MACON – Mercer University will hold its ninth annual Breakthroughs in Engagement, Arts and Research (BEAR) Day and 18th annual Engineering Expo April 4-5 to showcase outstanding student research and special projects from the College of Liberal Arts, Stetson School of Business and Economics, Tift College of Education, Townsend School of Music, College of Health Professions and School of Engineering.
BEAR Day will feature more than 190 poster and oral presentations, while the Engineering Expo will feature more than 130 freshmen, 100 seniors and 50 Engineering Scholars giving oral and poster presentations and participating in the annual freshman design competition.
This year’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, former president of Spelman College and Bennett College, who will deliver the second annual Malcolm Lester Phi Beta Kappa Lectures on Liberal Arts and Public Life, presented by Mercer’s Zeta Chapter of Georgia.
The lectures will take place April 4 at 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and April 5 at 11 a.m. in the Presidents Dining Room inside the University Center. The theme of this year’s lectures is “Race and Racism in American Public Life.”
BEAR Day poster presentations will begin on Thursday from 4:30-5:30 p.m. and 6:30-7:30 p.m. throughout Heritage Hall in the University Center. Presentations continue Friday throughout the Spearman C. Godsey Science Center.
The Art Department will open a show of student work in Hardman Hall’s Plunkett Gallery beginning Friday at 8 a.m. and will host a senior art show that evening from 6-8 p.m. at the recently opened McEachern Art Center in downtown Macon.
Townsend School of Music’s brass choir will perform Friday morning in the McCorkle Music Building’s Fickling Hall from 10-11 a.m.
The University Honors Convocation will take place from 4-5:30 p.m. in Willingham Auditorium.
“BEAR Day demonstrates and honors the achievements of students and highlights the depth and breadth of the academic experiences at Mercer,” Dr. Wayne Glasgow, senior vice provost for research. “I know that those in attendance will enjoy the presentations and trust that BEAR Day will spark intellectual curiosity and inspire further scholarly pursuits.”
The Engineering Expo will be held on Friday, beginning with the annual freshman design competition from 9-9:50 a.m. in the Engineering Building atrium and lobby.
Guest speaker Eve London, a School of Engineering alumna and director of marketing at KaMin Performance Minerals, will offer a presentation from 10-10:50 a.m. in Science and Engineering Building, Room 110.
Podium presentations will take place from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. and poster presentations from 1:30-2:50 p.m. in the Science and Engineering Building.
“The Engineering Expo is one of the most highly anticipated days of the academic year,” said Dr. Laura Lackey, dean and professor of environmental engineering. “It’s on this day when seniors share their capstone design projects, Engineering Scholars and other students engaged in research share their results, and freshmen students enrolled in the ‘Introduction to Engineering Design’ course compete in varied venues with vehicles they have designed and built.”