which is considered one of the greatest and most importantjazzclubsintheworld.Wesawachord-less quartet,featuringAntonioSanchezondrums,Scott Colleyonbass,andChrisPotterandDonnyMcCaslin ontenorsax.Itwasfarandawaythebestlivejazz I’veeverheard,anditwasoneofthemostexciting musicalexperiencesI’veeverhad. IamgratefultotheHonorsCollegeforgranting metheopportunitytoexperiencethetwoartsIlove so much at their very best in their best environment.

Austin Ford Students

WORTH ALL THE EFFORT Taking a chance on an email leads to last-minute China trip By Nottely Seagraves, a junior majoring in Accounting Nottely Seagraves in China

LastJune,IreceivedanemailfromtheHonorsCollege beforetheprogramstarted,Ireceivedanemailfroma with the subject line “Travel Opportunity,” which staffmemberoftheConfuciusInstituteheadquart immediatelycaughtmyattention.SinceIhaveahugeasking for my shirt size and travel plans. passionfortravel,Iimmediatelyreadtheemailand application for the program but quickly realized that this was probably not the trip for me. The application statedthatIwouldneedtocomeupwithastartup companyandwriteabusinessplan.NotonlydidI lack any knowledge about making business plans or have any existing ideas for a new company, but the applicationwasduebytheendofthatday.Iwasabout todeletetheemailandmoveon,butIdecidedthatI ItturnsoutIhadbeenaccepted,buttherehadbeen mightaswelljustapply.Nothingbadcouldresultsome from miscommunication.Iwassoexcited,butIcould applying,andasWayneGretzkyoncesaid,“Youmiss notgettoofaraheadofmyself.Istillhadtogureout 10%oftheshotsyoudon’ttake.” howIwouldpayformytravelsandgetavisaintime.I AcoupleofweekswentbyandIhadnotheard reachedouttotheHonorsCollege,rememberingthey backabouttheprogram,soIguredIhadnot had mentioned in the email that they could assist with been accepted and started working toward other travel expenses. The staff was incredibly helpful, and opportunities. You win some. You lose some, right? to my surprise, Dean John R. Vile was gracious enough Out of the blue, about a month later, just three weeks

I also really enjoyed being able to mark hiking on the Great Wall of China off my bucket list.

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

thediversityoftheparticipants.Iwastheonlystuden to award me a scholarship to cover all of my travel inthegrouprepresentingtheUnitedStates.Theothers expenses.Icouldnotbemorethankful. were from all over the world, and everyone was there Thisspur-of-the-momentdecisiontolloutan fordifferentreasons.Impressively,somealreadyhad application had turned into a once-in-a-lifetime successful businesses that operated in multiple other opportunitytotraveltoChinaforthreeweeks!Ihope countries and were hoping to expand their markets to my story proves to those reading this that it is always China.Thisgavemetheopportunitytolearnabout worth the time and effort to take advantage of and starting a business and about other cultures, pushed me apply for opportunities, no matter how far-fetched out of my comfort zone, and provided me the chance they may seem. tonetworkandmakeconnectionsaroundtheworld.I Throughouttherstweekoftheprogram,we also really enjoyed being able to mark “hiking on the had several lectures about entrepreneurship and the GreatWallofChina”offmybucketlist.Thesizeofthe businesscultureofChina.Wealsohostedabusiness GreatWallandthemountainviewswerebreathtaking. fair in which students from the local university came to Lastly,Ilovedthepublictransportationsystem.Itmad listen to our business proposals and to choose which aroundBeijingandShenzheneasy,even startuptheywouldinvestinhypothetically.Latertraveling that withoutknowledgeoftheChineselanguage. week, we presented our business proposals in front of a Mymostsignicanttakeawaysfromthetrip: panelofChineseinvestors.Thiswasagreatexperience •TheChinesebusinessmarketisverydifcult to practice giving a pitch and to receive feedback to enter, but having local connections helps from experts. drastically.Selectingabusinesspartnerislike Another major part of the program was visiting choosing a marriage partner. Chinesebusinesses.Theyrangedfromsmallerstartups • Make sure you have done research about the toglobalcompanies,suchasHuaweiandLenovo.My market you are hoping to enter before you twofavoriteswereXagandLenovo.Xagisadrone present to investors. company that focuses on researching and innovating • Jump at every opportunity, especially if it scares technology that makes farming more sustainable. you a little. Lenovoisahugetechcompany.Whenwevisited, •IlovetheChinesecultureandfood! we were able to take a tour and see the company’s Thiswillnodoubtbeatriptorememberandreect smart home devices, including a few that are still in on for my entire life. Thank you to everyone who made the process of being developed. This tour blew my mind.Ascheesyasitsounds,IfeltlikeIwasinthe it possible. P.S.Ihavebecomeanexpertatapplyingfora movie WALL-E. last-minuteChinesevisa,soreachouttomeifyoueve Apart from the educational and business components need some tips. of the program, another favorite aspect of the trip was

China group

Seagraves (r) and friend at the Great Wall Students

Payal Patel

HONORS FEATURED IN RESEARCH MAGAZINE George Schroeder

Tia Shutes

The forthcoming MTSU Research magazine, published UniversityinHonduras.TheresearchofHannah Hall bytheOfceofResearchandSponsoredPrograms, (’18) and current student Rebekkah Riley on grape features team research of Honors faculty and students tissue culture is also noted. inarticlesfocusedontheNorton/Cynthianagrape One article describes the tissue culture projects collaborative research between faculty members Tony of Kayla Thomas (’18), Xoe Thacker (’18), Payal Johnston(FermentationScience)andJohn Dubois Patel, Rachel Bailey, and Tia Shutes on the (Biology). industrialhempprojectthroughMTSU’sTennessee The publication highlights the research of current CenterforBotanicalMedicineResearch. Savannah and former undergraduate Honors thesis students, Lawwell’s research on industrial hemp breeding detailing the efforts of Amanda Uhls (’16)andNolan studies is included as well as the thesis research Jolley (’18) on propagation studies. Their theses of Cassandra Mihalko (’18)onanti-inammatory werecombinedandpublishedinMarch2018.Italso productsproducedbyaplantcalledKingofBitters describes research by Aimee Wilson (’18) on the and George Schroeder’s research on ginsenocide tissue culture of the grape, which led to a publication compounds in American ginseng. and her presenting her procedures at Zamorano 22

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

HALLOWEEN TREATS Georgey Weismann

Brianna Walker

Gareth Laffely (l) and Roqué Marcelo

Janelle Valdez

Dale Clifford

Pete Smith

Brittany Smith (l) and Nikki Parrish

Morgan Posey

Maria Hite Students

FALL 201 9 THESES DEFENDED

Aleana Boudle

Horse Science “RepeatabilityofTRHStimulation TestforEquinePituitaryPars IntomediaDysfunctionduringthe Months of February through June” John C. Haffner, advisor

Devin Adcox

Anthropology “Utilityof3DLaserScanningfor theVirtualCurationandMetric AnalysisofSkeletalRemains” Tiffany B. Saul, advisor

Kaleb Askren

Computer Science “ASurveyofDeepNeuralNetworks HandlingPlanDevelopment UsingSimulationsofReal-World Environments” Sal Barbosa, advisor

Joshua Brinegar

Concrete Industry Management “The Recreation and Feasibility of SulfurConcreteonMars” Heather J. Brown, advisor

Britney Brown

Animal Science “EvaluationofBreed,Milk Production,andUdder CharacteristicsonSomaticCell CountandUdderPathogensin LactatingHolsteinandJerseyCows” Jessica G. Carter, advisor

Rachel Bailey

Biology “TheEffectofElicitor StimulationonIndustrialHemp (Cannabis sativa) Varieties in a HydroponicSystem” John Dubois, advisor

Bonnie Carroll

Psychology “DoSituationalDifferencesExist BetweentheFatalShootingof ArmedVersusUnarmedPersons byLawEnforcement?” John T. Pennington, advisor

Montgomery Barreto

Accounting “AnalyzingFinancialLiteracy AmongUndergraduateStudents andCurrentMethodsofIncreasing FinancialLiteracy” Keith J. Gamble, advisor

Brianna Bauman

Mechatronics Engineering “GirlScoutsSTEMWeekend CampBadge-EarningWeekend LessonPlan” Eric Klumpe, advisor

Daniel Cheek

Accounting “APlanforBeckettTimepieces” Adam Smith, advisor

Christopher Cowherd

Political Science “OntheNecessaryPreconditionsfor aJustSocialOrder:Presuppositional Anarcho-CapitalismasaResponse totheConsequentialistand DeontologicalSchools” Daniel J. Smith, advisor

Lillian Beck

Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology “CorrelationBetweenMeanLength ofUtterancesinPreschoolers andDifferentMaternalEducation Backgrounds” Kathryn Blankenship, advisor

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Audrey Creel

History “TheUntoldStoryofthe ManeySlaves” Lynn A. Nelson, advisor

Nicholas Cummings

Recording Industry “DocumentingUndergroundMusic inNashvillethroughPhotography” John Dougan, advisor

Anthony Czelusniak

Public Relations “InvestigatingtheRationalefor SocialMediaUsebyNashville Nonprots” Matthew P. Taylor, advisor

Beatriz Dedicatoria

English/Video and Film Production “SPEAKNOW!ALookat DiversityatMTSU” Poushali Bhadury

Caitlyn Ellis

Global Studies “ASnapshotofIsraeliReligion” Karen K. Petersen, advisor

Tatum England

Community and Public Health “CaregiversorDrugPushers? AnExaminationofMedical PractitionerStigmaand EmphaticCommunication towardOpioidUse” Mary E. Asbury, advisor

Michaela George

Aerospace “TheHistoryandEvolutionofthe NASAFOCUSLab” Andrea Georgiou, advisor

Josie Dowd

Emily Gleason

Anna Marie Duchac

Lisa Hardie

Rachel Eccles

Cassidy Johnson

Animation “BugPlanet” Richard W. Lewis, advisor

Physics/History “HistoryofWomenAstronauts” Chuck Higgins, advisor

Biology “TheHumanPapillomavirus: BarriersandInitiatives” John Dubois, advisor

Josiah Ediger

Audio Production “LevelsandLeitmotifs:Creating anImmersiveExperiencethrough Video Game Music” Matthew C. O’Brien, advisor

Horse Science “PerceptionsofPracticesUsed inEquine-AssistedActivitiesand Therapies:ASurvey” Andrea Rose Rego, advisor

Psychology “InvestigatingEmotionand Gender Differences Associated withEncodingandRecognition” James R. Houston, advisor

Audio Production/Media Management “A Journey Through Dance” Angela S. Ramos, advisor

Seth Jones

Foreign Languages “ChristianityandBiblical Translations in Japan” Philip E. Phillips, advisor

Students

Kerry Keitzman

International Relations “TheRoleofWomen’sEducation intheRateofInfantMortalityin Sub-SaharanAfrica” Stephen D. Morris, advisor

Anuradha Nugawela

Information Systems “WagePenaltyAssociatedwith MLBStartingPitchersinCorrelation toTommyJohnSurgeryat Free Agency” Michael A. Roach, advisor

Gareth Laffely

Marketing “RealNarrativesBenetNative PeoplesandSustainableTourism: TheCultureConnectionbetween NativeAmericanCultureandTravel Marketing” Carroll Van West, advisor

