From Our Shelf

Recent books and peer-reviewed scholarship by Elon faculty reflect the university’s commitment to engaged learning, intellectual rigor and research that connects classroom inquiry to pressing social, cultural and educational challenges.

book cover of jewish ethics: the basics by geoffrey d claussen featuring a photo of books on a library shelf

Jewish Ethics: The Basics

Claussen, G. (2025). Routledge.

Geoffrey Claussen (religious studies) introduces readers to foundational questions in Jewish ethics, examining how moral reasoning has evolved across historical and contemporary contexts. The book offers an accessible framework for understanding ethical responsibility, character and community within Jewish thought.

The Impact of Green Energy Production on Healthiness Perceptions and Preferences

Paul, I., Mohanty, S., & Parker, J.R. (2026). Journal of Consumer Research.
Smaraki Mohanty (marketing) and co-authors find that products made using renewable energy are perceived as healthier and more desirable than identical products produced with conventional energy. The research shows how sustainability cues shape consumer perceptions and purchasing decisions.

book cover for shaking the table: survival and healing amongst identity center practitioners featuring the title in pink text on a mauve background

Shaking the Table: Survival and Healing Amongst Identity Center Practitioners

Hernandez Rivera, S., & McElderry, J. (Eds.). (2025).

Stephanie Hernandez Rivera (education) and Jonathan A. McElderry (student life), co-edit this volume centering the lived experiences of identity center practitioners in higher education. Through narrative scholarship, contributors explore themes of healing, sustainability and equity-driven leadership.

Silicon Minds versus Human Hearts: The Wisdom of Crowds Beats the Wisdom of AI in Emotion Recognition

Akben, M., Gude, V., & Ajjan, H. (2025). arXiv.
Martha and Spencer Love School of Business faculty members Mustafa Akben, Vinayaka Gude and Haya Ajjan examine how multimodal AI systems compare with humans in recognizing emotional cues. While AI outperforms individuals, aggregated human judgments and human–AI collaboration achieve the highest accuracy, underscoring the value of collective intelligence in emotionally aware technologies.

book cover for grievous entanglement featuring the title in white with a cracked texture on a cracked brown texture background

Grievous Entanglement: Consumption, Connection, and Slavery in the Atlantic World

Pearson, E. (2025). University of Virginia Press.

Erin Pearson (history) explores how everyday acts of consumption shaped personal and emotional relationships to slavery in the Atlantic world. Through analysis of material culture, commerce and lived experience, the book reveals how ordinary consumer choices helped sustain, normalize and obscure the moral realities of slavery within interconnected economic systems.

Reading Fascists Reading Shakespeare: Literary Populism in White Power Fiction

Ahmann, C., & Proctor, D. (2025). Public Culture.
Devin Proctor (anthropology) and co-author Chloe Ahmann (Cornell University) examine how contemporary white power movements appropriate Shakespeare to legitimize exclusionary political ideologies. Treating these readings as strategic cultural acts rather than misinterpretations, the article reveals how canonical literature is mobilized to construct authority, identity and historical continuity in extremist discourse.

Let’s Play! Engaging College Students in Mini Play Sessions, Perspectives, and Reflections

Winter, M. K. (2025). Teaching & Learning Inquiry.
Marna K. Winter (education) examines how structured play activities in undergraduate classrooms can reduce stress, strengthen engagement and support student well-being. Drawing on reflective teaching inquiry, the research positions play as a serious pedagogical strategy that fosters curiosity, connection and resilience in higher education.