Danielle Coombs, associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, will begin the Research Uncorked Spring 2016 lecture series which tries to enhance the relationshop between the Kent community and the university, starting Feb. 3 at 5:30 p.m. at the Secret Cellar in downtown Kent.

Coombs, who wrote a book about the 2012 Republican primaries, will present, “Who will be the last man (or woman) standing?: Examining the 2016 Primaries through the lens of 2012.”

“We will be talking about what we learned then and how that helps us understand what’s happening now,” Coombs said. “It’s going to be interesting because it’s just a couple days after the Iowa caucuses.”

Research Uncorked was developed last summer. Each lecture will take place on the first Wednesday of every month at 5:30 p.m. at the Secret Cellar in downtown Kent.

“It helps them (the Kent community) understand more about the value of the university in their community,” said Vicki Bocchicchio, director of the Academic Programs Honors College.

Bocchicchio was a key component in the creation of the lecture series. The lecture is intended to focus on topics that are scholarly, but also appeal to the general educated audience, she said.

Susan Roxburgh, a sociology professor, will present “What’s To Eat?: Food choices through a sociological lens,” on Wednesday, March 2.

“Food is really a window into thinking about social processes because the way the social world works … we mostly don’t see the processes that are influencing us,” Roxburgh said. “It will be a very general introduction to why a sociologist might be interested in focusing on food.”

Continuing the series on Wednesday, April 6, is “The Evolutionary Biology of Gender,” presented by associate professor Andrea Case. The lecture will focus on causes and significance of variation in gender, focusing on plants and some hermaphroditic animals that have flexible sex expression.  

Concluding the series will be professor Paul Haridakis and professor Richard Serpe presenting “May 4, 1970 and its aftermath,” on Wednesday, May 4.

The lectures are open to the public and free to attend.

For more information, please visit http://www.kent.edu/honors/research-uncorked or https://www.facebook.com/researchuncorked?_rdr=p.

Latisha Ellison is the CCI reporter for The Kent Stater, contact her at [email protected]