UT Mic/Nite | The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Faculty and Staff:

Twice a year, the Office of the Provost hosts Mic/Nite, a “Pecha-Kucha Powered” social gathering designed to enhance the intellectual, interdisciplinary, and cultural life of the faculty and staff at UT Knoxville.

One of the challenges in a large university community is working across the silos that often separate disciplines. Mic/Nite offers an opportunity to build bridges and foster a deeper appreciation of the many facets of a large, comprehensive university. Presentations offer a cross section of the intellectual life of UT Knoxville and provide an opportunity for social interaction among faculty and staff who may not otherwise have the opportunity to interact with each other.

For the Event:

We remind our guests that UT Mic/Nite is an event for UT faculty and staff and is not open to students or the general public. [Partners are welcome.] Relix Variety Theatre is located at 1208 N Central St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Parking is available behind the venue on Anderson Avenue and on surrounding streets.

Free pizza and a cash bar are available.

What is Pecha-Kucha?

Pecha-Kucha is a simple presentation format that features twenty images displayed for twenty seconds each. The images automatically forward as the presenter talks. To learn more, visit the Pecha-Kucha FAQ. Samples are posted on the Pecha-Kucha Presentations page.

The format originated in Tokyo, Japan. It was first introduced in 2003 and has spread to more than 400 cities around the world. The format allows presenters to depict and describe everything from urban design or economic theory to a series of photographs. Mic/Nite is held in cooperation with PechaKucha Night Knoxville, which was started in 2011 to encourage intellectual and cultural dialogue. Mic/Nites are special interdisciplinary events that facilitate dialogue between university faculty and staff by showcasing the academic pursuits of the campus.

Explore Pecha Kucha events from around the world: PechaKucha 20×20 – Official Site | PechaKucha 20×20 – Knoxville | PechaKucha 20×20 – FAQ

Spring 2025 Topics

Reclaiming Sex: Empowering Female Cancer Survivors

Noël Arring, DNP, PhD, Associate Professor, Cancer Symptom Science Interventions, College of Nursing

Millions of female cancer survivors suffer with issues with their sexual health. Often this is unaddressed because many oncology clinicians are uncomfortable addressing issues related to sex and patients are hesitant to bring them up. Early in my career, I learned how important and impactful having open discussions of sex and sexual health was to my patients. My inability to find interventions to recommend led to my work and discovery of how much we don’t know about female sexual health, especially in the context of cancer and cancer treatment. Developing interventions for sexual health in a society that does and does not like to talk about sex has been a wild and interesting ride.

Image Source: Generated with Canva Magic Media, 2025

The Cost of Exclusions

Valarie Blake, JD, Professor, College of Law

Health insurers regularly exclude certain benefits from coverage. Obviously, this affects individuals’ access to care. Less obvious, these exclusions can have sweeping political and economic impacts for many, not just those in need of services. Take infertility treatments. Not regularly offered by insurers, companies like Starbucks and Amazon have offered these benefits to part-time workers, often in return for little or no wages. These generous benefits might compromise the ability of workers to organize around higher wages or better working conditions. Or take the case of states that have tried—and failed—to organize state-based single-payer plans because those plans exclude abortion care. Coverage exclusions can be effective political wedge issues, as well as fuel for predatory, private, credit card companies and start-ups. Arbitrary exclusions can harm us all. This butterfly effect calls for more careful health reform in future.

A Recipe for Reading Remediation

Alexis N. Boucher, PhD, Assistant Professor in Special Education, College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences

How many of you engage in reading to complete responsibilities in your workplace? How many of you read for leisure in your spare time? Reading is an essential skill that serves dynamic purposes. Unfortunately, difficulties in reading are the most common issue among students who receive special education in U.S. public schools.

I am in search of the right “recipe” for reading—a complex mix of decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Despite research and legislation aimed at improving literacy, many students, even those without disabilities, lack proficiency in reading. In Tennessee, promotion to fourth grade is contingent on student performance on third grade reading assessments. With such pressure on young children (and their teachers and families), we must ensure that our recipe for reading instruction is right.

What are the critical ingredients? Existing research has examined impacts of multicomponent interventions, which are costly and haven’t helped us to establish understanding of the unique contributions of intervention components. It’s time we mixed things up. As a researcher, I aim to use intervention optimization, an approach that is novel to education research, but widely used in public health. This innovative framework could refine reading instruction, making it more effective and efficient. With time, effort, and hopefully some external funding, I hope to perfect this recipe.

Image Source: Image generated with ChatGPT, 2025

Our Next Expedition Into the Energy Frontier

Tova Holmes, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy, College of Arts and Sciences

Over the last century, physicists have constructed and discovered the Standard Model, a description of the fundamental particles that form our Universe. To explore this new frontier, we built larger and larger colliders reaching higher and higher energies, and have come to a self-consistent understanding of the forces we observe (except for gravity) and the matter we interact with (except for dark matter). These holes in the theory suggest that there is more to uncover, but the tools we’ve used to venture into this energy frontier are reaching their limits. So far, these machines have collided the two particles that are easiest to produce and manipulate, the proton and the electron. I will discuss how the short-lived muon could be a paradigm change for collider physics, and how we might wrangle it to expand our knowledge of the fundamental Universe.

Building the Future: AI Transforming the Material World

Sergei Kalinin, PhD, Weston Fulton Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Tickle College of Engineering

Artificial Intelligence is everywhere, yet its impact often feels underwhelming. In 2017, AI was set to replace radiologists. By 2024, they’re still here, and self-driving cars still struggle with traffic cones. AI alignment was once an existential threat—now, few seem worried.

