LEWISBURG, Pa. — The following are Bucknell University midsummer story ideas that may interest you.
SPLIT ALONG PARTY LINES — It’s abundantly clear during this presidential election year that the nation is politically divided. And when a romantic couple may split along party lines, they may also split up according to Professor T. Joel Wade, psychology, a relationship researcher. “It is hard for individuals with differing views on things they find fundamentally important like religion, politics, etc. to establish, maintain, or sustain a relationship,” Wade says. As expected, research shows that similar personalities and similar values among partners make for the most successful relationships. “However, individuals with different fundamental values can make a relationship work and last if they are willing to compromise and make concessions on some occasions, and they have to be willing to accept that they probably won’t be able to change their partner’s views,” he says. “This compromise and concession-making can be taxing, so it can wear on an individual and on a relationship.” If they don’t make it, the couple may experience “break-up sex,” or sex with a partner within two weeks of breaking up. A new study Wade helped author found that women generally regretted those encounters, while men reported using the dalliances to explore sexual acts they might not have otherwise. In a second study, those researchers found that men tended to favor break-up sex more often for hedonistic reasons, while both men and women see the liaisons as a prospect for rekindling a failed relationship. The studies, accepted for publication in the journal Evolutionary Psychology, mark the first scholarly investigation of break-up sex. CONTACT: Wade, 570-412-2661, jwade@bucknell.edu
ENGINEERING A CAMP EXPERIENCE — Kids’ summer camp options have been limited by the pandemic, but Bucknell College of Engineering faculty members will offer area youngsters a playful immersion into engineering through STEM@LCM: Engineering Camp at Lewisburg Children’s Museum (LCM) next week. Recommended for children ages 5 to 8, the camp will take place July 13-17 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. daily and will offer a unique opportunity for students to experience a variety of engineering disciplines while learning how engineers tackle the problems that people face everyday. Several engineering faculty members will be joined by their own kids to present fun activities and demonstrations at the camp, which is full through pre-registration. “We will introduce engineering to campers, and emphasize how engineers work to make the world a better place for everyone” says Professor Erin Jablonski, chemical engineering, who will be one of the faculty presenters and is an LCM co-founder. CONTACT: Jablonski, 570-577-1644, erin.jablonski@bucknell.edu
SALUTING BLACK BOTANISTS — Tanisha Williams, the Burpee Postdoctoral Fellow in Botany at Bucknell, has helped organize and lead a global #BlackBotanistsWeek initiative online this week to bring together Black people who love plants. The initiative launched Monday on Twitter and Instagram and has reached nearly 3,000 people. Its goal is to highlight underrepresented Black people and connect with people who love nature. Every day this week through July 11, participants are invited to share their love of plants through a story or poem, photographs of their plants, or posts about why diversity in botany is needed and how they use plants in their daily lives. Also open to indigenous people and people of color, Williams says she hopes people from all areas, not just academia, will join in. You can see the social media plan for the week, including hashtags, here. CONTACT: Williams, 202-294-8509, tanisha.williams@bucknell.edu
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CONTACT: Mike Ferlazzo, 570-238-6266 (c), mike.ferlazzo@bucknell.edu