Prateek Arora, assistant professor of economics, had a paper, “A non traditional assessment tool in a macroeconomics classroom: Model IMF Summit” published in the Journal of Economic Education. The paper presents a novel, rigorous active-learning assessment that uses a simulation exercise in class to integrate macroeconomic theory, empirical analysis, policy application, and professional communication.
Arora also recently presented two papers at the Liberal Arts Macro Conference at St. Olaf College last month, “Forecasting Inflation in the United States Using Machine Learning: A Disaggregated Approach,” and “The Currency Game: Making Exchange Rates Stick.”
Jennifer Fredricks, professor of psychology, presented a paper, “Groups, goals, growth: How peer acceptance shapes student development in co-curricular activities,” at the International Conference on Motivation in Lisbon, Portugal.
Lori Marso, the Doris Zemurray Stone Professor of Literary and Historical Studies, published an essay, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This): David Lynch, Simone de Beauvoir, and 'Feeling Like a Feminist,’” in the Fall 2026 issue of Film Quarterly. The outlet is a top academic journal for film studies in the U.S. as well as an English-language voice of cinema studies abroad. Marso's article is part of a special dossier on “Mulholland Drive at 25.”
Mai P. N. Tran ’26 and D. Catherine Walker, associate professor of psychology, recently published an article, "AI chatbot usage may increase mental health help-seeking among college-aged individuals" in the Journal of American College Health.
D. Catherine Walker, associate professor of psychology, and collaborators Drew A. Anderson, Julia M. Brooks '16, Kayla Costello and Kristin Javaras presented a paper, “In the mirror functional appreciated bodies: A randomized control trial of a body image intervention” at the 2026 International Conference on Eating Disorders, The Hague, NL.
Francis Wilkin, senior lecturer in physics and astronomy, and observatory manager, co-authored three papers announcing the discovery and characterization of exoplanets and brown dwarfs using the transit technique, where a planet blocks a small amount of the light of its host star. “Uncovering the rapidly evolving orbits of the dynamic TOI-201 system” appeared in Science Advances, April 2026. The system consists of a super-Earth, warm Jupiter, and massive companion at 5.8-, 53-, and 2900-day orbital periods, respectively. “Unraveling the brown dwarf desert: Four new discoveries and a unifying period-coded picture” by Subjak et al. was published in Astronomy & Astrophysics in May 2026. The four brown dwarfs discovered are too massive to be exoplanets, yet have too little mass to be stars. "The K-dwarfs survey ─ I. Four validated planets from the radius valley to the Neptune desert" by Morello et al. appeared in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, July 2026. Four Neptune and sub-Neptune planets were confirmed.
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