For the Record provides information about recent professional activities and honors of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni.

Recent publications, honors and presentations include the following:

Publications

The latest issue of Neo-Victorian Studies, a scholarly journal published at Swansea University (Wales, U.K.), contains an essay-review by Margaret Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities. Titled "Neo-Victorian Art," Stetz's essay-review uses the occasion of a recently issued study of the subject to survey the field, focusing on exhibitions in both the U.S. and the U.K. by visual artists working across a variety of media. These include photography, sculpture, ceramics, book illustration, and installations that combine everything from natural materials (feathers, shells, wood, etc.) to artificial fur, as they reflect upon and critique Victorian culture and aesthetics, often from an anti-imperialist and anti-racist perspective. This essay-review, which appeared in volume 15, no. 2 of Neo-Victorian Studies (pp. 216-229) is accessible online.

Honors

Kent Messer, S. Hallock du Pont Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Delaware and director of the Center for Behavioral and Experimental Agri-Environmental Research (CBEAR), has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) with the Bruce Gardner Visiting Economist Award. The award celebrates academic and industry economists who have significantly contributed to enriching USDA programs and policies. Messer has led a range of impactful projects that integrate behavioral and experimental insights into agri-environmental programs, helping federal agencies boost program participation, reduce costs, and improve environmental outcomes.

Presentations

Trevor A. Dawes, vice provost for libraries and museums and May Morris University Librarian, was the moderator of a panel at the 186th Association of Research Libraries meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 30, 2025. The theme of the meeting was “Trust in Action,” and speakers included university presidents, researchers, scholars, and other industry leaders and experts. Panelists for Dawes’ session included Sonia Alcantara-Antoine, the CEO of Baltimore County Public Library, Patrick (Pat) Losinski, recently retired chief executive officer of the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML), and John Szabo, the city librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library. These leaders shared their thoughts on how they have built and maintained trust within their communities, are leading in a time of great distrust among “traditional” institutions such as higher education and libraries, and how their expertise in navigating local city, state and federal governments aligns with and is not dissimilar from those challenges in the academic library sector. 

On May 2, 2025, Margaret Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities, was an invited participant in an international online scholarly seminar organized by the Working Group in Aestheticism and Decadence. This is an ongoing project sponsored by Skidmore College, as well as by the Central New York Humanities Corridor, and it is underwritten by a Mellon Foundation grant. The topic of discussion was the work of the British essayist and critic Walter Pater (1839-1894), focusing especially on European cultural links to his theory of Aestheticism and writings on history.

To submit information for inclusion in For the Record, write to ocm@udel.edu and include “For the Record” in the subject line.