Zachary Lay

Biology “IsolationandIdenticationof FungalEndophytesPresentinVitis aestivalis Originating from Vineyards LocatedinVirginiaandNewYork inComparisontoMid-Western/ SouthernStates” Rebecca L. Seipelt-Thiemann, advisor

Biology “InducingSomaticEmbryogenesis inIndustrialHemp(Cannabis sativa) TissueCallus” John D. Dubois, advisor“

Samir Qattea

Mechatronics Engineering “TheFlintWaterCrisis:ACase StudyofHowInternalMotivations withinLocal,State,andFederal SystemsCausedaCity’sDownfall” Daniel J. Smith, advisor

Sunny Lusins

George Schroeder

Morgan Marshall

Robyn Sessler

Josh Martin

Tia Shutes

Forensic Science “The Relation between Behavioral andEmotionChangesinPatients during Their Treatment and PerceptionsofFamilyInvestment” Michelle Boyer-Pennington, advisor

Theatre “She’stheMan:TheContext andImportanceofSarah Siddon’sHamlet” Katie J. Goodwin, advisor

Animation “VRMediaArtsInteractiveExhibit” Rodrigo Gomez, advisor

Jon-Thomas Neely

Exercise Science “TheEffectsofRunningwith aPartneronCardiovascular PerformanceandMotivation” Sandra L. Stevens, advisor

Payal Patel

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Biology “ComparisonofGinsenoside ProlesinDifferentAgeGroupsof RedandWhiteAmericanGinseng (Panax quinquefolius) Roots” John D. Dubois, advisor

Psychology “TheEffectsoftheFiveFacets ofMindfulnessonPositiveand NegativeRelationshipQuality” Cameron L. Gordon, advisor

Biology “InitiationandCannabinoid Assessment of Trichomes on IndustrialHemp(Cannabis sativa)” John D. Dubois, advisor

Robin Smith

Psychology “ExplorationofEthics” Ellen R. Donovan, advisor

Meena Swaminathan

Marketing “CollegeStudents’Awareness, Attitudes, and Buying Behaviors InvolvingSustainableMethodsin theTextileIndustry” DeAnna S. Kempf, advisor

Marissa Turner

Biology “TheDistributionandPopulation BasedPredictorsofFoodborne IllnessIncidencebyCountyin Tennessee,2015–2017” Kahler W. Stone, advisor

Ekaterina Valuiskaya

Finance “CorporateSocialResponsibility in Business-to-Business and Business-to-ConsumerCompanies: NucorCorporationandStarbucks Corporation” Don P. Roy, advisor

Grant Waldron

Wyatt Weatherford

Marketing “ThingsGoBetterwithNostalgia: HowtheCoca-ColaCompanyUses BrandStorytellingtoInuenceIts MarketingEfforts” Timothy R. Graeff, advisor

Allison Wheeley

Marketing “AssessingtheEffectivenessof Advertising in Video Games” Tricia M. Farwell, advisor

Angela Womack

Sociology/Psychology “Women’sExperiences with Relapse” Ariana E. Postlethwait, advisor

Psychology “TeachingTruthThroughFiction: AStudyinC.S.Lewis” Joan E. McRae, advisor

Students from Cleveland State and Motlow State community colleges pay a late November visit to MTSU’s Honors College.

FUTURE RAIDERS? Students

CLASS OF TRANSFER FELLOWS WELCOMED Twenty-nine new Honors Transfer Fellows participated in the annual fall inaugurationSept.13intheMTSUStudentUnionBallroom. Transfer Fellow alumnus Lee Rumble(’16,’19),whopreviouslyattended NashvilleStateCommunityCollege,challengedthenewstudentsinhisaddressto thegroup.Rumble,acertiedarborist,earnedhisB.S.inPlantandSoilScienceas anHonorsstudentandthencompletedanM.S.inBiologyatMTSU. SeniorTransferFellowsKaylee Lindgren(SocialWork),agraduateofWalters StateCommunityCollege,andRoqué Marcelo(VideoandFilmProduction),a transferstudentfromCumberlandUniversity,welcomedthenewstudents.Honors Dean John R. Vile introduced Honors Transfer Fellows faculty member Maria Bachman,wholedtherecitationoftheHonorsCreed. Academic Advisor Judy Albakry facilitated the students’ signing of the Honors College’sBook of Town and Gown.

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Pictured following the 2019 Transfer Fellows inauguration are (l–r): front, Dean John R. Vile, Leah Seir, Carina Vazquez Nunez, Emily Stafford, Hannah Monday, Morgan Smith, and Maria Bachman; second row, Isabella Morrissey, Lilliana Napier, Savanna Tucker, Haley Brazel, Briana Sands, and Abigail McArthy; third row, Makayla Barrett and Natalie Foster; fourth row, Esteban Sanchez, Dale Shackleford, Drew Bray, Summer Pritchard, Karen Cranston, Matthew Parris, Luke Arnold, and Alan Webb; fifth row, Judy Albakry, Antonio Chioccio, Terryn Seaton, Kayleigh Payne, and Lee Rumble; and sixth row, Nathan Wahl, Tyler Christian, Andrew Modaff, Jonathan Locke, John Lichtman, and Roqué Marcelo. Students

ODK ADDS 23 MEMBERS TheMTSUcircleofOmicronDeltaKappa(ODK)Leadership HonorSocietyinitiated23newmembersNov.14.ODK nationalMissionCommitteememberMatthewHibdon,a chartermemberofMTSU’sODKcircleandcurrentCollege ofLiberalArtsstrategiccommunicationsmanager,initiated newmembersandofcers.HonorsCollegeresidentfaculty memberMaryEvins(History),whoalsodirectsMTSU’s AmericanDemocracyProject,wasthespeakerfortheevent. Studentofcersfor2019–20areTatumEngland,president; NathanWahl,vicepresident;BrianSharber,serviceproject coordinator;andTammyNunez,secretary.

Vile and Brady Lundt Nathan Wahl, ODK vice president

ABOUT ODK OmicronDeltaKappa,foundedin194,istherst national college honor society to give recognition and honor for meritorious leadership and service in extracurricular activities and to encourage development of general campus citizenship. The society recognizes achievement in the areas of scholarship; athletics; journalism, speech, and the mass media; creative and performing arts; and campus/community service, social/religious activities, and campus government. Mary Evins, History and American Democracy Project

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Students initiated into Omicron Delta Kappa

New Initiates Jarod Ball

CodyManess

Mark Blackmon

Gabriella Morin

CatherynBolick

Ashlin Murphy

Arielle Brooks

Jada Murriel

MeredithCraig

EmilyOppmann

AudreyCreel

MichelleSchmidt

Jori Graeff

MollyScott

Turner Hamilton

Marissa Turner

SarahJones

EmilyWebb

GarethLaffely

SierraWiencek

KatelinMacVey

MaryEvins

Sabrina Washington

Matthew Hibdon, strategic communications manager of the College of Liberal Arts

Molly Scott

Abigail McArthy

For more information about ODK, contact Susan Lyons, MTSU circle coordinator, at 615-898-5645 or susan.lyons@mtsu.edu. Initiates take the ODK membership oath. Students

ICE CREAM SOCIAL

Nathan Wahl

Emily Oppmann (l–r), Sarah Jones, Anna Levine, Channing Mullinax, Nate Parris, and Nathan Scott

Buchanan Fellows (l–r) Liam McBane, Alyssa Chaney, Miquellie Bonner, and Mark Blackmon Pete Smith

Ashlin Murphy

Emma Beard, Hope Scott, and Owen Tadych

Honors Ambassadors (l–r) Chase Connor, Roqué Marcelo, Madonna Ghobrial, and Cody Maness

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

John Dubois (l) and Philip E. Phillips

STUDENTS CONTRIBUTE TO WIKIPEDIA

has become about editing or creating Literaturecantakeustotimesandlocationsinencyclopedia our new content. world that we may have never seen or experienced before.StudentsinProfessorJoan McRae’s Foreign “OneofthethingsIamstrugglingwithinworking with LiteratureinTranslationclasstookthisjourney andWikipediaisthewiderpublicperceptionsofit— the 10-years-ago perception when anybody could do createdsixnewWikipediapagesaboutnovelsreleased anything,” she said. “That is not the case at all. Yes you outsideoftheUnitedStates. can add, but if your addition is not properly sourced it Two of the new pages focus on novels originally will get taken away.” published in French. Suzanne, a bestseller in Quebec McRae developed the project in recent years and other French-speaking areas, is an awardwith Jean Reese, coordinator of instructional media winning biographical novel about poet and painter resourcesatMTSU'sWalkerLibrary,tointegratean SuzanneMeloche,whoisthegrandmotherofthe information literacy component into humanities courses book’sCanadianauthorAnaïsBarbeau-Lavalette.The by assigning students to create scholarly content and second novel, Incest,waspublishedin19byFrench authorChristineAngot.Asactionalizedbiography disseminateittothepublicthroughWikipedia. orautoction,theauthorandtheprotagonistinthis TheWikipediaeditingandcreationprojectwas rstusedlastspringinHUM2610H:ForeignLiterature work share the same name and occasionally the same in Translation, a course that is required for Buchanan experiences. Fellows and counts toward general education AnothertwopagesfeatureSpanishlanguageworks, requirements. The project has been extended to ArgentinianauthorSamantaSchweblin’s2014horror some graduate-level classes novel Fever Dream, which takes inspiration from OtherprofessorswhowouldliketoincludeWikiped the environmental problems in Argentina, and The editing as a learning tool in their classes can visit Transmigration of Bodies,a2013post-apocalypticnovel teach.wikiedu.org and gain access to free tools, online by Mexican author Yuri Herrera. trainings, and printed materials. McRaereceivedoneofMTSU’s2019Outstanding AchievementinInstructionalTechnologyawardsforAs part of the process, McRae led a group of students to France earlier this year to visit locations to the ongoing project to use the creation and editing of be highlighted in their pages. WikipediaarticlesaspartofherDepartmentofWorld “ThebiggestthingIfoundattheendishowexcited Languages,Literatures,andCulturesclasses. andsatisedstudentswerethattheirwork,thatthey Wikipedia,aneasywaytolearnaboutnewconcepts had spent hours putting together, instead of going in or topics, welcomes additions from students and instructors using the site as an educational tool. mylecabinetwasoutforeveryonetosee,”shesaid. “We’reworkingonestudentatatime,onearticle“They ata are so proud they can’t wait to tell mom or their friends, time,tobuildupthereputationofWikipedia,”she said. ‘Ihavebeenpublished.'Itmakesitreal.’” McRaesaidthoseskepticalofWikipediainitsearly Craig Myers, editor of MTSU’s ITDCommunicator, days might be surprised at how stringent the online contributed to this report. Students

ON THE COVER

a grand 34

PIANO

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

ON THE COVER

Economics professor follows interest in public choice from Italy to MTSU By Anthony Czelusniak, a senior Honors Transfer Fellow majoring

in Journalism, MTSU PRSSA president, and Collage editor-in-chief

ecause he originally wanted to become a war correspondent,EnnioPianostartedhisacademic career by studying history. “To me, to be a good journalist you needed to be a good historian,” he said. “You can imagine my parents weren’t very excited about that. They wanted me to become a doctor.” Piano,whowasbornandraisedontheItalianislandof Sardinia,startedhisjourneyasareporterbyspendingabit of time writing for a website for free and then for a small national paper. However, his experience working in the world of journalism wasn’t quite as in-depth as he would have liked. “You don’t get a chance to really learn a lot about any one individual topic, so that was very frustrating to me,” he said.