With nearly two decades in AI for experimental physical sciences, I’ve seen it evolve from a niche curiosity to a transformative research tool. I’ve made my own bets—some better than others (ask me about my mining experience). This talk explores how AI can move beyond glorified Google searches and rigid automation to truly accelerate discovery. We expected to go from Toyota to Lamborghini, but the shift is more drastic—we’ve moved from riding a horse to driving a car. However, it’s still the human behind the wheel, deciding the destination. AI’s value depends on us. The future won’t wait—it’s time to make AI work.

Image Source: Image generated with DALL-E, 2025

A Manuscript Made for an Emperor: Reflections on Digital Manuscript Studies

Charles Kuper, PhD, Assistant Professor of Classics, Marco Institute Language Program Coordinator, College of Arts and Sciences

The digitization of medieval manuscripts and their largely open-access publication rank among the most significant advancements in premodern humanistic research during the past twenty-five years. Never before have the literary treasures of the past been accessible to so many, so quickly, and so easily. We can now visit the Bodleian in Oxford, the Vatican Library in Rome, the Bavarian State Library in Munich, and St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai desert, all in a single morning and wherever there is a decent internet connection. This newfound accessibility has opened many doors of inquiry that were previously closed or not even known to exist at all. In this presentation, I provide an overview of digital manuscript studies before discussing my forthcoming work on the brilliantly illuminated Byzantine manuscript known as the Menologion of Basil II. I conclude by pointing to the exciting future of manuscript studies here in Knoxville.

Image Source: Text from the Menologion of Basil II (Vat. gr. 1613, p. 132), open-access Digital Vatican Library, https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1613/154

Heritable Microbiomes and Genomic Insights for Efficient Cattle Production

Phillip Myer, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Animal Science, Herbert College of Agriculture

The key to more sustainable cattle production lies within the unseen world of the rumen microbiome. This microbial ecosystem ferments feed, breaking it down into essential nutrients that fuel growth and performance. Cutting-edge research reveals these microbial communities are not random; they are influenced by host genetics and are heritable. Some cattle harbor microbiomes that enhance feed efficiency, reducing waste and environmental impact. By unraveling the complex interplay between genetics and these microbes, scientists are unlocking new ways to optimize breeding and management strategies for greater sustainability. Integrating microbiome data into genomic selection offers holistic approaches to livestock production, improving food security while mitigating its environmental footprint. These discoveries have far-reaching implications—not just for farmers and researchers, but for anyone concerned with global sustainability. Harnessing the power of the rumen microbiome has the potential to revolutionize agriculture, producing more with less and shaping the future of sustainable livestock management.

Media, Messages, & the Mind

Christina J. Najera, PhD, Assistant Professor, Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations

My research is guided by two main principles: how and why. These guide my research questions when curious about investigating and understanding human phenomenon. My work explores the effects of media messages, and the cognitive and emotional processing of these messages. Specifically, my work is rooted in investigating and understanding how individuals react to and process prosocial advertising (i.e., inclusion and representation) and public health messaging related to risky behavior (i.e., texting and driving) and body image (i.e., body and beauty ideals). For this presentation, I will share a couple of my past and current research questions, what I’ve done and am currently doing to investigate them, and what I’ve learned so far in my quest to answer them.

Musical Fission: How the Art of Physics Can Inspire the Science of Music

Denin Slage-Koch, DA, Assistant Teaching Professor of Jazz Guitar, Natalie L. Haslam College of Music

Despite common perceptions, the disciplines of physics and musical composition have fundamental similarities. Both demand precision of the highest order, but each also rewards curious practitioners willing to approach problems creatively and in seemingly unorthodox ways. Because of these commonalities, the two disciplines can form a symbiotic relationship in which each can reveal truths and generate interesting research questions about the other. This presentation highlights a musical work, Dr. Denin Slage-Koch’s “re: manhattan project,” that embraces the scientific concepts at the core of its subject matter and uses seemingly sterile facts, figures, and data as the foundation of a highly original, creative, and cohesive artistic work. In illuminating the process of interdisciplinary inspiration and process, this presentation seeks to empower audience members working in a broad range of disciplines to seek inspiration from anything that ignites their imagination.

The Business of Addiction

Alice Stewart, PhD, Teaching Professor, Strategic Management, Haslam College of Business

The opioid crisis is a critical societal issue. Opioid overdoses and addiction have ravaged families and communities across the country. The U.S. opioid addiction epidemic was the result of years of accepted organizational practice that intentionally promoted the use of substantially addictive and harmful substances. Countless families and communities have been impacted by addiction (substance use disorder). While traditionally, attribution for substance use disorder has been to the individual user, only recently has investigation shown how business organizations and “good” business practice, contributed to this problem and exploited individuals – patients – for organizational profitability.

The opioid addiction epidemic is a useful lens to examine how organizational decisions made within complex systems and supply chains can have unintended consequences. Understanding the opioid phenomenon may provide proactive insight as society is impacted by other industries, such as social media and artificial intelligence, that may impose significant societal costs to U.S. communities.

Virtual Houseguest: Exploring the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Virtual Respite Program for Caregivers

Tiffany R. Washington, PhD, Associate Professor of Health Social Work, College of Social Work

Imagine if you could provide much-needed relief to caregivers right in their homes without being physically present. This innovative study explores the potential of a virtual respite program called Virtual Houseguest, designed to support family caregivers of individuals with mild cognitive impairment and early-stage dementia. The program builds on an original in-person respite service provided by social work graduate students, adapting it for virtual delivery during the pandemic. Nine caregivers participated in the pilot and received up to six weekly Zoom visits, ranging from 122 to 295 minutes. The findings revealed that virtual respite is not only feasible but also highly acceptable. Caregivers found the technology easy to use and beneficial for emotional self-care, while care recipients enjoyed engaging activities and building rapport with the students. These promising results highlight the potential of virtual respite programs to offer essential support to caregivers, paving the way for further research and broader implementation.