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

Recent presentations and publications include the following:

Presentations

Rudi Matthee, John and Dorothy Munroe Distinguished Professor of History, presented “A History of Alcohol in the Muslim Middle East,” at Stanford University, Feb. 13, 2025–by Zoom. 

On Feb. 21, 2025, Margaret Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities, was an invited participant in a one-day-long (hybrid) symposium, "Ernest Dowson: Revived," that was organized by the Decadence Research Centre at Goldsmiths, University of London (U.K.). At this event, Stetz was asked to read her poem titled "Apple Blossoms: For Ernest Dowson," a verse critique of the sexual politics of Dowson (1867-1900), a British writer of the 1890s, whose work is being commemorated on the 125th anniversary of his death.

Sheng Lu, professor and graduate director in the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies, Megan Dawson-Elli, AS16, and Emilie Delaye, master’s student of fashion and apparel studies, recently organized and served on a panel at the 2025 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector. The panel, titled Due Diligence Education for Gen Z: Preparing Future Fashion Leaders for Sustainable and Socially Responsible Apparel Sourcing, addressed the gap between industry demands and Gen Z’s educational preparation. Participants advocated for increased support and investment in the next generation of professionals who will define due diligence in the garment industry for decades to come. Senior officials from the International Trade Center, which is co-run by the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, and industry leaders from retailing giant Macy’s and the U.S. Fashion Industry Association also served as panelists. The OECD Forum attracted more than 2,400 participants in person or online from academia, international organizations, governments and the business community. 

Publications

Two new poems by Margaret Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities, have appeared in online journals: "The First," in Feminine Collective and "Deal," a commentary on the war in Ukraine that was the featured poem of the day on Feb. 21, 2025, in The New Verse News.

Heinz-Uwe Haus, professor emeritus in the Department of Theatre and Dance, published in the newest issue of the German Zeitschrift für Literatur und Kunst MATRIX,3/2024(77), Pop-Verlag, Ludwigsburg, three  articles: an essay on “Transcultural Theater and Identity,” a book review of Günther Rüther's Günter Grass. A political storyteller and provocateur and five poems from his unpublished Cypriot Memories under his pseudonym Jean Bodin. "Transcultural theatre creates dramatic experiences that are adequate and responsive to the changing world of migration and mobility in which both practitioners and audiences actually live," Haus says. As such it offers the kind of transcultural education that promotes communication and understanding and that fosters an open-eyed and open-hearted attitude to the changing realities of Europe. In the book review, Haus inspects Rüther's analysis of the work and life of one of the greatest writers and visual artists of post-war Germany. "He reveals Grass' contradictions in the fight against communist totalitarianism as well as the dangers in the development of Western democracy." Haus emphasizes the dialectical balance in Rüther's presentation. The five poems from Cypriot Memories are taken from the poetry collection Στόματα, published in Greek by edition lulu, 2024, translated by Marianna Papastephanou (University of Nicosia, Cyprus).

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