The Honors College wanted to have somebody here that recognizes Buchanan as an important figure in economics. PianohasnowfoundahomeatMTSUasanassistant professorofEconomicswithintheHonorsCollegeandwith thenewPoliticalEconomyResearchInstitute.Butittook a couple of stops around the globe before he settled in Murfreesboro—andevenonhiscurrentcareer. Leavingjournalismbehind,Pianowentall-inonthe scholarlysideofthingsandnishedhisHistorydegreeat theUniversitàdegliStudidiSienainTuscany.Hewasthen givenascholarshiptoearnadoctorateinHistory—adegree he would soon move away from after a chance encounter in Rome with a group of economists that sparked his passion for theeld. “They converted me,” he said.

Ennio Piano, Honors Economics professor, by J. Intintoli On the Cover

ON THE COVER

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BUCHANAN Another famous economist that studied public Atrst,Pianotriedtomergehisstudiesineconomics choicetheory?NoneotherthanMTSUalumnusJames andhistoryinanattempttobringtheeldstogether, Buchanan, who also taught at George Mason and but he met resistance from the History faculty. wontheNobelPrizeinEconomicsforhisworkasthe “Wedidn’thaveanyeconomichistoriansinthe architect of public choice theory. Although Buchanan department, and none of the professors were willing diedbeforePianostartedstudyingthere,hisdoctoral to work with me,” he said. advisor was a student of Buchanan’s, which provided a Pianotoldthefacultythathewasonlywillingtounique nish connection to the late economist. his degree there if he could work on economic history. PianopartiallycreditsthisconnectiontoMTSUwith Theschoolheldrm,andPianowasofftoanother helpinghimlandthejobintheHonorsCollege,where collegeand,infact,anothercountryentirely—totheBuchanan’sgiftstotheUniversitynowsupportthe UnitedKingdom. HonorsCollege’sBuchananFellowshipprogram. King’sCollegeLondonwaswherehebeganhis TheHonorsCollege“wantedtohavesomebody graduatestudiesinEconomics.Pianoknewheneeded here that is knowledgeable about Buchanan’s work a bit of help in mathematics before diving into a andthatrecognizesBuchananasanimportantgure doctoralprogram,andKing’sCollegewastheplaceheineconomics,”Pianoexplained. wouldndit.Theultimategoal,however,wasacross the pond. HISTORY AND POLITICS IN THE U.S. HehadalreadydecidedonGeorgeMasonUniversity Nowthatheisgettinghisfeetunderneathhim, inVirginia,andacoupleoffactorsledhimtoGMU, PianolookstohisfutureatMTSU. where he would earn his doctorate. One of the people “MiddleTennesseeStateUniversityoffersaPh.D. whointroducedhimtoeconomicstalkedaboutGMU inEconomics,andsoitwouldgivemeanopportunity inapositiveway.But,morethanthat,Pianofounda to work with graduate students and teach graduate specicsubsetofeconomicsthatresonatedwithhim: classes eventually,” he said. publicchoicetheory.PianoexplainedpublicchoiceOutsidetheclassroom,Pianohasmadesome theory is a purely positive science of human behavior observations about the culture surrounding politics and is a way to try to explain why things happen intheU.S. in society. 36

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

ON THE COVER

“Americans are much more aware of their history do,Nashvillehasnationalsportsteams,ithasabig inawaythatEuropeancountriesnecessarilyaren’t musicculture,andNashvilleisbecomingoneofthe and have an awareness of the social problems that centers for good food.” are associated with that history,” he said. Pianoalsosharedafewofthethingshedislikes, TheprofessorexplainedthatinItaly,thefocussaying, ison “Idon’tparticularlylovethecar-basedcultur contemporaryissues,butthat,“IntheUnitedStates, whichit’snotlikepeoplehaveachoice,butIliketob that’s not the way people frame political discourse and able to walk to a restaurant or café. That is basically politicalconict.TheylookattheCivilWarorother impossible to do here.” historical issues.” ButMTSU,discussingtheupsanddownsoflivingin PianocreditsthiswiththefactthatintheU.S., Tennessee,andAmericanpoliticsarenotPiano’swhole historyismuchmorepopularthanitisinItaly,and life. He is a man with sophisticated, and sometimes that he sees a connection between historical and peculiar, tastes. current issues. Whenaskedabouthisfavoritegenreofmusic,Piano “There is very much a divide that is a sociological said he listens to classical music the most, but there divide and an economic divide that has its roots [in isacaveat:“I’mnotreallyamusicperson.Mybest historical issues] today,” he said. friend is a classical musician, he’s a bass player, so he’s Whileitwouldbeunderstandabletoassumethat inuencedmytasteinmusic.ButIcan’tsayIamavery hisroleasanEconomicsprofessoriswhyhehasan cultured classical music listener.” Forhisfavoritetelevisionshow,Pianosaidthat“I interest in American politics, the biggest reason is that am attracted and drawn to cleverness, and so clever he’s been interested in American politics and culture comedytendstowinovereverythingforme,soI since he was young. “I’vealwaysfollowedAmericancultureand would say Arrested Development.” Americanpoliticsmorethan[Italian]politicsand And even when asked about his favorite piece of art, Piano [Italian]culture.IwatchedmoreAmericanmovies and gaveabitofpause.Afteramoment,and betweenafewchuckles,hesaid,“It’saweirdpiece TVshowsthanmypeersgrowingup,”Pianosaid.“I rememberbeingupuntilveinthemorningforthe ofart,it’saGoya.It’s Saturn Devouring His Son.” 2008 elections when Obama won.” Pianoexplainedthathesawthegruesomepainting inaSpanishmoviewhereoneofthecharactersis Francisco Goya. “At the end of the movie they show IMMERSION INTO THE CULTURE this painting, and it was so striking to me.” WhilehehasnotbeeninmiddleTennesseeforvery long,Pianoisenjoyinglifeinthearea,andhelistedaWithaworkethicrivalingthatofBuchanan,when askedabouthisfavoriteleisureactivity,Pianoco few of his favorite parts of living in the region. helpbutlaughashesaid,“Leisure?What’sthat?” “Peopleareverynice,whichisastereotype,butit’s A verytrue,”hesaid.“IntermsofthingsIcan’twaitto

Students

Members of the Fall 2019 Collage: A Journal of Creative Expression staff at the August meeting are (l–r): front, Kelsey Keith, Nathan Wahl, Moose Williams, Bae Dedicatoria, Brenna Sharpe, Kate Carter, Hannah Tybor, George Boktor, and Anthony Czelusniak; second row, Hanan Beyene, Shannon Byrd, Emily Stafford, Simone Strange, and Ivy Torbett; third row, Isabella Morrissey, Lucy Crow, Elizabeth Clippard, Tanzeena Karim, and Allyson Bivvins; fourth row, Nibraas Khan, Niki Yonkov, Katelin MacVey, Leslie Bell, Janine Martin, Lisa Hardee, Zöe Haggard, Madeline Quinby, and Ty Morris; and back, Brian Sharber. Staff members not pictured are Emma Bradley, Evelyn Watson, Karen Cranston, Arif Bashar, and Katrina Scott.

COLLAGE ISSUES CREATIVE AWARDS Sixtalentedstudentsfromavarietyofmajorswon CreativeExpressionAwardsfortheirsubmissions to Collage: A Journal of Creative Expression. The fall journal staff selected the winners by secret ballot from among the semester’s highest-rated works out of about 400 overall submissions. One winner is chosen from each of six major genres, witheachreceivinga$75prize. ABOUT THE AWARDS LiteraturewinnersreceivetheMarthaHixon CreativeExpressionAwards,namedinhonorof theEnglishprofessorandlong-timesupporter of CollageandtheHonorsCollege.VisualArts winnersreceivetheLonNuellCreativeExpression Award, named in memory of the much-respected artprofessorandHolocausteducatoratMTSU who died in 2008.

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Poetry Addison Gentry was recognized for the poem “Three in the Morning on the Fourth of July.” The seniorismajoringinEnglish TeacherLicensurewithminorsin SecondaryEducationandWriting.

Prose Matthew Parris, a junior, won a Martha Hixon CreativeExpression Awardforthection piece“CharcoalFigures.” The Honors Transfer Fellow fromTreveccaNazarene UniversityismajoringinEnglish withaconcentrationinLiteracyStudies.

Art Lucy Crow, wonaLonNuell CreativeExpressionAwardfor Boys Will Be Boys, There’s No Other Choice,a48-by-72-inch collage,picturedatright.Crowisa freshman majoring in Animation with a minor in Art.

Audio Ashley Johnson, the winner for The Suburbs, is a RecordingIndustrymajorwith aconcentrationinCommercial Songwriting.Theseniorisminoring inMusicIndustry.

Boys Will Be Boys, There’s No Other Choice by Lucy Crow

Video Shelby Stewart, a junior, received the award for Outside. StewartismajoringinVideo andFilmProductionand inMediaandEntertainment withanInterdisciplinaryMedia concentration.

Photography

All Knowing Mother by Adriana Klika

Adriana Klika, a freshman, won for All Knowing Mother, pictured at left. The Biology major’s concentration is in Organismal BiologyandEcology. Students

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Buchanan CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE

Political economists gather to honor Nobel winner’s 100th birthday

op scholars in political economy from around the world gathered in Murfreesboro last fall for a conference celebratingthe10thbirthdayoflateMTSUalumnus andNobellaureateJamesBuchanan. TheDr.JamesM.BuchananCentennialBirthdayAcademic Conference,heldOct.2–5atEmbassySuitesandonMTSU’s campus, was designed to “celebrate, honor, and build on James M. Buchanan’s scholarly legacy in his hometown,” according to Daniel J. Smith,directorofMTSU’sPolitical EconomyResearchInstitute(PERI). “James Buchanan would have been very happy to see this group of scholars contribute to a conference in his honor,” said Ennio Piano,MTSUassistantprofessorofEconomicswhotook part in the conference. Among the participants were some of Buchanan’s closest colleagues and students going back to the1960s. “Most importantly, and a real testament to his legacy, many of the presenters were junior scholars, themselves students of Buchanan’s own students. As an academic entrepreneur, he would have seen the relevance of the fact that the tradition he contributed to establish is alive and well in today’s academy,” addedPiano,anHonorsandPERIfacultymember. ARutherfordCountynative,Buchanangraduatedfrom MTSUin1940andreceivedthe1986NobelMemorialPrizein EconomicSciencesforhisleadershipindevelopingthepubli choice theory of economics. The welcoming address from Peter J. Boettke of the MercatusCenteratGeorgeMasonUniversityinVirginia traced Buchanan’s academic life. Jay Cost of the American EnterpriseInstitutedeliveredakeynoteaddressoncampus

Faculty

Daniel J. Smith, director of MTSU’s Political Economy Research Institute

Jay Cost, American Enterprise Institute

Buchanan birthday cake

which was open to the public. A reception followed SomepresentationswerefacilitatedbyMTSU’s inWalkerLibrary’sBuchananRoom,whereareplica Michael Federici, chair of the Department of ofBuchanan’sNobelmedallionisfeaturedandhis PoliticalScienceandInternationalRelations;Honor bronze bust is displayed. CollegeDean John R. Vile,whoisaPoliticalScience Conferencesessionscenteredonvetopics: professor;andPiano.VileobservedthatBuchanan’s InuencesonJamesM.Buchanan,Democracy, own approach was interdisciplinary and that the Constitutions,TheAcademyandResearchinPublic conference thus provided a good venue for political Choice,andAppraisalsandExtensions. scientists as well as economists. “The quality of the submitted papers pays a ttingtributetoJamesM.Buchanan’slegacyof groundbreaking scholarship by advancing our understandingofpoliticaleconomy,”Smithsaid. Through an arrangement with Public Choice editorin-chiefWilliamF.ShughartII(UtahStateUniversity), papers presented at the conference and written by recognized scholars in political economy are being considered for a special issue of the academic journal, providing the opportunity to magnify the impact of the scholarly work featured at the conference. “Importantly,theconference,byintroducingthese Scholarsfromthroughoutthenationandworld— visiting scholars to our own faculty and graduate includingKing’sCollegeLondon,theUniversity students, creates the possibility for future scholarly ofMontpellierinFrance,SapienzaUniversityof discourseandcollaboration,”Smithsaid.“Ourhope Rome,theUniversityofVienna,WalkerEucken isthateventssuchasthis,alongwithPERI’sfellowship InstitutinGermany,ArizonaStateUniversity,Westandfacultysupport,willsolidifyMTSU’sPh.D.in VirginiaUniversity,TexasTechUniversity,andDuke Economicsprogramasapremiereplaceforstudying University—gavepresentations. public choice.”

James Buchanan would have been very happy to see this group of scholars contribute to a conference in his honor.

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Buchanan is widely recognized as a key founder The fall conference was not all work and no oftheeldofpublicchoice,whichapplieseconomic play.Fridayfollowingthenalsession,interested reasoning to the public’s understanding of political participantstraveledtoLynchburgforlunchatMiss outcomesandthepoliticalinstitutionsthatMary inuence Bobo’s,whereCarolynMidgett,wifeofHonors those outcomes. Board of Visitors member Don Midgett, served as Buchanan’sgiftstotheUniversityHonorsCollege hostess for the visitors. The group also toured Jack support the prestigious Buchanan Fellowship Daniel’s Distillery. A program,establishedin206byMTSUPresident SidneyA.McPheetoattracttopscholarsfromacross the state and country. PriortotheestablishmentoftheBuchanan Fellowship,theUniversitybeganawardinga BuchananScholarshiptorecognizetopstudents in197.WhenvisitingMTSUthatyeartoaddress therstBuchananScholarshiprecipients,Buchanan said,“Economics,thedisciplinethatwastobemy scientichome,requiresexpositorywritingskills, logical structures of analysis, and grounding in ultimate reality. And political economy, the branch of moral philosophy from which economics springs, requiresphilosophicalcoherence.Icameawayfrom Middle Tennessee with all of these.”

Cost speaks to guests.

John R. Vile, dean of MTSU's Honors College

Peter Boettke, George Mason University

Honored guests and presenters at the Buchanan Conference Faculty

From Farming to the Nobel Prize JamesM.Buchanan,a1940graduateofthen-named MiddleTennesseeStateTeacher’sCollege,oftennoted that the life of scholarly endeavor and accomplishment he had led was not even imaginable to him as a child growingupinruralRutherfordCounty.Hismotivationto pursue a higher education was simply that to do so was “better than plowing.” Although he was the grandson of a Tennessee governor, he and his family experienced thesamenancialhardshipscommontomanyinmiddle Tennesseeduringthe1930s. Buchanan attended country schools and lived at home onhisfamily’sfarmwhileattendingMTSTC.Hepaid for his undergraduate education by doing farm work. A studentwhoeventuallygraduatedwithmajorsinEnglish, social sciences, and mathematics, he wrote that the reasonheenteredtheeldinwhichhebecamefamous— economics—wasthatMTSTCPoliticalScienceprofessor C.C.Simshelpedarrangeafellowshipforhimtoattend graduate school. Otherwise, Buchanan speculated, he would have become a high school teacher or taken a job in a bank. Buchanan’s radically different ideas about the intersections of economics, politics, and public policy andhiswillingnesstochallengemajorityviews— combinedwithhardworkandlonghours—ledtothe NobelMemorialPrizeinEconomicSciencesin1986. Buchanan’s leadership in developing the public choice theory of economics is now universally recognized. InBetter than Plowing and Other Personal Essays, Buchananwrote,“InasenseIdoembodysomething of the American myth of social mobility. For how many farm boys from middle Tennessee, educated in tiny, poor, and rural public schools, and at a struggling statenancedteachers’college,havereceivedNobelPrizes? . . . The simple fact that my selection offered hope and encouragement to so many . . . had been, when all is said and done, the most gratifying aspect of the whole experienceof‘Nobelity.’”

In a sense I do embody something of the American myth of social mobility. For how many farm boys from middle Tennessee . . . have received Nobel Prizes? 44

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MTSU President Sidney McPhee (l) presents Buchanan an obelisk in 2011 to honor his contributions and professional achievements.

Jeff Whorley, Buchanan's nephew, speaks at the James Buchanan Celebration of Life in 2013.

McPhee presents Liz Bradley, younger sister of Buchanan and MTSU alumna, with Buchanan's honorary doctorate at a 2013 commencement.

Sculptor Tracy H. Sugg (l) and Bradley unveil the James Buchanan bust at MTSU in 2015.

Mission of PERI

Daniel Smith, director of the Political Economy Research Institute, hosted the Economics and Free People Colloquium. The round-table discussion involved students and visiting professor Art Carden, an associate professor of Economics at Samford University.

Smith, director of MTSU's new Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), presents on “The Political Economy and Economic Impact of Tariffs on Ginseng Growers.”

Chris Stephens (seated), the new chair of MTSU’s Department of Mathematical Sciences, is welcomed by Honors College leadership (l–r) John R. Vile, dean; Sandra Campbell, executive secretary; and Philip E. Phillips, associate dean.

Establishedin2016,thePolitical EconomyResearchInstituteisajoint venture between the Jennings A. JonesCollegeofBusinessandthe UniversityHonorsCollege,established with initial seed money from the CharlesKochFoundation. The institute’s mission is to engage undergraduate and graduate students with faculty in research that will further the understanding of business and economic principles, as well as their impact on regional, national, andinternationalnancialconditions and the well-being of society. To advanceitsmission,PERIwillengage in research and educational programs that uncover the institutions and policies that encourage and enhance human well-being.

HONORS WELCOMES NEW MATH CHAIR Faculty

Anthony Badger (l–r), former U.S. vice president Al Gore Jr., Mary Evins, and Kent Syler

SUFFRAGE TAKES CENTER STAGE AT FALL SERIES

James E.K. Hildreth

Amy Sayward

Michael Burns

TheFall2019HonorsLectureSeriesexplored andintroductionbyEvinsandPhilips.Lecturetopics “Suffrage,”atopicselectedinpartbecauseofrelated to African Americans, Tennesseans, felons, theupcoming10thanniversaryoftheratication women, veterans, and students. ofthe19thamendmenttotheU.S.Constitution Other fall class activities, in addition to the and Tennessee’s major role in giving women the conversation between Gore and Anthony Badger right to vote. (CambridgeUniversity),includedConstitutionDay Theseries,whichsupportedMTSU’songoing readings across campus, a panel discussion on commitment to promoting civic education and suffragists,alegislativepanel,apresentationbyLau civic discourse on campus, in the community, and Clippardonfellowshipsandscholarships,andHonors across the nation, included multiple opportunities student thesis presentations. for students to hear from impressive state and UH30consistsofaseriesofweekly,hour-long nationalleaders,includingformerU.S.vicepresident lectures designed to stimulate thought and broaden Al Gore Jr. students’ knowledge in a variety of disciplines. The MaryEvins,MTSUAmericanDemocracyProject coursemayberepeatedforupto3hoursofcredit. directorandanHonorsCollegeresidentfaculty The public is also welcome to attend the lectures. member,coordinatedtheseriesalongwithPhilip E.Phillips,associatedeanoftheUniversityHonors For more information about the Honors Lecture College.TheserieskickedoffAug.26withawelcome Series, please email philip.phillips@mtsu.edu. 46

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Lectures topics and speakers: “The 15th Amendment and “Tennesseans and Voting,” African American Voter Justice,” Marion Ott, president, Sekou Franklin,PoliticalScience TennesseeLeagueof andInternationalRelations WomenVoters

Pippa Holloway

“AlbertGoreSr.:VotingRights, “Felon Disfranchisement CivilRights,andPublicPolicy,”in America,” Pippa a conversation between Al Gore Holloway, History Jr.,formerU.S.vicepresident, “WomanSuffrageandthe19th and Anthony Badger, History, Amendment:ThePerfect36,” CambridgeUniversity Carole Stanford Bucy, “SuffragistsandCitizenship,”History,VolunteerState a panel discussion with Marjorie CommunityCollege Spruill,History,Universityof SouthCarolina,andstateRep. “StudentCitizensandVoting Rights:ANationalPerspective,” London Lamar, moderated Michael Burns, national by Margaret Renkl, New York director,CampusVote Times opinion writer Project,FairElectionsCenter, “CivicParticipation,Citizenship, Washington,D.C. andVotinginTennessee: “StudentandVeteran ALegislativePanel,”state LeadershipintheFightfor legislators Mike Carter, Shane the26thAmendment,”Amy Reeves, Bryan Terry, and Sayward, History Charles Baum, moderated by Mark Byrnes, provost

Sekou Franklin

Legislative panel Faculty

HIGHLIGHTING A -- LEGACY Alumni who benefited from Buchanan award are beginning to make their own marks on the world By Vicky Travis

ames Buchanan, while living at home and never worried very much about whether what he workingonthefarm,graduatedin1940from said was politically correct or not. MTSU,thenknownasMiddleTennesseeState “He was well known for saying that if he could TeachersCollege.Thebuddingeconomist winaNobelPrize,thenanyonecould!” wentontogethismaster’sattheUniversityof Eachfall,20HonorsCollegefreshmenare Tennessee,serveduringWorldWarII,marry, awardedMTSU’shighestscholarship,the andearnhisdoctoratefromtheUniversityofBuchanan Fellowship. These high-achieving Chicagoby1948. students participate in a specially designed In1986,hewasawardedaNobelPrizein cohort curriculum of courses, receive full tuition EconomicSciencesandisbroadlyrecognized waiver for four years (not including summers), asoneofthekeyfoundersoftheeldofpublic special seminars, priority registration, and a book choice.HetaughtatUCLA,FloridaState allowance. University,theUniversityofTennessee,the Toapply,candidatesmusthaveatleasta30 UniversityofChicago,VirginiaTechUniversity, ACTanda3.5highschoolGPA,buttheclass theUniversityofVirginia,andGeorgeMason averagenowisabouta34ACTanda3.9–4.0 University.ButMTSUkeptaplaceinhisheart. GPA.Eachapplicantalsowritesanessay. HediedinJanuary2013inVirginiaatage “The committee looks for those we think will 93.Afewmonthslater,inMay2013,hisestate givebacktotheUniversitycommunity,”Vilesaid. bequeathed$2.5milliontoMTSU’sHonors The committee also works to get a diversity of College,whichwaslatersupplementedwith majorsandmayacceptuptovestudentsayear another$1.2million. from out of state. “ItisclearthatDr.BuchanantookgreatprideOnOct.3,2019Buchananwouldhavebeen in the fact that even though he had commuted 100 years old. to the ‘city’ of Murfreesboro to get an education, WhatbetterwaytohonorBuchananthan he was able to succeed here and that his success tohighlighthislegacy:MTSUHonorsCollege as an undergraduate propelled him to future graduateswhobenetedfromtheBuchanan greatness,”HonorsCollegeDeanJohnR.Vile Fellowship and are now at the beginning of said.“TheNobelPrizegavehimaplatformthat making their own marks on the world. he relished, and although he thought deeply, he

