Professional poker player Dan Smith visited an Introduction to Philosophy course taught by David Friedell, assistant professor of philosophy, to discuss how philosophy has inspired him to donate a significant portion of his winnings to charities and also founding his own, Double Up Drive. Smith has won more than $30 million playing in poker tournaments.

Sarah Competiello '21, George Bizer, professor of psychology and chair of the department, and Catherine Walker, associate professor of psychology, recently published a paper in Media + Society, “The Power of Social Media: Stigmatizing Content Affects Perceptions of Mental Health Care.” The study examined the extent to which exposure to social media posts derogating mental health treatment increases stigma toward such treatment.

Meichai Chen '20, George Bizer, professor of psychology and chair of the department, and Roger Hoerl, Brate-Peschel Professor of Statistics, recently published a paper in College Teaching, “Student Evaluations of Teaching as a Predictor of Teaching Effectiveness in a Selective Liberal Arts College.” It examined correlations between student evaluations of faculty in a lower-level course and student success in a higher-level course.

Hasan Al Babaa, visiting assistant professor of mechanical engineering, participated in the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, an annual event organized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. During the conference, he chaired a session focusing on Topological Phononics, which was a part of the Acoustics, Vibration, and Phononics track. He also gave two technical presentations, “Bandgap Formation Patterns in Phononic Crystals” and “On Designing Zero-Frequency Corner Modes in Elastically-supported Honeycomb Lattices.”

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