Benjamin Lawson, associate professor of physics, will speak at the university’s next science seminar on Oct. 1.
He will talk about searching for new phases of matter. This is research into the strange way certain materials, like magnets, work differently than individual atoms by themselves, he said.
“I'll be talking about searching for new phases of matter, which is sort of my research field. “The technical term for my field is condensed matter physics,” Lawson said.
The next seminar will be on Oct. 1 at noon in Habecker south. It does not cost anything to attend.
September’s lecture was given on the third by Seth Parker. He is a researcher at the University of Kentucky and the husband of Elizabeth Parker. She is the assistant director for Taylor University’s honor’s program and an assistant professor of English.
Derek Thompson, co-chair of the Mathematics Department and a professor of mathematics, said Parker spoke on how computer science can be used to read old documents that were too fragile to open by hand.
Lily Alexander, a math major at Taylor, attended the previous month’s lecture. She said his lecture made her realize science fields are more applicable in everyday life than she thought.
“CommSci (computer science) and things like that, like, STEM field are more applicable to historians, and, you know, (than) some people may have originally thought, including myself; I had no idea that they had such applications in these other fields,” Alexander said.
The formation of the science seminar is new. Matt Renfrow, the dean of Taylor’s school of natural and applied sciences, said the seminar used to be connected to a class.This made the seminar frequent and at an awkward time of the day.
Very few people attended the class.
Renfrow said the science department chairs debated getting rid of the seminar but decided it was too valuable.
“We're like, well, the value of hearing scientists talk about science with students, faculty and staff, we still want to do that, cultivate that, whatever, but we think just logistically, we need to change,” he said.
Thompson offered to take charge of the new seminar and suggested a time change. This meant that the seminar would now be held once a month at noon instead of biweekly at 4 p.m. on Monday.
“So my idea was originally like, if we had it during lunch, students could just go to the DC, grab their food and just come in the back. Because now we also, another thing that happened is the DC was renovated and we have this beautiful area in the back,” he said.
Renfrow invited everyone to attend the lecture. He is also offering free lunch tickets to faculty and staff who attend the lecture. They need to visit Allison Hunt to get them, he said.
“I would invite any, anybody to come out. I think it's a good time for students. And for my faculty and staff, colleagues: come see Allison Hunt and get a coupon for a free lunch. Hear a colleague talk about an area that they're passionate about,” Renfrow said.
The seminar is for both science and non-science students. Alexander said she noticed some students from the business department along with history students at the last lecture.
Lawson said he thinks a science lecture is something students of any major should attend. He said he encourages students to be curious.
“A student of science would benefit from going to a theatrical performance of Shakespeare, right? There's things to be gleaned and enjoyed, and I think a student of non-science could equally benefit from being exposed to, kind of, what are the things in the natural world that are happening that they may not be aware of,” Lawson said.
This was particularly important for Taylor students because of their Christian faith, he said.
“It's an opportunity to learn more about God’s creation and even the things he put in us to explore his creation and to take part in his creation and to enjoy his creation,” Lawson said.