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Buchanan Scholars program medallion Alumni

Leland Waite (13, 16)

AsaBuchananFellow,Waitefeltencouragedtotry research opportunities and do his thesis project. “They •Bachelor’sinAerospace,ProfessionalPilot •Master’sinAviationAdministration,Safetyand really put a lot into making sure we succeeded,” he said of the faculty. SecurityManagement Foraslongashecanremember,LelandT.Waitehas been fascinated with airplanes. And while at Mountain ViewHighSchoolinIdaho,healsolikedthesciences and considered medicine as a career. “MythoughtwasthatI’deventuallymakeenough money to buy an airplane,” he said. But when his lightbulb moment came, he decided that rather than wait forthatday,whynotyasacareer? Waitemethiswife,Jenn,whiletheywereboth He earned his private pilot license as a teen, then he residentassistantsatMTSU.Theymarriedin2015.An sethissightsonndingauniversitywithanAerospace degree.“Wedidn’thaveanycollegesinIdahowithan Englishmajor,shegothermaster’sinEducationand aviationprogram,andIwantedthefour-yeardegree nowteachesatBlackmanHighSchool. Afterhegraduated,heworkedatMTSUasan alongwithaprofessionalpilot’slicense,”Waitesaid. instructor while he earned his master’s in Aviation Thecross-countrysearchledhimtoMTSU’s AdministrationSafetyandSecurityManagement.Waite DepartmentofAerospaceandtheHonorsCollege.He then worked for two regional airlines connected to earned one of the 20 spots as a Buchanan Fellow. Delta.SinceDecember2018,Waitehasbeenying “OnceitsunkinthatIwasoneof20,itwasdenitely Boeing73sforDeltaAirLines. nice,”hesaid.WithnoconnectionstoTennessee, “It’sagoodmixoftrans-continentalights,some hisrstyearintheHonorsCollegeandBuchanan ightstoCanada,Mexico,andtheCaribbean,”hesaid. communitywaspriceless.“Itwasacross-sectionof Depending on the trip length, he may have time to different disciplines, a group that wouldn’t have met if explore a new city. notfortheHonorsCollege,”Waitenoted. Asaself-professed“airplanenerd,”Waitementors “One of the big things for me was that the Buchanan MTSUAerospacestudentsashishobby.Healso was very diverse and people were recognized for lots helps improve curriculum and sees how training ofaccomplishments.Somanyscholarshipsarecookieisprogressing.“It’ssuchaninterestingcareer cutter, all about the numbers. This was unique.” eld,”hesaid.

So many scholarships are cookie-cutter, all about the numbers. This was unique.

Delta pilot Leland Waite

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Waite (r) and wife, Jenn

Tandra Martin (15)

•Bachelor’sinInternationalRelations •MinorsinSpanishandOrganizational Communication

Growing up in Murfreesboro and going to Blue Raider football games, Tandra Martin declared she’d never go to MTSU.Itwasjusttooclosetohome, and she was ready to explore. But then, she turned down her dreamschool,NewYorkUniversity, todojustthat.gotoMTSUasa Buchanan Fellow. The Buchanan scholarship and the HonorsCollegechallengedherand opened her eyes. “The Buchanan creates options for students performing at a high level,” said Martin, who graduated as one of the valedictorians ofOaklandHighSchool.“Thecrop of people it’s pulling from are star students who have that expectation that they have to go to a Harvard, Yale,orNYU.” WhatshefoundintheHonors CollegeandBuchananFellowshipwas Tandra Martin in Portugal a very high level of academic challenge andstimulation.“It’stherightlevelof rigorforhigh-achievingstudents.It students’ access to advanced coursework and provides that incubator for them,” she said. industry credentials. Martin, who was already familiar with campus Currently,MartinworksatVanderbiltUniversity, because her dad works there, would fall in love with advising service-based student organizations and MTSU.ShejoinedasororityandbecameaBlueElite developing curriculum for a global program in Morocco, ambassador leading tours. all while helping students engage with the community And her goals changed from getting a degree to through meaningful service. And she loves to explore make money to getting the degree so she could serve. new places, indulge in street food and food-truck fare, BecauseoftheHonorsCollegeadvising,sheapplied enjoylivemusic,andlistentopodcasts.LastfallMarti for competitive programs and scholarships including theRhodesScholarship,forwhichshewasanalist. alsowasnishinguphermaster’sinLeadershipand PublicServicefromLipscombUniversity. MartinstudiedabroadinIsrael,sparkingherinterest intheMiddleEastandtheArabiclanguage.To further learn Arabic, she earned a Boren scholarship to Morocco, where she spent her entire senior year studying Arabic and completing her undergraduate research thesis on women’s and girls’ access to educationintheMiddleEast. Aftergraduating,sheworkedatMTSUbeforeshe DuringherdaysatMTSU,sheremembersthat took off on a Fulbright scholarship to Bloemfontein, when the bust of Buchanan was unveiled, she found a SouthAfrica,whereshesupportedliteracyinitiatives renewed sense of awe. “There is an alum who won a and began a college access program for high school Nobel Prize, ”Martinsaid.“Nomatterwhereyougo, learners.Itwastherethatshesaystheeducationit’s all about what you make of the experience.” policypartofherbrainturnedon.Sheworkedat

It's the right level of rigor for high-achieving students.

theTennesseeDepartmentofEducationtoexpand

Alumni

Chad Slaven (12)

Slavensaid.“Itwassospecial.Itangiblyfeltitwasagi thatI’dbeengiven.” •Bachelor’sinChemistry,minorsinBiology NotknowingasoulatMTSU,theother19Buchanan andPsychology Fellows became his brothers and sisters, hanging out •D.D.S.andpost-doctoralinPediatricDentistry. UniversityofTennesseeHealthSciencesCentertogethereveryday.“Idon’tthinkIwouldhavemadeit AfterearninghisDoctorofDentalScienceandhis without them.” Theof HonorsCollegewasagame-changerforSlaven. certicationinPediatricDentistryattheUniversity From his cohort to his professors to the rigor, he TennesseeHealthScienceCenterinMemphis,Chad constantly singstheUniversity’spraises,eventelli SlavenhasbeenpracticingatPugetSoundPediatric people in Seattle theyshouldgotoMTSU. DentistrynearSeattle. “AlltheprofessorsintheHonorsCollegewerealwa He had considered psychology as a career path, but so supportive,”Slavensaid.“Itshapedme.Itwasanew chosedentistry,ndingthatthetwodisciplinesarethe trajectory for my life.” perfect complements for a career as a pediatric dentist. In dental school,hebecameclasspresidentand “Yes, getting a kid through an appointment is a got involved in student government, other clubs, and combination of the best of both of those worlds,” volunteerwork.AtMTSU,hewasaresidentassistantfor he laughed. three years. The scholarship, along with book stipend Born and raised in the small northeast Tennessee and his RA job, meant he had money in the bank. And townontheKentuckyborder,Slavenwasvaledictorian he could go into dental school debt-free, unlike many of ofCumberlandGapHighSchool. “Whenyou’refromasmalltown,nooneevertells his dental school friends. ItwouldbelaterintohisMTSUyearsthatSlaven you that ‘you can,’ ” he said about the thought of would learn more about the scholarship’s namesake. earningascholarshipliketheBuchanan.“Ithoughtit “My gratitude grew,” he said, as he learned of doesn’thappentokidslikeme.Onlyinthemovies.”It Buchanan’scontributionsandhisNobelPrize.“Tobe was actually his dad who found out about the Buchanan associated with that name is even more of an honor.” scholarshipatMTSUandurgedSlaventoapply.So SlavenhasbeenathisWashingtonstatepractice he listened and credits his dad with pushing him not since the summer of 2018 and is enjoying the adventure, to settle. getting outdoors as often as possible with his dogs. “WhentheycalledandsaidIgottheBuchanan He”loves tennis, hiking, camping and, of course, coffee scholarship,Ireallythoughtthishastobeamistake, inSeattle.

Pediatric dentist Chad Slaven

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Slaven with furry friend

I skipped surprise and went straight to gratitude. I felt very lucky to be there.

Rayne Lawrence doing fieldwork in Hong Kong

Rayne (Leonard) Lawrence (13, 15)

AtMTSU,shespreadherwings,learnedwhatshe loved, and dug in. • Bachelor’s in Biochemistry Asanundergrad,Lawrencehadanawesome • Master’s in Biology (genetics) experience studying abroad in Argentina, doing a lot of RayneLeonardLawrencegrewupinHohenwald, seminar and interdisciplinary work. And for her Honors Tennessee, and her college choice became clear and capstone thesis, the Biology major stepped out of easy when she learned she had earned a Buchanan science and completed a thesis in liberal arts, something Fellows scholarship. she’s so happy she did. “Atthetime,Iprobablydidn’tgrasphowcompetitive AsanMTSUgradstudent,shegotfundingtogoto itwas,”saidLawrence,whograduatedfromMTSUin 2013.Wasshesurprisedshegotit?“Iskippedsurprise Chinaforthreemonths,partneringwithalabthereto andwentstraighttogratitude.Ifeltveryluckytodoresearch.Lawrencealsohasmentoredstudentsin STEMprograms. be there.” Lawrence,nowaeldapplicationspecialistfor LikemanyBuchananFellows,Lawrence’scohort became close friends. “At that age, there’s something Illumina,abiotechnologycompanyinNashville,worked atInsightGeneticsformorethanfouryears.Shewastobesaidforabuilt-infriendgroup,”shesaid.“Itwas asmallHonorsCollegegroupandwhatwemoved in charge of all genomic sequencing, looking at patient aroundin.”Sincegraduation,she’sbeentoafew samples and response data to cancer treatments. SheisconvincedtheworkshedidwhileanHonors weddings with Buchanan Fellows. And she got married inDecember2018.Whenshe’snotworking,Lawrence student and a Buchanan Fellow set her up to get the and her husband go kayaking, travel, and enjoy funding for grants while she was in graduate school at MTSU.Lawrencealsobelievesthegraduateworkshe Nashvillelife. And looking back now, she’s grateful her time in didatMTSUputheroverthetoptolandthejobat higher education was debt-free. Insightrightoutofschool. “It’ssoraretomeetanyonewhogotfullrides,”she said. “And having no debt now, what a gift.” A Alumni

