Claire Bracken, professor of English, has recently published the foreword of a new book of essays on the contemporary novelist Sally Rooney (Bucknell University Press, 2026). In June 2026, she also received a book contract from Cambridge University for a co-edited collection on the award-winning fiction writer Anne Enright (publication in 2028). This book will be published in Cambridge's Literature in Context series and will be the first of the series on a living woman author.
Stephanie Curley, the Mary H. and Richard K. Templeton assistant professor of biomedical engineering, recently published “Outer Membrane Vesicle Loaded Thin Films as a Stable Room Temperature Vaccine Platform” in the journal Frontiers in Biomaterials Science with co-authors Nolan Randall ’25), Jules Squissato ’26, Cagla Numanoglu ’26, William Dubois’26 and Hannah Lee’28). This paper focuses on alternative vaccine administration methods to injections by exploring loading of a novel vaccine technology into a film that is orally dissolvable, similar to breath strips. The Curley Lab also published a paper in collaboration with the Cady Lab at SUNY Albany, “Leader sequence substitution improves immunogenicity of Borrelia burgdorferi protein on E. coli-derived vesicles” in Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, with student co-authors David Krimer ’25, Jules Squissato ’26, Adam Hecker ’26 and Hannah Lee’28. This publication focuses on improving the immune response to Lyme disease proteins, which will pave the way for new, more effective vaccines against Lyme disease.
Pravini S. Fernando, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, co-authored the research paper “Solvent-Guided Chiral Assemblies and Chemical Doping of OEG-Functionalized Conjugated Polymers,” published in Wiley’s Advanced Materials journal. The study investigates how solvent choice directs chiral assembly in conjugated polymers and how these assemblies influence their electrical properties. The findings establish general principles for solvent-guided chiral assembly, enabling high-performance chiral electronics, optoelectronics and spintronics.
Jennifer Fredricks, professor of psychology, published an article, “Increasing Classroom Participation and Improving Writing: Self-Regulation Strategy Instruction” in Teaching of Psychology. The article was based on data she collected from students in her developmental psychology course at Union as part of the Faculty Interest Group for Student Success. She also published, “Understanding and Promoting Student Engagement” in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Psychology.
Tommaso Gazzarri, professor of classics, taught a graduate seminar in July at the University of Genova (Italy) devoted to the rhetoric of indignation in Roman imperial literature and philosophy.
Lori Marso, the Doris Zemurray Stone Professor of Literary and Historical Studies, published an essay for the Los Angeles Review of Books, “To Be Femme.” She reviews two recent books that take a look at the “distinctly artificial, alluring and potentially radical performance of 'womanhood,” and that see the denigration of the femme as a crucial misstop in the evolution of modern feminism. Marso has been a freelance writer for LARB since 2018, writing about both books and film. This is her 12th essay for the publication.
D. Catherine Walker, associate professor of psychology, Shruti Mahajan, assistant professor of computer science, and students Laruen Leavitt '26, Mai P. N. Tran '26 and Alissa Tsay '26, presented a poster at the 2026 International Conference on Eating Disorders, The Hague, NL: “Extended Reality Body Exposure: RCT Protocol Development for Body Dissatisfied College Women.” Walker, and Dena Contreras '25, Leavitt and Tran also presented a paper, “Feasibility & usability of IM FAB, a disseminable micro-intervention to reduce eating disorder risk,” at the conference.
Pattie Wareh, associate professor of English, had an article, “The Rage of Lucrece: Anger, Empathy, and 'Imaginary Work” appear in the Spring 2026 volume of SEL: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. The paper explores Shakespeare’s contrapuntal depictions of empathy, grief and rage in his narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece, arguing that Lucrece’s position as alert interpreter of myth also provides a model for the reader’s own agency. While the poem depicts Lucrece (and women more generally) as vulnerable wax, it also shows how the susceptibility to pity is a valuable trait that should be balanced with rage, especially given the contemporary efforts to ignore women’s voices and their agency over their bodies.
Carol Weisse, the Ronald M. Obenzinger Professor of Psychology/Director of Health Professions, along with Lam (Kellye) Nguyen '27 and Cort Collier '25 had a paper, “A Retrospective Mixed-Methods Analysis of Falls Among Patients in a Social Model Hospice Residential Care Home,” published in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
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