MTSU faculty and staff experts recently provided expertise and insight on numerous topics, including the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville, the riot at the U.S. Capitol, the First Amendment, Chinese music and weightlifting, among other items.

Dr. Sekou Franklin

Dr. Pramod Iyer

Dr. Sekou Franklin, an associate professor of political science and international relations, discussed racial polarization and its impact on elections in a Dec. 20 video presentation for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. The video is on YouTube and can be viewed here.

Franklin said the campaigns of Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock owe a great deal to grassroots electoral justice campaigns in a Jan. 3 essay at www.thevillagecelebration.com. His comments are available here.

Dr. Pramod Iyer, an assistant professor of marketing, explained how consumers can return their gifts safely during a pandemic in a Dec. 23 story in U.S. News and World Report. His remarks can be read here.

Kent Syler

Dr. Carter Smith

Kent Syler, a professor of political science and international relations, explained how Republicans have capitalized on economic hard times in rural areas in a Dec. 24 story by Tennessee Lookout. His comments are available here.

Dr. Carter Smith, a senior instructor in the Department of Criminal Justice Administration, commented on the continuing search for a motive in the Nashville Christmas bombing for a Dec. 28 report by WZTV-TV in Nashville. The video and the transcript can be accessed here.

Dr. Mei Han

Dr. Katie Foss

Dr. Mei Han, director of the Center for Chinese Music and Culture, virtually delivered a lecture and musical performance titled “Unity through Diversity: Harmony in Metal, Stone, Silk and Bamboo” for the Confucius Institute at the University of Buffalo in Buffalo, New York. The video, which was posted to YouTube Dec. 29, can be viewed here.

Dr. Katie Foss, a professor of media studies, said the isolation prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic actually enabled people to come closer together through communication technology in a Dec. 30 story by CNBC. Her remarks, found in section No. 9, are available here.

Rick Stockstill, head football coach, commented on the passing of Baylor Bramble, a high school football player whose aspiration to attend MTSU was shattered by a traumatic brain injury, in a Jan. 2 report by WSMV-TV in Nashville. His words can be read here.

Coach Rick Stockstill

Dr. John Vile

Dr. John Vile, dean of the University Honors College and a political scientist, put attempts to negate the results of the 2020 presidential election into historical perspective in an editorial published Jan. 4 in the New York Daily News. His essay can be accessed here.

Vile provided historical perspective to his denouncement of the invasion of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Trump in a Jan. 6 editorial in The Tennessean. His opinion can be read here.

Vile said that democracy cannot allow for the rejection of free and fair election results by what he termed “mobocracy” in a Jan. 6 report by WTVF-TV in Nashville. The video and transcript are available here.

Ken Paulson

Matt Hickman

Matt Hickman, football strength and conditioning coach, discussed weightlifting and the impact of COVID-19 on the football team in an episode of the “Shave Heads Not Points” podcast, which was posted to YouTube Jan. 5. The video can be viewed here.

Ken Paulson, director of the Free Speech Center, said the First Amendment does not protect the actions of the rioters who invaded the U.S. Capitol in a Jan. 6 editorial in The Tennessean. His opinions are available here.

Paulson reiterated those views in a Jan. 7 interview with WSMV-TV in Nashville. The video and transcript can be accessed here.

Reporters seeking expertise from MTSU personnel, as well as members of the campus community with expertise for media, may contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Media Relations at 615-631-8322 or via email at gina.logue@mtsu.edu.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)