The Artists, Scholars, & Innovators Lecture Series, hosted by the Center for Teaching and Learning, is presented by award-winning faculty with artistic, scholarly, or innovative achievements. Please see below for information about upcoming presentations.
Spring 2023
Lecture One
“Geomythology: How Common Stories Reflect Earth Events”
Lecture abstract: Cyclopes, gold-guarding griffins, killer lakes, human-eating birds, and fire from the sky—such wonders have long been dismissed as fictional. Now, researchers are taking a second look, using the emerging field of geomythology to mine these and other tales for scientific information. Geomythology is a discipline that combines geological and mythological approaches to nature. Many legends that originated in pre-literate societies contain surprisingly accurate, pre-scientific intuitions about earth-based phenomena such as volcanoes, quakes, tsunamis, and the discovery of massive animal bones. This talk will provide an accessible, engaging overview of geomythology, discussing both its rich history and ways it can be used in the future.
Presented by Dr. Timothy Burbery, Professor in the Department of English and 2021-22 Senior Recipient of the MU Distinguished Artists & Scholars Award for Arts, Social Sciences, Humanities, Education, and Business
Thursday, February 2, 2023 | 4-5 pm |Drinko Library 402
Lecture Two
“Structural Assessment of Deteriorated Concrete Bridges using Promising Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation Methods”
Twenty six percent of reinforced and prestressed concrete highway bridges in the United States need repair or replacement. Proper use of available and promising technologies plays a critical role in the nation’s economy and the safety of the traveling public. Federal and state agencies aim at developing effective protocols and executing successful programs to inspect, maintain, and rehabilitate bridges. Appropriate employment of advanced non-destructive testing and evaluation techniques could provide promising solutions to assess deteriorated bridges. This presentation covers the employment of varying non-destructive testing and evaluation techniques on concrete bridges. An enhanced synthetic aperture focusing technique was implemented to reconstruct two-dimensional and three-dimensional images from the data obtained. The proposed method was validated by testing and analyzing several experimental models. An algorithm and a computer code were developed to analyze the data collected. The produced images of this research provided sharp and higher resolution as compared to images obtained from the manufacturer’s software. This research will greatly benefit West Virginia Department of Transportation as the agency continue to safely maintain and preserve over 7,000 bridges.
Presented by Dr. Wael Zatar, Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and 2021-22 Senior Recipient of the MU Distinguished Artists & Scholars Award for Sciences and Technology
Thursday, March 9, 2023 | 4-5 pm | Drinko Library 349
Questions? Email ctl@marshall.edu.