Middle Tennessee State University representatives appeared on WGNS Radio recently to talk about new research into prison education, an upcoming IT conference on campus, and a federally funded research project about a landmark Supreme Court decision.

They appeared on the live “Action Line” program with host Scott Walker broadcast on FM 100.5, 101.9 and AM 1450 from the WGNS studio in downtown Murfreesboro. If you missed it, you can listen to a podcast of the Dec. 18 program.

Guests included:         

• Dr. Ben Stickle, professor of criminal justice administration, discussed his co-authored study showing benefit of prison education programs.

The most extensive meta-analysis conducted to date on the impact of prison education programs in the U.S. has been published in the American Journal of Criminal Justice as an Open Access (free) article, “Are Schools in Prison Worth it? The Effects and Economic Returns of Prison Education.” 

Spearheaded by Stickle and co-authored by Dr. Steven Sprick Schuster, the study offers a comprehensive look into the tangible and societal benefits of prison education. 

• Dr. Sam Zaza, associate professor of information systems and analytics, discussed a spring IT conference hosted for the first time at MTSU that will serve as springboard to develop a culture of research among students and faculty.

MTSU’s Department of Information Systems and Analytics in the Jones College of Business is hosting and sponsoring the 2024 ACM SIGMIS Computers and People Research Conference set for May 29-June 1, 2024, at MTSU.  The theme for the conference is “Trust and Legitimacy in Emerging Technologies: Organizational and Societal Implications for People, Places and Power.”

Zaza hopes to use the spring conference as a jumpstart for an annual MTSU conference that provides opportunities each year for students at all levels and faculty to collaborate and have peer-to-peer interactions surrounding research related to information systems and technologies.

• Dr. Louis Kyriakoudes, director of the Albert Gore Research Center, and Jason McGowan, oral historian with the center, discuss the center’s Brown v. Board of Education Oral History Project funded by a $213,000 federal grant.

Funded by the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Park in Topeka, Kansas, the 30-month research project will allow Gore Center staff to conduct extensive oral history interviews documenting the impact of the 1954 Supreme Court decision to end school segregation.

In this milestone case, the Supreme Court ruled that segregating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. The decision overturned the 1896 court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld the principle of racial segregation under a separate-but-equal doctrine.Students, faculty and staff who are interested in guesting on WGNS to promote their MTSU-related activities should contact Jimmy Hart, director of MTSU News and Media Relations, at 615-898-5131 or via email at jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu.