Category: Research

English Department faculty (Drs. Paulina Bounds, Ted Pelton, and Mari Ramler) and graduate students (Caleb Bates, Scott Moss, Whitney Stevens, Annette Vaadi, and Corgan Waters) recently attended the TEDxNashville Future Human event. The Ted talks included discussions on AI and human optimization, environmental justice and design, and neuroscience in interpersonal communication. The final panel attempted answering the question “Can AI ever have a soul?”. Panelists included faculty from Vanderbilt University, Belmont University, and Lipscomb University.

English faculty and students bring this knowledge back into their classrooms as they teach and critique generative AI. Many thanks to Dr. Steven Thomas and the English Department for funding this professional development for graduate students.

This Friday in the Undergraduate STEM Research Seminar we’ll hear talks from Physics majors Campbell LeFort and Laura Mangrum. In his talk Spectroscopic Analysis of the β-Decay of 33Mg, Campbell will describe how he uses gamma spectroscopy to understand the deformed 33Mg nucleus. In her talk Bisector Analysis of EV Pisces, Laura will show how photon spectroscopy can be used to observe waves in the atmosphere of a star. The seminar will be at 4pm in Bruner Hall 210, with snacks served starting at 3:30pm. These seminars are geared for undergraduates from any STEM major, but graduate students and faculty are encouraged to attend!

This Friday in the Undergraduate STEM Research Seminar we’re continuing our astronomical theme with talks from Physics majors Emma Krebs (Predicting Real-time Solar X-ray Data using U-nets) and Emily Norris (Detection Feasibility of Continuous Gravitational Waves). Emma will describe how she uses machine learning techniques to enhance solar observations and Emily will examine the ability of current and next-generation technology to observe a challenging class of weak gravitational radiation. The seminar will be at 4pm in Bruner Hall 210, with snacks served starting at 3:30pm.

This Friday at the Undergraduate STEM Research Seminar we’ll be visited by Professor Ron Wilhelm from the University of Kentucky. In his talk Probing Velocity Gradients in RR Lyrae Variable Stars, Professor Wilhelm will describe how he uses data from a high-resolution, high-bandpass spectrograph to study the interior dynamics of pulsating stars. The seminar will be at 4pm in Bruner Hall 210, with snacks served starting at 3:30pm. These seminars are geared for undergraduates from any STEM major, but graduate students and faculty are encouraged to attend!

This Friday at the Undergraduate STEM Research Seminar, Physics and Mathematics major Jack Seger will describe progress with his continuing work in the Tennessee Tech Ion Beam Lab. His talk Source Section Development and Ion Source Testing at the Tennessee Tech Ion Beam Lab will focus on studying two candidate systems for generating the ions that are to be accelerated. The seminar will be at 4pm in Bruner Hall 210 with snacks served starting at 3:30pm. These seminars are geared for undergraduates from any STEM major, but graduate students and faculty are encouraged to attend!

Tennessee Tech faculty and researchers are invited to a virtual session from 1-2 p.m., Oct. 7, focused on connecting with corporate partners. LaunchTN will share how to respond to partnership opportunities, publish listings that showcase your research and strengthen your profile to stand out to industry partners searching TNIX. Register online to attend.

Dr. Mari Ramler, associate professor of English, has been accepted to, and awarded scholarship funding for, the Kinsey Institute’s Human Sexuality Intensive (May 12-15, 2027). She will receive specialized training on how technology trends affect how society views sex as well as conduct archival research at the Kinsey Institute Library and Special Collections as she works on her third book. This new book project argues that purity culture is a harmful ideology that manifests through emergent technology. Case studies include AI, OnlyFans, and the “manosphere,” among others. She has previously edited a book about purity culture (published by Penn State University Press) and written a book about religious trauma (under review at Baylor University Press).