ETSU Great Lecture Series continues December 8

Dr. Lee Bidgood, Dr. Nick Hagemeier, and Dr. Gary Henson

Drs. Lee Bidgood, Nick Hagemeier and Gary Henson will be featured in the second installment of East Tennessee State University’s Great Lecture Series.

The new lecture series, which began in October, celebrates and showcases the work of faculty who have recently been promoted to full professor at ETSU. Faculty play an integral role in the mission of ETSU through their teaching, research and service, and this lecture series provides them an opportunity to share their work with the broader community.

The second installment will be held Friday, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m. in the East Tennessee Room on the second level of the D.P. Culp Student Center. It is free and open to the public.

Bidgood’s lecture is titled “On Listening: An Introduction to Sound Studies.” Since coming to ETSU in 2010 as a faculty member in the Department of Appalachian Studies, he has taught courses in ethnomusicology and Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies in addition to leading the ETSU Mandolin Orchestra and Global String Band. His Fulbright grant-supported research on Czech bluegrass has inspired both a documentary and a book.

Hagemeier’s talk will be “As Interesting as Possible.” Hagemeier is vice provost for research and chief research officer at ETSU as well as a professor in Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmacy Practice. He has led numerous substance use disorder research projects, with millions of dollars in funding from the National Institutes of Health and other agencies. He has also served as research director of ETSU’s Addiction Science Center.

“Reaching for the Stars: Growing Up in the Space Age” will be the topic of Henson’s lecture. Henson has studied variable stars using observatories in three countries and two hemispheres, investigating everything from exoplanets to black holes. He was the first research astronomer employed by ETSU in 1989 as the physics department focused on astronomy as a main research area, and he has been instrumental in developing and maintaining ETSU’s membership in the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy.

The spring lectures will be held March 1 and April 12, 2024.

ETSU professors regularly produce premiere scholarship, with faculty and staff often winning competitive grants and fellowships.

For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at (423) 439-8346.

East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.