“A lot of faculty are doing great things, but not everybody knows about it,” said Associate Vice Provost for Research Development Jamie Kimberley.
That’s what Merrimack College’s new Lunch and Learn Series hopes to change.
Launched this semester through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, the bi-monthly series aims to provide a forum for the Merrimack community to learn more about faculty research and scholarship, find academic inspiration and celebrate each other’s work.
Each iteration sees two faculty members giving short presentations of their scholarship and attendees are encouraged to ask questions, share advice and network.
“The early feedback we received is that the series is serving its purpose and faculty are enjoying the chance to learn from one another and find scholarly connections,” Kimberley shared.
Assistant Professor Amanda Cremone-Caira and Assistant Professor of Practice Christian Kronsted presented on Wednesday, Dec. 3. Cremone-Caira discussed behavioral and neural correlations of adaptive risk taking behavior in preschool-aged children.
“I’m pretty collegial with my department – I know a lot of people there and I bounce a lot of ideas off of them – I feel like my work is pretty interdisciplinary,” she explained. “I thought this was a good opportunity to talk to other colleagues who I have not yet had the chance to meet and I think it might foster some useful collaborations and feedback in the future.”
Kronsted focused on his ongoing research on body cognition and spatial dynamics, specifically how people operate, move and form roles in large crowds such as concerts, protests and competitions. One day, he hopes to pitch a book on the topic.
“There are a lot of opportunities for collaboration that you don’t always realize because you’re busy teaching your students and doing your own thing,” Kronsted said. “I feel the less siloed we are, the stronger we are as a university.”
Kronsted said he has found new viewpoints, perspectives and nuggets of inspiration for his own research while attending Lunch and Learn, even if the topics are out of his field of research.
“The whole time Christian was giving his presentation, I was thinking about kids with ADHD and their body cognition,” Cremone-Caira replied in agreement. “I know he’s a cognitive scientist and I’ve heard really good things about his work.”
In the future, Kimberley said he hopes to organize a similar forum for graduate students and their research.
“One of the benefits I had as a graduate student was being able to interact with hundreds of colleagues and see their perspectives,” he explained. “It helped me develop not only as a scholar and researcher, but as a person.”
Faculty who are interested in participating in next semester’s Lunch and Learn are asked to email Kimberley at [email protected].