STANDING UP FOR JUSTICE

Prosecutor researched victims’ rights bill for Honors thesis Dani Bryson

Dani Westerman Bryson(Political H-option [Honors contract] and violence cases, ranging from Science,’09),nowanassistant now realize how great of a decision harassmenttorst-degreemurder. district attorney, wrote her thatwas,”Brysonsaid.“Iusethe Her career has come full circle undergraduate Honors thesis, skills and substance from that class back to prosecuting Drug Task “JudicialStanding:TheNext constantly, and interestingly enough, Forcecasesfortheve-county FrontierofEstablishingVictims’ my H-option paper dealt with a district, but Bryson recently worked Rights,” under the direction of prolongedtrafcstopanduseof ontworst-degreemurdercases HonorsCollegeDeanJohnR.Vile. a narcotics dog, a highly relevant including a death-penalty case. ShehadenjoyedVile’sConstitutional scenario in my daily work.” Bryson also was the sole prosecutor Lawclassandgottheideafor Her typical week might include a inStewartCountyfortwoyears her Honors thesis when adjunct trialwhereacondentialinformant and actually practiced as an acting professor David Hudson commented purchased methamphetamine, a ADAasaninternforthe23rdunder that emerging victims’ rights bills suppression hearing after a drug anotherattorney’ssupervision.She across the nation would make an dog found 10 kilos of cocaine at previouslyinternedfortheKnox interesting research topic. atrafcstop,andaDrugCourt CountyDA,alwayswantedtobea Bryson called it “the perfect plea deal allowing an addict to go prosecutor, and had a career goal intersection of criminal and to rehab. “to never bill an hour.” constitutional law for me,” which Bryson earned a J.D. with honors Bryson sings at church alongside became personally important to and a concentration in Advocacy herhusband,MTSUalumSpencer her as a prosecutor. fromtheUniversityofTennesseeBryson(InterdisciplinaryStudies, Another Honors class also has LawSchoolandisnowanADAin ’06;M.Ed.,Administrationand been particularly valuable to her Tennessee’s23rdJudicialDistrict Supervision,‘09),amusicleader career as a lawyer in the criminal (Cheatham,Dickson,Houston, and a teacher. The Brysons live in justicesystem.“IchosemyLegal Humphreys,andStewartcounties). Dickson with two young sons and WritingandResearchclasstaughtInonethree-yearperiod,she two dogs. by Amanda Moore to turn into an handled over 2,000 domestic 54

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8 “JET” OFF TO JAPAN MTSU grads teach English and share cultures

Rebecca Clippard (second from left) and fellow teachers at Mt. Kinpo in Minamisatsuma City

The Japanese language has nearly two dozen words escorted to a home with an ocean view that she and her foralltheshadesofindigoblue.Perhapsthere’llnew soon husband, Jeffrey Hooper, are sharing. be a new word for “True Blue,” too, now that a record TeachingEnglishhasbeenespeciallyfunand numberofMTSUgraduatesjoinedthatcountry'smost exciting,Hoopersays.Sheteacheskindergarten prestigious teaching exchange program last August. children through middle-schoolers who “always have EightMTSUalumni,includingtworecentHonors something interesting to say.” graduates, began their new adventure with the Japan “IthinkIhaveoneofthemostfunjobsthereis,” ExchangeandTeaching(JET)Programlastfallandare Hoopersaid.“Irememberononeoccasion,agroup now living and working in communities across the Asian ofrst-gradestudentsdecidedtowalkwithmefrom nation.SomehadstudiedinJapanbefore,whileothers the teachers’ room to our classroom, all while excitedly were newcomers to international travel. chanting (or screaming) at the top of their lungs, Jetting off on this cultural adventure were former Honors students Rachel Reece Hooper, a2019graduatewithadouble-majorinJapanese andGlobalStudies,andRebecca Clippard, a 2018 alumna who earned dual bachelor’s degrees in SpanishandJapanese. HooperisteachinginNishiizu,Shizuoka,arural, but welcoming, beach town of 8,000 people. The day she arrived, she had tea with the mayor before being

I think I have one of the most fun jobs there is . . . I don’t know where else I’d get to have such a good time.

Alumni

‘Let’sgo!Let’sgo!’—Idon’tknowwhereelseI’dgetto have such a good time.” Hooper also has been able to enjoy new experiences outsideoftheclassroom.Shehasmadenewfriends, visited tourist sites, and sampled a variety of Japanese cuisine,includingstingrayllets. Clippard,meanwhile,returnedtoJapanforthe JETProgramaftertravelingtherepreviouslywiththe assistanceofa2016PhiKappaPhiStudyAbroad Scholarship.SheislivinginKagoshimaprefecturewhere she teaches in six different elementary schools in the ruralMinamisatsumaCityarea,whichissurroundedby mountainsandriceelds. Clippardsaidherstudentsarededicatedtotheir schooling, regularly sweeping the classrooms, scrubbing bathrooms, and washing dishes, all a part of their academic obligations. They respectfully call her Rebeccasensei (teacher) or occasionally Ms. Rebecca-sensei, acombinationofEnglishandJapanese.Clippardand her co-teachers have established bilingual reading time and usually read stories or put on puppet shows during lunch breaks. Ahikingenthusiast,shehasclimbedMt.Kinpowith her sixth-graders and has been invited to participate in a traditionalNewYear’ssunrisehike.Clippardalsoenjoys visiting friends she made while studying abroad in Japan asanMTSUundergraduate.

Rachel Hooper with husband in Japan

Rachel and Jeffrey Hooper

Other2019MTSUJETrecipientsare: • Turquoise Campbell, a 2014 alumna withabachelor’sdegreeinGlobalStudies andCulturalGeographyandaminorin Japanese language • Ashley Cetinel, a 2018 graduate with amajorinGlobalStudiesandCultural Geography and a minor in Japanese • Caleb Dunaway, who completed dual MTSUbachelor’sdegreesinEnglishand JapaneseinMay2019 • Chris Johnson, who graduated with a bachelor’sdegreeinComputerScience and minors in Japanese and Mathematics • Corey Reed,whonishedhisbachelor’s degreeinElectronicMediaCommunication in 2015

Clippard at Yamajigoku in Beppu City

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• Shannon Wilkinson,aMetroNashville PublicSchoolselementaryschoolteacher whoearnedherEnglishasaSecond LanguagecerticationfromMTSU’s UniversityCollegein2018

MTSUhasbeenapartoftheJETProgramsince 2008 and has sent 25 participants to Japan since then. TyeEbel,coordinatorfortheJETProgramatthe Consulate-GeneralofJapaninNashville,saidthatMTSU standsoutbecauseoftheUniversity’sstrongJapanese language program. TheJETProgram,whichistheonlyteaching exchange program managed by the Japanese government,beganin1987.Sincethen,morethan 6,0peoplefromaroundtheworld,includingalmost 34,0Americans,haveparticipatedacrossJapan.

You want someone for JET to be conscientious and represent the United States in a positive way. Clippard at Osaka Castle in Osaka

Dylan and Chelsea Phillips

Rachel and Jeffrey Hooper by the ocean

JETProgramparticipantsrepresenttheUnited Statesasculturalambassadorsastheyworkasassist language teachers in Japanese public and private schools or as interpreters/translators in local and municipalgovernmentofces.Mostareassignedto smaller towns and villages because positions in urban areasaresnappedupmorequicklyandstaylled. ProfessorPriyaAnanth,whocoordinatesthe JapanesemajorandminorinMTSUs Department of WorldLanguages,Literatures,andCultures,saidthe JETapplicationdeadlineisinNovember.Eachconsulate interviews selected applicants in January and February. ThedecisionsareannouncedinApril,andthenewJETs depart in July and August for their year in Japan. “Weencouragestudentswithgoodcommunication skills, good community involvement, strong academics, andleadershiptoconsiderfellowshipslikeJETand Fulbright,becauseyouwantsomeoneforJETtobe conscientiousandrepresenttheUnitedStatesina positiveway,”saidLauraClippard,coordinatorofthe HonorsCollege’sUndergraduateFellowshipOfce.The JETprogramseekspeoplewhoareinterestedinthe cultureofJapan,areveryexible,andhaveaninterest in teaching and communication, she added. More info MTSU’s Undergraduate Fellowships Office: mtsu.edu/honors/ufo Japan Exchange and Teaching Program: jetprogramusa.org

Clippard at a hula dancing class in Minamisatsuma City Alumni

BOARD OF VISITORS HOLDS FALL MEETING

Distinguished Honors College Board of Visitors members and Honors staff attending the October meeting were (l–r): front, Don Midgett, Phil Mathis, June McCash, Liz Bradley, Kaylene Gebert, and Raiko Henderson (with son Samuel Henderson); and back, John R. Vile, Don Witherspoon, Ron Messier, Lee Martin, Debra Hopkins, Tandra Martin, Katie Crytzer, Judy Powell, Josh Alexander, Gordon Bell, Joseph Olmstead, and Philip E. Phillips.

SixteenmembersoftheUniversityHonorsCollege Board of Visitors were treated to presentations by therstfull-timeHonorsresidentfacultymemberand seven exceptional Honors students at their meeting last October. Ennio Piano, a new addition to the Honors faculty andtothePoliticalEconomyResearchInstitute,spoke to board members about his background, research, and roleatMTSU(see related article, page 34). Studentspeakers,whoarealwaysahighlightof theannualmeeting,camefromavarietyofmajors: Gabriella Morin,Biology/Spanish;Hector Hernandez, Mathematics; Tia Shutes, Biology; Joseph Gulizia, AnimalScience;Beatriz Dedicatoria,English/Video andFilmProduction;Liam McBane, Music; and Ashlin Murphy,PoliticalScience. John R. Vile, Honors dean, gave board members anupdateonthestateoftheHonorsCollege,and Paul Wydra,MTSUdirectorofdevelopmentinitiatives, deliveredaDevelopmentOfcereport.Alunchthat included board members and Honors students, faculty members, and staff followed the student presentations. The meeting concluded with a brief business meeting.

Liam McBane

Tia Shutes

Hector Hernandez

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Ashlin Murphy

In Memoriam William Connelly, professor emeritus in the ConnellywasborninDetroitandearnedhis DepartmentofEnglish undergraduate and master’s degrees from the where he served as chair UniversityofDetroitandhisPh.D.fromthe and a long-time friend UniversityofOklahoma.Heissurvivedbyhiswife, oftheHonorsCollege, CarolLalloneConnelly;sonPaul(Patricia)Connelly passedawayNov.26, ofRinggold,Georgia;daughterBethConnellyof 2019,attheageof76. Rockwood, Tennessee; and grandchildren Trevor A specialist in medieval Connelly,ShelbyConnelly,andEmmaConnelly,as literature,Connellywasrstwell as many other family members. reader for numerous undergraduate Honors theses AfuneralmasswasheldatSaintRoseofLima and chaired a number of thesis committees for the CatholicChurchonDec.2. HonorsCollege.

