students present research, scholarly work at annual symposium

more than 300 graduate and undergraduate students from an array of departments and majors showcased their creativity and knowledge at the academic conference.

keely hagan | 615-966-6491 | 04/17/2023

the lipscomb campus was filled with activity thursday, april 13, for the university’s annual, daylong student scholars symposium. classmates, faculty mentors, board members, staff and administrators attended forums throughout campus in support of the more than 300 undergraduate and graduate students who presented their scholarly works. 

the symposium featured student-led research from every college and a variety of majors and programs presented via oral and visual presentations, readings and performances of original poetry, music and theater; and exhibitions of artistic and scientific work. 

the annual flagship event of the college of liberal arts & sciences (clas) was directed by florah mhlanga, senior associate dean, and co-sponsored by the office of the provost.

“the symposium is a high-impact educational experience for our students, and i am so proud of how well they responded,” said mhalanga. “their hard work and determination expanded and broadened their research and creativity in and outside of the classroom.”

new this year was the concrete poetry exhibition that represented interdisciplinary collaboration between undergraduates in the clas and the george shinn college of entertainment & the arts (cea). poetry students contributed original poems and visual art students re-imagined and re-envisioned the poems as art pieces, together synthesizing poems into artworks. a panel discussion with the student contributors was facilitated by candice mcqueen, president, and attendees were invited to view the installation in the john c. hutcheson gallery in beaman library. 

student contributors were zane arnett, finn kise, bee bruno, cameron napier, natalie butler, rebecca olesek, elaysa deavor, rachel randolph, hannah mae dowd, grace anne richardson, audrey gaither, gracie richmond, mar’a harris, addy sigmon, lauren kells, and sydney stevens. faculty sponsors were rocky horton, director of the school of art and design, cea, and jan harris, associate professor, clas.

jennifer shewmaker, provost and professor of psychology, presented the lunch keynote presentation, “does media really matter? examining the impact of media and marketing on childhood development.” addressing the students in attendance, shewmaker ended with, “that’s what i want you to leave thinking about — how does this knowledge, how do these skills, how does this piece i’m creating — how does it make an impact?”

student awards

the day concluded with a dinner and an award ceremony, where winners of various categories were announced:

undergraduate paper presentations i

1a: the role of sp-b peptides in bacteria-induced pneumonia; haley lewis and kyle brawner, biology 

1b: a prince after his own heart: an analysis of god’s rejection of king saul; tess lynn and philip camp, bible and ministry

1c: strategies of liberation and empowerment in black feminist literature; lydia jernigan and jan harris, english and modern languages

1d: the apprentice clockmaker; shelby hallett and kimberly reed, english and modern languages

undergraduate paper presentations ii

iia: a study to observe the effects of approved and candidate anthelmintic drugs on varying larval stages in c. elegans; sam attalla and brian ellis, biology

iib: maternal essentialism, depression, and internalizing behaviors: implications of intensive mothering and child wellbeing; rachel shannon and casey mcgregor, psychology, counseling and family science

iic: proximity to amenities and urban mixed-use development: an analysis of nashville’s gulch; mattie boles and emily stutzman, institute for sustainable practice

iid: raising the iron curtain: healing collective oppression through literature; alisa chirkova-holland and brand kellett, english and modern languages

iie: the regency era art of netting: a project of research and reconstruction; anna adams and kimberly reed, english and modern literature

graduate paper presentation

emotional recognition in the face of depression and anxiety; bailey mccarl, and a.j. heritage, psychology, counseling and family science

undergraduate poster presentations

i: the spice is right: evaluating the spice and herb content of congregate meals; tessa vander kamp and tracy noerper, nutrition

ii: wordle solver: writing a computer program to help you solve wordle more often and in fewer attempts; william fredrick and and katie link, mathematics

iii: reclaiming our streets: a framework for mobility justice; calah gipson and cayce watson, social work and sociology

iv: reimagining the foster care system through a trauma-informed lens; carly quenneville, autumn maxwell and cayce watson, social work and sociology

v: achieving the slow fashion mindset in a fast fashion world; emily stephens and emily stutzman, institute for sustainable practice

vi: how do the top technologies utilized in cool roofs perform?; ainsleigh heinzmann, noora hama, and emily stutzman, institute for sustainable practice

vii: examining the effectiveness of mebendazole on larval stage one c. elegans; malai bennie, anna thurman, and brian ellis, biology

vii: using neonatal airway simulators to teach surfactant administration through laryngeal or supraglottic airways in indian nicus; kaylee grace wu and florah mhlanga, biology

ix: the effects of hd5 on wound healing and expression of mmp2 in human colonic epithelial cells; ellie lynn kowitz, meredith comstock, emily ibarra, paige rietman, and amanda williams, biology

x: elucidating the effect of fat metabolism inhibition on breast cancer migration; audrey birdwell, lincoln brown, joy hana, and joshua owens, biology

x1: development and efficacy of a fentanyl vaccine to reduce drug overdose deaths: a review of the literature; kileigh rice, bri love, hallie pennington, austin marfell, emily upton, and jennifer hicks, nursing

xii: are the children of parents who had adverse childhood experiences (aces) at increased risk of aces compared to children of parents who did not: a literature review; emily johnson, morgan udell, noah lennox, and jennifer hicks, nursing

xiii: thermodynamic analyses of papgii, and e. coli adhesin; signey hinson and brian cavitt, chemistry and biochemistry

xiv: optical spectroscopic detection of toxic metals in victorian era book cloths as part of the beam library collection; timothy khalil, jafer aljorani, leila ais, and joseph weinstein-webb, chemistry and biochemistry

xv: biomedical waste incinerator for developing communities; mckenna shepherd, tim earles, summar hill, joe spillers, josh hanslip, and david collao, engineering

xvi: lipscomb rocketry: university student launch initiative; elaysa deaver, joshua vielmette, kevin tumolva, austin justman, joseph malham, benjamin powell, and david elrod, engineering

graduate students poster presentations

xvii: privacy regulations and association with cybersecurity breach incidents; connor ward, carley mitchell, ruben hassell, and jacob arthur, business

xviii: knowledge, beliefs, and practices of ncaa coaches and sports dietitians on low energy availability; laurel card, amy banaszek, and tracy noerper, nutrition

undergraduate poetry and performances

i: i didn’t grow up in a forest; abigail miller and jan harris, english and modern languages

ii: i don’t want to face the ending alone; martha pauline harris and jan harris, english and modern languages

iii: i am remnants; addy sigmon and jan harris, english and modern languages

learn more about the student scholars symposium