MTSU Honors students tackle ‘Power of Play’ with spring Buchanan Lecture Series

Spring 2025 Honors College Buchanan Lecture Series promo

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Dozens of students taking the University Honors College lecture series are, hopefully, having fun with the spring semester theme of “The Power of Play.”

“Humor as Subversive Play” (the Feb. 24 presentation), “Writing For, About and Around Video Games” (March 3) and “Laughing Matters” (March 24) are just three of the upcoming lecture topics in the Buchanan Lecture Series running through April 7. To learn more about the lecture series, go to https://honors.mtsu.edu/lecture-series/.

Students in the Middle Tennessee State University Honors College Buchanan Lecture Series take time to discuss one of the topics of the day in the Jan. 27 class meeting. The spring theme is “The Power of Play,” with lectures continuing through April 7 in the Simmons Amphitheater, Room 106 in the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building on the MTSU campus in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (MTSU photo by Randy Weiler)

The lecture series is a class for Honors students each spring and fall, and open to the public. Lectures begin at 3 p.m. every Monday. An exception will be March 10 (spring break). Lectures occur in Simmons Amphitheater, Room 106 in the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building, 1737 Blue Raider Drive.

All visitors are requested to use parking meters or obtain a permit from the Parking and Transportation Services office at 205 City View Drive or print a visitor pass at https://mtsu.t2hosted.com. Visitor permits are $2 per day.

Dr. Rebekka King, professor of religious studies (Photo by Connie Bartemus) — Dr. Rebekka King

In the initial welcome and introduction session, Rebekka King, professor in Philosophy and Religious Studies and an Honors faculty member who developed the spring theme with Honors Associate Dean Philip Phillips, told the class their “generation is markedly different than generations before you. You have certain challenges that are divergent from previous generations.

“Your professors and mentors and people who really care about you, part of what we wanted to do was use this lecture series to recognize some of the habits and patterns you’re forming now and ways to think about patterns you take with you as you navigate life.”

Most of the presenters are MTSU faculty. David Feltmate, professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Auburn University-Montgomery (Alabama), leads the Feb. 24 “Humor as Subversive Play” session. Annie Barger with the Wilson County Schools Family Resource Center brings “Laughing Matters” to the March 24 lecture.

Dr. James M. Buchanan (from 2000 MTSU graduation ceremony) — Dr. James M. Buchanan

To view video from each of the weekly presentations, visit the Honors College YouTube site.

The series is named in honor of the late alumnus James Buchanan, a Rutherford County native, 1940 graduate of Middle Tennessee State Teachers College, World War II veteran and 1986 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)