In Memoriam TheHonorsCollegesadly Knownforhisheartylaughandhisexpertise notes the passing of bothinNativeAmericanandTennesseehistory, Fred Rolater, 81, who Rolater passed away at halftime at the last home taught in the History football game of the year where he was cheering DepartmentatMTSU the Blue Raiders on to victory. Rolater wrote his and was associated dissertationonCharlesThomson,thesecretary withtheUniversityforoftherstU.S.Congress,andhisarticleforthe morethan50years.APhi Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography BetaKappagraduateof in197continuestobeamajorsourceof WakeForestUniversity,Rolater understanding Thomas’ important contributions earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in toAmericanhistory,accordingtoHonorsCollege HistoryfromtheUniversityofSouthernCalifornia. Dean John R. Vile. Vile further noted that he and HewasMTSU’srstFulbrightSeniorProfessor, Rolater enjoyed creating surround sound effects teachingattheUniversityofKyusyhuandSeinan whenhewaslaughingononesideofPeckHall GakuinUniversityinFukuoka,Japan,in1987. and Rolater was laughing on the other. He later served as professor of church history at theKoreaBaptistTheologicalSeminaryduring 20–06.

Alumni

CLASS NOTES Students

Russell Biesada (Aerospace),

pictured above, wrote an opinion piece on his experience as a new Freshman Buchanan FellowatMTSUforT.C.Williams HighSchool‘s“LettersHome” series, which was published by the Alexandria (Va.) Gazette: alexandriagazette.com/news/2019/ dec/03/opinion-commentaryletters-home-tc-williams-grads.

onTotalandNutrient-specicconference of the Association for in situ rumen degradation,” in BehavioralandCognitiveTherapies the2019issueoftheJournal (ABCT)inNovember.Thiswas of Applied Animal Research. Sessler’ssecondpresentationat He also recently received an ABCTbutherrsttimewitharstassistantship to study for a MA author poster. Her thesis research inPoultryScienceatAuburndemonstrated that one’s overall University. mindfulness is associated with their partner’s relationship satisfaction. Roqué Marcelo (Video and Film Sessleralsohadaliterature Production)submittedapaper review accepted for publication andwasselectedasanalistforin a theNationalCollegiateHonors NationalCollegiateHonorsCouncil Council’s(NCHC)journalUReCA. (NCHC)PortzFellowship.

Jon-Thomas Neely(Exercise Science)willbeginPhysical TherapySchoolattheUniversityof Tennessee–ChattanoogainAugust.

Myranda Uselton(Chemistry),

Joseph P. Gulizia (Animal

Robyn Sessler(Psychology), Science)wasrstauthoronan article,“Kudzu(Pueraria montana pictured above, presented her thesis data at the annual var. lobata)AgeVariabilityEffects

CLASS NOTES Alumni and Friends

pictured above, interned in the fall as an XR developer at NASAGlennResearchCenterin Cleveland,Ohio,developingAR/VR applications.

inJuly.Sheworksasanacademic Chris Davis (Biology, ’08) is doing advisorattheUniversityof post-doctoral work in science in Tennessee. Dublin,Ireland.

Hannah (Hopkins) Barnhart

(OrganizationalCommunication, ’12;M.S.,LeisureandSport Management,‘13)andher husband,Zach(RecordingIndustry, ’13),welcomedason,Haddon James,Aug.13.Theyalsohavea daughter,Nora.

J. T. Cobb(English,’18)is Emily Aslinger(GlobalStudies/ French, ‘14), pictured above, marriedMichaelMorganWise 60

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

teachingEnglishLanguageArts Pel Doski (Biology, ’18), pictured atShelbyvilleCentralHighSchool. above, recently returned from servingasaFulbrightETAinKorea and is working at Bridgestone as a project coordinator.

Briyana Dyer (Journalism, ’18)

started a new position as an accountmanagerforGroupSalesat EFGoAheadToursinBoston.

astudenttrusteeforMTSU’s BoardofTrustees.Sheiscurrently pursuingamaster'satMTSUin ClinicalPsychology,specializing in neuropsychology. A graduate assistantinthePsychology Department, she is vice president oftheCollegiateNeuroscience Societyaswellastreasurerofthe AmericanDemocracyProject. Eisenbergformerlyservedasa senator and as attorney general forMTSU’sStudentGovernment Association.

Evan Lester(Aerospace,’16;

M.S.,AeronauticalScience, ’19)waspromotedtoprogram supervisor in the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Division.

Lexi Marshall(ForeignLanguage/ Taylor A. Barnes (Physics/Chemistry,'09) marriedSydneyMarieBoyle,aMaygraduate oftheUniversityofNorthCarolina,onMay1. SheworksasanassistantbookkeeperatVirginia Tech, where Barnes is a research scientist. They currently live in Radford, Virginia.

Journalism,’19)isworkingforNPR inWashington,D.C.

Clayton V. Mitchell(Science,’18) is attending pharmacy school at LipscombUniversity.

Candace B. Moonshower

(English,’96)wasrecently promoted to senior instructor in the Tennessee State University. She was DepartmentofEnglishatMTSU. Leia Green(ForeignLanguages, an author on “Panax quinquefolius ’18), who received a Fulbright (NorthAmericanginseng)cell ScholarshiptoArgentinain2018, suspension culture as a source acceptedthepositionofEnglish ofbioactivepolysaccharides: teachingassistant(ETA)coordinator Immunostimulatoryactivityand and returned to Argentina last March as part of the Fulbright staff. characterization of a neutral polysaccharideAGC1,”published in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules in Matthew Fuller (Biology, 2019. ’15;M.S.,ProfessionalScience, Samuel Musili (PoliticalScience, ’17)alsowasanauthoronthe ’18), pictured above, is working as a research paper. legalassistantatCornelius&Collins Caitlin (Orman) Howard LLPinNashville. (Psychology,’13)andhusband Philliphadababygirl,EmmaRose, Dylan (nobigdyl.) Phillips (RecordingIndustry,’13)was last October. Devyn Hayes(Biology,’19), featured in an August USA Today pictured above, is attending the Samantha Eisenberg article,“ChristianHipHopisHaving QuillenCollegeofMedicineatEast (Psychology,’19)isservingas aMoment:6RappersYouShould Class Notes

Know,IncludingChart-topperNF.” Jennifer Johnson Tipton Phillipswashighlightedalongwith (Psychology,’12)isaresident fellowMTSUalumnusLaCrae, incounselingatWinchester AndyMineo,Wande,SocialClub CommunityHealthCenter. Mists,andNF.

The book is a philosophical exploration into theory, media, and the postcolonial era. The book is aimed at researchers, scholars, media professionals, and Amanda (Leachman) Uhls graduate students interested in (Biology,’16)isstudying understanding the trajectory of EpidemiologyatEastTennessee media and broadcasting in colonial StateUniversity. and postcolonial global contexts. Asthana has been interviewed Anna Yacavone(GlobalStudies/ about his recent book by the OrganizationalCommunication,DepartmentofCommunicationof ’11) accepted a position with the theUniversityofHyderabadinIndia UniversityofUtah’sAsiaCampus in and byMTSU’sGinaLogueforOn Incheon,SouthKorea. the Record.

Courtney Rodman (Global Studies/Organizational Communication,‘14),pictured above, was promoted to an examiner position at the Financial industry Regulatory Authority in Chicagolastfall.

Emily Baran (History) had three

articlesrecentlypublished:“From SectarianstoExtremists:The LanguageofMarginalizationin SovietandPost-SovietSociety,” The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review 46,No.2(019):5-7; co-authoredwithZoeKnox,“The Jeanette Stevens(International 20RussianAnti-Extremism Relations/GlobalStudiesand Law:AnIntroduction,”The Soviet Sanjay Asthana (Journalism and Human Geography, ‘18) started a and Post-Soviet Review 46,No. StrategicMedia),picturedabove,2(019):7-4;and“ItTakes newpositionasanMTSUrecruiting had his book India’s State-Run coordinator in the fall. aVillage:Collectivizationinthe Media: Broadcasting, Power, and PostwarUkrainianBorderlands,” Narrative published last May by Canadian Slavonic Papers60,Nos. CambridgeUniversityPress. 3–4(2018):59-47.

Sarah Wilfong Joblin

Philip Sugg (History, ’15), pictured above, a Transfer Fellow, married SenecaEwing(AnimalScience,’16) inDecember2016.TheSuggshave two young children.

Virginia (Vile) Tehrani, who

practices law in Maryland, Virginia, andWashington,D.C.,hasbeen named as one of the Top 40 CriminalDefenseAttorneysUnder the age of 40 in Maryland and as aSuperLawyerRisingStarinthe DistrictofColumbia.

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

(Music, ‘18), who presented a paper at the British Forum forEthnomusicology and Royal Musical AssociationinEngland in January, recently releasedanewCD, Kettle of Fish,aCeltic blend of original and traditionalChristmas songs.Shewroteand arranged several of the songs and performed on ddle,harp,percussion, and synthesizer for the project.

1 onaviationsafety Kevin Bicker(Chemistry)hasbeen 3books and over a dozen articles for tenured and promoted to associate aviation magazines. He holds 11 professor. FAAightcerticatesandhas Sandra Campbell (Honors garnered numerous awards, such executive secretary) researched asTennesseeFlightInstructor two women suffragist supporters of the Year. “ShakespeareTimesFourorMore,” inNewYorkstateaspartofa in Vol. 5 of the LMDA SourceBook crowdsourcing project through the (LiteraryManagersandDramaturgs BinghamtonUniversityCenterfor of the Americas) published in HistoricalStudyofWomenand January 2018. Additionally, Hansen Gender, and her submissions have receivedthe2018–19Murfreesboro recently been published in an online LittleTheatre(MLT)DOTAwardfor biographical database, Alexander hislongstandingservicetoMLTin Street,aProQuestcompany. August. The award is presented by MargaretLewisMorganNorrieand MLT’sboardatitsdiscretion. KatharineParkerHowardNotman, EmpireStateCampaignCommittee Elyce Helford(English)hada Mark Doyle (History), pictured leaders, were the subjects of her bookpublishedbytheUniversity above, was recently promoted to published submissions. ofKentuckyPressthisspring:What professor. Price Hollywood? Gender and Sex in the Films of George Cukor. Katherine Foss (Journalism and

CLASS NOTES Faculty and Staff

StrategicMedia),whohasbeen promoted to professor, published Beyond Princess Culture: Gender and Children’s Marketing last March. Her book was published by PeterLangInc.,aninternational academic publisher.

Yuan Ling Chao (History), pictured

April Goers (Honors) is the

2019–20MTSUAdvisoryMastery above, presented a paper titled Program(AMP)Committee “Worms,Snails,andSwelling: Brian Hinote(OfceofStudent chair. This committee leads Disease and Medicine in Jiangnan Success),picturedabove,hastwo all professional development in The Qing Dynasty” at the 15th recent publications. “Data Analytics opportunities for advisors on InternationalConferenceofthe and Decision-Making in Admissions HistoryofScienceinEastAsiaincampus.Inaddition,Goersand andEnrollmentManagement”by Jeonju,SouthKorea,lastAugust. fellow Honors advisors Judy Albakry andLauraClippardhavegotten Tom Gutman and Hinote in Analytics and Data-Informed Decision-Making 10%AMPcerticationforthepast Paul Craig (Aerospace) received in Higher Education, edited by two years. the2019CareerAchievement KarenL.WebberandHenryZheng, Award in May from the Tennessee was published by Johns Hopkins Richard Hansen (Theatre AeronauticsCommission,a UniversityPress.ThebookSocial and Dance) presented a paper, division of the state Department and Behavioral Science for Health “Alternatives to the Research of Transportation. The aeronautics PaperinTheatreHistory,”atthe Professionals (2nd edition) was commission recognizes and honors co-authored by Hinote and Jason Association for Theatre in Higher individuals who have shown AdamWassermanandpublishedby EducationConferenceinOrlando exemplary devotion to the aviation last August. The paper documented RowmanandLittleeld. community throughout their lives. his methods of teaching theater A professional pilot and Aerospace Hinote has had numerous history,whichhehasdoneatMTSU graduateprofessor,Craighasbeen recent presentations, including for over 21 years. The paper also an aviation researcher for more “OptimizingYourStudentSuccess ampliedHansen’sonlinearticle, than 20 years and has authored Portfolio:PerformanceMetrics

Class Notes

Meredith Dye(Sociologyand Anthropology), pictured with PresidentSidneyA.McPhee, was recently promoted to professor and published a book, Women Lifers: Lives Before, Behind, and Beyond Bars, with MTSU’sRonaldH.Adayin June. Dye and Aday also made presentations on their research attheSouthernSociological Association,AmericanSocietyof Criminology,SouthernCriminal JusticeAssociation,andMid-South SociologicalAssociation.They are continuing their research by interviewing women who have served life or long sentences about their experiences after getting out of prison and plan to share the stories in a second book.

