Tag Archives: faculty lighting talks

Faculty Research Lightning Talks: Meet David Freeman

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The UCBA Library’s 3rd Annual Faculty Research Lightning Talks on March 10, 2020 featured four presenters and their discipline-based research projects via short, 15 minute presentations. In our Meet the Presenters series, each presenter shares some insights into their research project.

David Freeman| Associate Professor of Mathematics| Math, Physics & Computer Science Department
Presentation: Geometry from Symmetry

David Freeman giving a presentation.

David Freeman discusses his research.

Research Project
My research has been focused on the concept of symmetry. Here I use the word “symmetry” to denote a way to transform an object into itself (e.g. a reflection or rotation). My goal is to understand all possible objects that admit certain types of symmetries.

Are there any opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration with your research? If already cross-disciplinary, are there opportunities to expand it?
Yes, at least to some extent. I am very interested in the philosophy of mathematics, and I am hoping to eventually contribute to the ongoing debate about the ontology of mathematical objects (such as the ones I study). I am also quite interested in mathematically-inspired artwork. I believe there are many opportunities to express mathematical ideas through visual (and other types of) art.

What are your next steps with your research?
My long term goal is to prove a conjecture that has motivated the work I’ve already been doing. This conjecture pertains to the classification of certain mathematical objects that exhibit a high degree of “coarse” symmetry. For all I know the conjecture may end up being false, but I am somewhat optimistic that it is true. I’m not sure if a proof is within reach, but I’m willing to give it a shot. In general, this is the nature of many mathematical research projects: one group of mathematicians will pose a conjecture, and then some other group will prove (or disprove) the conjecture.

Forthcoming Publication

David Freeman, Enrico Le Donne. (Forthcoming). Toward a quasi-Möbius characterization of Invertible Homogeneous Metric Spaces. Revista Matemática Iberoamericana.

 

By Lauren Wahman

Faculty Research Lightning Talks: Meet Carla Cesare  

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The UCBA Library’s 3rd Annual Faculty Research Lightning Talks on March 10, 2020 featured four presenters and their discipline-based research projects via short, 15 minute presentations. In our Meet the Presenters series, each presenter shares some insights into their research project.

Carla Cesare | Assistant Professor of Art History | Art & Visual Communication Department

Presentation: Networks of Design: Women at Work

Professor Carla Cesare giving a presentation

Carla Cesare discusses her research.

Research Project
Networks of Design is a research project/book proposal that looks at a body of women who were working in the emerging design disciplines in America in the 1920s-30s. It does so through the contemporary lens of design thinking which includes research, making and marketing; uncovering the breadth of work women were doing and the network they were creating, unconsciously or not. By uncovering ‘anonymous’, women are brought to the foreground of design history, not just through biographies or even the objects designed, but by linking their educational and career trajectories and reconsidering the role women have played in making our daily lives through design.

Cesare Slide showing different advertisements

A slide from Cesare’s Networks of Design: Women at Work presentation 

Are there any opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration with your research? If already cross-disciplinary, are there opportunities to expand it?
There are two areas: Women’s history and the inclusion women of the design discipline; second, I think it could be a stepping off point for people looking at the history of retail and media as the evolution of organizational structures is pretty interesting.

What are your next steps with your research?
I’m currently revising a book proposal; a publisher contacted me and they think it’s viable and a fit. So hopefully a book is next.

Additional Resources
To date I’ve primarily used archives and libraries including:  UC’s Special Collections, Purdue University, Smith College, New York Public Library, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Henry Ford Museum, Cranbrook Academy of Art, University of Chicago and the Mattatuck Historical Society.

 

by Lauren Wahman

UCBA Faculty Share Research at 2nd Lightning Talks

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by Lauren Wahman

The UCBA Library hosted its 2nd Faculty Research Lightning Talks on Thursday March 28.  This year’s event showcased a variety of research projects via short, 15 minute presentations.  UCBA faculty and staff enjoyed light refreshments, had the opportunity to learn about research outside of their disciplines, and ask thoughtful questions during the Q&A’s.

Faculty Lighting Talk presenters

(L-R) Ruth Benander, Ornaith O’Dowd, Amy Miller, Patrick Owen

Lighting Talk Presentations

Ruth Benander | Professor | English & Communication
Barriers and Supports: Demographic Patterns and Student Perceptions in Comp and Comm Courses

Ornaith O’Dowd | Assistant Professor | History, Philosophy & Political Science
The Ethics of Microaggressions

Amy Miller & Patrick Owen | Associate Professors | Biology
Blending Ecological, Microbiological, and Molecular Techniques to Create Multifaceted Undergraduate Research Projects

 

UCBA Faculty Research Lightning Talks

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by Lauren Wahman

These short presentations will showcase faculty research and share different aspects of the research process.

Thursday, March 28 from 2:00-3:00 pm
Muntz Hall 117

Ruth Benander
Barriers and Supports: A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Student Perceptions in Comp and Comm Courses

Amy Miller & Patrick Owen
Blending Ecological, Microbiological, and Molecular Techniques to Create Multifaceted Undergraduate Research Projects

Ornaith O’Dowd 
The Ethics of Microaggressions