{"id":1311,"date":"2026-02-20T08:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T08:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/02\/20\/2026-02-20-professors-tackle-niche-topics-at-ed-talks\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:09:07","slug":"2026-02-20-professors-tackle-niche-topics-at-ed-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/02\/20\/2026-02-20-professors-tackle-niche-topics-at-ed-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Professors tackle niche topics at Ed\u00a0Talks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Madelyn Braho<\/a> · Staff Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students gathered in Sticht Lecture Hall Wednesday evening to listen to professors talk about anything except what they teach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ed Talks is an event the Student Government Association hosts every semester, where three Grove City College professors give presentations like Ted Talks on any subject they wish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time, students listened to talks by Dr. Erik Bardy of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Richard Sabousky of the Department of Education and Dr. Ryan Kelley of the Department of Management & Marketing. They spoke about sailing, perception and barbecue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bardy, who \u201cwears many hats\u201d by his own account, advises multiple dance-related clubs on campus, as well as engineering-related programs. His talk, \u201cEngineering Principles in Sailing,\u201d covered the layout and maneuvering of ships, including how engineering comes into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t help but make this an engineering talk,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The engineering portion included formulas for maximum ship speed, as well as some diagrams just for show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am not explaining all those vectors, I just put them up for the \u2018ooh ahh\u2019 effect,\u201d Bardy said, proceeding to ask the audience to \u201cooh\u201d and \u201cahh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bardy began sailing in the summer of 2019 after his summers were no longer taken up by an engineering event in France. Now he, his wife and daughter all sail Lake Erie on their boat, the Mersea. \u201cMer\u201d is the French word for sea, making the ship\u2019s name a pun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sabousky, a professor of education, discussed the \u201ccrisis of perception:\u201d how people\u2019s perception of the world is distorted, especially when it comes to media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained how algorithms push extreme content to keep people engaged, resulting in a perceptual shift \u2014 the extremes of an idea are considered the common opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This matters especially to Sabousky because of his work with people with disabilities. He gave an example of this perceptual shift in the case of vaccines \u201ccausing\u201d autism. The original study, which proposed that idea, was retracted because it suggested a false causal link, but due to social media spreading headlines about the study \u201cproving\u201d vaccines cause autism, the idea persists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The solution to the perception crisis, Sabousky argued, was to ask for the evidence, no matter who is telling you something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping that you, as Grove City students, are smarter than the average bear,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley, assistant professor in the Marketing & Management Department, gave the last talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really do enjoy smoking … meat,\u201d he began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSmoke Break\u201d followed Kelley\u2019s journey in learning how to make Southern-style barbecue. He first tried brisket in college while on a date with the girl he would eventually marry, who was from Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are two things you need to know about Texas. First, you don\u2019t mess with Texas,\u201d Kelley said. \u201cI don\u2019t have time to explain that. The second is that beef is king.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley tried making brisket for his family in college with a $250 smoker from Walmart, underestimating just how long it would take, and it was a \u201ccomplete and utter failure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Kelley tried again, eventually learning that, unlike what people online might say, it isn\u2019t the sauce or the seasoning that makes good barbecue, it\u2019s fire. Over time, he learned how to control wood fires to make the best brisket. Now, he and his family sell the brisket he makes at fairs and night markets under the name of Pletcher\u2019s Barbecue, his mother\u2019s maiden name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current barbecue \u201crevolution\u201d ushered in by the Traeger smoker concerns him, however. Unlike the fire box of smokers he learned to barbecue on, which requires hours of supervision and time to learn how to control, the smoke pellet Traegers need no such effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This simplification signals an erosion of a willingness to do things the slow way, according to Kelley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHave we lost the ability to suffer and fail and learn from it?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why Kelley relishes the time it takes to smoke meat, up to 24 hours sometimes, with the 500-gallon propane tank he bought off a \u201chillybilly\u201d in West Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the last of Q&A portions held after each talk, the night was finished with students competing for prizes in a quiz on the presentations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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