University,inPennsylvanialastHoughton had a solo show at andCommunicationPlans”by October and visiting artist lecturer Hinote,RichardSluder,and TinneyinNashvillethisJanuary VincentWindrowfortheAmericanforEastTennesseeStateUniversity and will be a part of a forthcoming AssociationofStateCollegesin and November.HerpaintingSecret Minnesota Museum of Art Universitiesannualmeetingin War on Laos: UXO was featured creativeprojectfortheSoutheast Minneapolis;“OptimizingStudent in the fall online journal Lantern Asiandiaspora/LaoDiaspora Success:PerformanceMetrics Review: A Journal of Asia American StorytellingProjectbyLittleLaos andCommunicationPlans”by Poetry,Issue7.3,inOctober.In onthePrairie(theseadproject.org, Hinote,Sluder,andWindrowfor addition, her painting Bryan Thao littlelaosontheprairie.org) in August. theEDUCAUSEannualmeeting, Worra was on the cover of Before Chicago;and“UsingData We Remember We Dream, a book AnalyticstoFacilitateStrategic ofpoemsbyWorra. Decision-Making in Admissions and Houghton’s paintings appeared EnrollmentManagement”byHinote inseveralexhibitionsin2019and andTomGutmanfortheNASPA early 2020. Aftermath won Best ConferencesonStudentSuccess PaintingAwardoutof40worksof inHigherEducationinOrlando, artatArtFields2019inLakeCity, allin2019. SouthCarolina,lastMay.Clustered Debriswasinthe“Womenof Sisavahn Houghton (Art and Design), who was recently promoted Abstraction” show at Tinney Tony Johnston (Agriculture), Contemporary Gallery in Nashville to professor, was Google Hangout pictured above, who served as inSeptember,and Rain was in ArtistLecturerfortheStudioArt faculty thesis advisor for Honors FoundationsLectureClassat “RumorsofNecessity”atTiptonstudentsHannahHall,Kayley GalleryatETSUinNovember. Arcadia Art and Design, Arcadia Stallings,RossThomas,andZachary 64

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Layin2018and2019,isprogram Katherine Mangione (Elementary Books. The 50-minute session concluded with the author reading coordinatorforMTSU’snew andSpecialEducation)wasrecently aloud a passage from her book, graduateFermentationScience tenured and promoted to associate recentlyoutinpaperback.Included concentration under the Master professor. in the interview were questions ofScienceinProfessionalScience from the audience that was diverse program. He taught a study abroad in age and familiarity with the Anne course in Mendoza, Argentina, in of Green Gables series.Phifferalso 2019andisscheduledtoteach hadashortstory,“1967,”printed a course in Germany, France, in Pilgrim Writers, an anthology Switzerland,andAustriathisMay. published by Hamblett House Johnston engaged in six last year. research projects in 2018 and eightin2019,including“Microbial Philip E. Phillips BiocatalysisofQuercetin-3(Honors,English) glucosideandIsorhamnetin-3received the J. Jane Marcellus (Journalism and glucosideinSalicorniaherbacea LasleyDameron StrategicMedia),picturedabove, andTheirContributionto Award for 2018 for contributed a chapter focusing on ImprovedAnti-inammatory his essay collection, race and masculinity in relation Activity”;“AModiedMagnied Poe and Place, to suffrage media coverage to AnalysisofProteomeMethodfor publishedbyPalgraveMacmillan. the book, Front Pages, Front SuperResolution,3-DImaging The award was announced by the Lines: Media and the Fight for ofSubcellularArchitectures PoeStudiesAssociation(PSA) Women’s Suffrage, published by that Retains Fluorescence”; and Executive Committeein2019 theUniversityofIllinoisPress in “Evaluationoftheanti-obesity andwaspresentedatthe135th early 2020. effects of combinations of ModernLanguageAssociation monascus pigment derivatives.” Joan McRae(WorldLanguages, ConventioninSeattlethisJanuary. He also contributed to three poster Literatures,andCultures)received This is the highest award given by presentationslastyearatMTSU’s anMTSUFoundationOutstanding thePSAinrecognitionofthemost ScholarsWeekandPostersat AchievementinInstructional distinguished essay collection or theCapitol. Technology Award (see related bibliographyonPoeinagivenyear. article, page 33). Awardrecipientsreceivea$20 honorarium and a plaque. Kate Pantelides(English) who was recently tenured and Gina Pisut (HumanSciences)has promoted to associate professor, been promoted to professor. earneda2019MTSUFoundation Outstanding Teaching Award.

Rebekka King (Philosophyand ReligiousStudies),picturedabove, has been tenured and promoted toassociateprofessor.Kingand Jenna Gray-Hildenbrand, the rsttwoprofessorshiredwhen theReligiousStudiesprogram becameanMTSUmajorin201, Cindy Phiffer (Honors), pictured were featured in a promotional above,interviewedSarahMcCoy, articleintheNovemberissueof author of Marilla of Green Gables, Murfreesboro Magazine. atthe2019SouthernFestivalof

Lauren Rudd (Textiles, Merchandising, and Design), pictured above, gave an invited gallery talk at the Frist Art Museum inNashvillelastJuly.Over50 participants learned about the

Class Notes

John R. Vile (Honors dean) has

special aspects to the “Dress and GarmentsofFridaKahlo,”including thesignicanceofwhatshe wore and why.

published two new books. Talbot PublishinginNewJerseyprinted More Than a Plea for a Declaration of Rights: The Constitutional and Rudd also had two of her original Political Thought of George Mason quilts, Milky Way and Ripples, of Virginia. Vile’s interest in Mason selected for inclusion in the special stems both from his interest in exhibit“SapphireCelebration” American founding fathers and attheInternationalQuiltFestival from biannual visits that he has led Benjamin Stickle(Criminal in Houston last fall. Quilts that to historic sites in Virginia and the Justice Administration), pictured are primarily blue and white were DistrictofColumbia.ABC-CLIOhas above, who was recently promoted exhibited to help celebrate the published his book The Liberty Bell 45thSapphireAnniversaryofthe to professor, had four international presentationsin2019:twoforthe and Its Legacy: An Encyclopedia festival. Acceptance to the juried of an American Icon in U.S. History annualmeetingoftheInternational showisdifcultbecauseofthemany submissions from around the globe. PoliceExecutiveSymposiumin and Culture. This is his third of Belgrade,Serbia;oneforthe41st four books for this publisher that Following the Houston festival, sessionoftheUnitedNations are focused on basic American the collection of quilts traveled to symbols.Earlier HumanRightsCouncilinGeneva, additional quilt shows through the volumes covered Switzerland;andoneforthe63rd end of summer 2020. theU.S.agand sessionoftheCommissiononthe the Declaration of Dianna Rust(UniversityStudies) StatusofWomenattheUnited Independence,and was recently tenured and promoted NationsinNewYork.Stickle his next volume will to associate professor. also was an editor for the book centerontheU.S. Police Behavior, Hiring, and Crime national anthem. Fighting: An International View; wrote four book chapters; and had multiple encyclopedia entries and book reviews.

201 9 CONTRIBUTOR HONOR ROLL MaryLeeandTerryBarnes

JulieM.Eubank

EmmaGorrell

IsabellaC.Barnett

MaryA.Evins

Behling Family Trust

JulieE.Feyka

GreaterNashvilleRealtors, JarronSpringer

SarahandGordonBell

First Tennessee Bank, JeffL.Fleming

CynthiaCarlton LauraBlackwellClark LauraF.Clippard ConAgraFoodsFoundation VictoriaL.Cummings RoddL.Daigle 66

TheHonorsCollegedeeplyappreciatesfriends who have contributed to its success in countless ways.Philanthropicsupporthasbeenintregralto thecollege'shistory,mostnotablythroughthe constructionofourbeautifulbuilding.Weare honored to recognize those who made giving to thecollegeapriorityin2019.

ARETÉ MAGAZINE | Spring 2020

Mark A. Hall

Rebecca A. and David A. Foote

AngelaS.Haston CarlaHumphreyHay

KayleneA.Gebert

Raiko and John Henderson

KyleGoen

MatthewI.Hibdon

ValerieW.and ChristopherGoertzen

MaryS.Hoffschwelleand CarrollVanWest

Debra H. and James M. Hopkins

MarilynM.andPhilipM.Mathis

Gloria Humphrey

JuneHallMcCash

AliceK.andBruceC.Huskey CourtneyHutcherson AdelIbrahem Jennings and Rebecca Jones Foundation,LisaMitchell

StateFarmCompaniesFoundation, EdwardB.RustJr.

TaraS.andRichardC.StoneJr. MusicandEntertainmentIndustry EducatorsAssociation JenniferW.TerryandJoshuaBatwell ChristinaJ.Miller

AmyR.andMichaelJ.Upchurch

James M. Morton

SaraE.andJamesP.Urban

Jennifer J. and Terry A. Jordan-Henley

NationalChristianFoundation, Victor Vanberg David Ragland LindaK.andJohnR.Vile Teresa and Joseph A. Olmstead StacyB.andVincentL.Windrow Martie Opial Hanna R. and James Donald OzmentLawPLC Witherspoon

GloriaD.Kharibian

SharmilaJ.PatelandPhilipE.Phillips DorLindaWoodard

KatherineD.andRobertC.Knies

NicolePerry

PaulV.Wydra

RebekahM.andScottT.Malone

PinnacleBank,M.TerryTurner

Teena M. Young

PaulW.MartinJr.

SusanT.Sanders

ScottC.Zeller

TandraN.Martin

MinyiSong

SandraC.andNoelJones StephenJones

GIVE TO THE HONORS COLLEGE TheHonorsCollegeisraisingfundstosupport educational enhancement opportunities for our talented students, particularly scholarships, study abroad, student research and travel to conferences, and Honors publications.

Please consider making a tax-deductible gift. • To make a gift online, go to mtsu.edu/supporthonors • To make a gift by mail, please make your check payable to MTSU Honors College andsenditto: MiddleTennesseeStateUniversityDevelopmentOfce 130E.MainSt. MTSUBox109 Murfreesboro,TN3712

Thank you in advance for your support!

Class Notes

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