Maynard Schaus and Vic Townsend published the article "Unraveling the effects of Hurricane Maria on the abundance and composition of harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) species along an elevational gradient in Puerto Rico" in the Caribbean Journal of Science. VWU alumni Amanda Albert and Dan Proud were co-authors on this publication.

Kathy Merlock Jackson published "Forgotten Disney," (co-edited with Carl Sederholm and Mark West), containing two of her essays: "Babes in Toyland: Flawed Forerunner to Better Things" and "The Unlikely Casting of Bette Davis in Return from Witch Mountain and The Watcher in the Woods," (coauthored with Carl Sederholm). This is her fifth book on Disney.

Kathy Merlock Jackson also published book reviews of "A Concise Dictionary of Comics," by Nancy Pedri, illustrated by Chuck Howitt (University Press of Mississippi, 2022) and "Bette Davis Black and White," by Julia A. Stern (University of Chicago Press, 2021) in The Journal of American Culture 46:2, June 2023.

"Religion & Outer Space," co-edited by Eric Mazur with Sarah McFarland Taylor, was published in June by Routledge. The book, Mazur's ninth, contains a chapter he wrote: "Aliens in Outer Space: Myth, Diversity, and the Final Frontier," on racial, gender, and religious diversity in the American space program.

Clair Berube has a new book out co-authored with Sueanne McKinney from Old Dominion University. The book is entitled "I'll See You In Court; Supporting Social Justice, Diversity, and Critical Thinking Through Classroom Management and Discipline in Urban Schools." Bill McConnell, is the author of a chapter in the book.

Lisa Lyon Payne published "Exhausted and lonely: learning in student newsrooms during COVID" with co-authors Elizabeth Smith, Jean Norman and Kirstie Hettinga in the Journal Media Practice and Education. In a mixed methods survey (N = 323) using a Communities of Practice theoretical lens, college journalists shared experiences of working in remote student newsrooms during COVID-19 campus disruptions.

President Scott D. Miller was featured in the June 2023 Enrollment Manager with "Commencement is Only the Beginning of Tracking and Measuring Our Student Impact," co-authored by Dr. Katie Sanders, Director of Admission & Alumni Affairs, Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy at Shenandoah University. His opinion piece, "Understand the Purpose of Virginia's Universities," appeared in The Virginian-Pilot on July 15, 2023. President Miller's daily blog, Dialogue, can be found at prezscottmiller.blogspot.com. 

Jennifer Slivka presented a paper titled, "'This is a Female Text': Dialogism and Écriture Féminine in A Ghost in the Throat" at the American Conference for Irish Studies (ACIS) National Conference, held at San Jose State University, CA.

At back-to-back conferences in Brisbane, Australia (the Symposium on Urbanization and Stream Ecology and the annual meeting of the Society for Freshwater Science), Annika Quick presented, "Spatial and temporal variation in quantity and bioavailability of dissolved organic carbon within a metropolitan area."

Taryn Myers presented a poster entitled, "Body image and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic," at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association in Washington, D.C. Her co-authors on the poster were all VWU students and alumni, Trevaughn McNeil, Jessa Mae Docor, Denise McDonald, Kathryn Alvarado, Jacqueline Carmines, and Madeline Gonsalves.

Sara Sewell was awarded a research travel grant from the Goethe-Universität-Frankfurt to present her paper "Screams: Expressions of Fear Thundering in Holocaust Soundscapes" at the workshop "Emotions in the Holocaust" at Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt, Germany in June 2023.

Kathy Merlock Jackson attended the 9th International Toy Research Association (ITRA) World Conference on the topic, "Toys Matter: The Power of Playthings at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY." She presented a paper titled "Broken Toys and What They Mean: A Media Analysis" and participated in a pre-conference excursion to the Fisher-Price Play Lab.

Kathy Merlock Jackson presented, "Reflections on Jaws (1975)" for the Sharks After Dark evening at the Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach. This talk addressed Steven Spielberg, the making of Jaws, what the film means, and its various interpretations and key scenes, concluding with the movie's performance at the box office and its cinematic and cultural legacy.

Stephen Leist presented "Training Student Workers to Meet Staff Shortages" as part of a panel on workplace changes and self-care at the annual VIVA ILL Forum held at the University of Virginia. Co-presenters were Tammy Hines (Longwood) and Sharon Gottkiewicz (Virginia Tech).

Arthur Pantelides was an invited Research Contributing Delegate and workshop co-moderator to the SNF Nostos 2023 Conference in Athens, Greece in June, where former President Barack Obama discussed the next generation of (young) leaders. Pantelides' research is focused on studying and developing methodologies in Gen Z leadership.

Arthur Pantelides presented a paper titled, "Utilization of the SOT Hierarchical Framework for Successful Strategic Implementation Management," at the 21st Annual International Conference on Management of the Athens Institute for Education and Research in Athens, Greece.

At NAFSA's Annual Conference in Washington, DC, Mandy Reinig was a co-presenter for "Building Community with Social Platforms: Are They Listening?;" a panelist for the "Reflections from the Global Studies Literature Review: Advancing Inclusive Excellence;" a co-trainer for the "Empathetic Advising in Practice;" and the lead trainer for the "Risk Assessment and Crisis Management" Workshop.

Related to her involvement with POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning), Joyce Easter attended the National Conference to Advance POGIL Practice (NCAPP) at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and as the conference chair, moderated the plenary sessions and plenary speaker roundtable discussions. Along with Mare Sullivan (Seattle Pacific University), Easter facilitated a one-day Introduction to POGIL Workshop at Greenbrier Christian Academy. She was a co-facilitator for the four-day virtual POGIL Activity Writing Workshop. Easter also attended the 21st Annual POGIL National Meeting in St. Louis to continue work on the POGIL Project Strategic Planning and is serving a second year on the Advanced Practitioner Experience working group. This group is developing a new workshop on improving classroom facilitation that will be offered in the summer of 2024.

Markus Bernsen, Washington correspondent for Weekendavisen, a weekly Scandinavian newspaper published in Denmark, interviewed Terry Lindvall on director Alejandro Monteverde's Sound of Freedom and the emergence of faith-based films. (Translated by Steven Emmanuel)

Terry Lindvall was featured on "Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy" from the University of Kent.

Stu Minnis and Terry Lindvall's documentary feature, "Hollywood, Teach Us to Pray," achieved an incredible five selections on “FilmFreeway” listings, including the Hollywood International Golden Film Festival, the Richmond International Film Festival, the Nashville International Film Festival, Zion International Film Festival, and the Inspirational Film Festival of Zurich, Switzerland.

"Forgotten Disney," edited by Kathy Merlock Jackson, Carl Sederholm, and Mark West, is ranked #1 on Amazon's Hot New Releases page in the category of Animation Graphic Design. The book's publication this year coincides with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Walt Disney Company on October 16, 1923.

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