Inside UMassD September 3, 2026

Campus Community Accomplishments

The School of Law's entering class of 2026 sets new academic benchmarks. The 148 new law students bring wide-ranging backgrounds and experiences to Massachusetts' only public law school.

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Civic Engagement Matt Roy co-published "Engaging Community: A Toolkit for Reciprocal Teaching and Learning Beyond the Campus" for Campus Compact. The toolkit, which hundreds of schools across the country will use, features student voter engagement best practices developed by the Leduc Center for Civic Engagement.

Professor Gopala Vasudevan was featured in a piece on how to use credit cards successfully for people with no credit.

Associate Professor Erin Krafft (Crime & Justice Studies) published "Anti-Gender Policies and Practices: Seeding Political Violence" in the Routledge Handbook on Transformations of Political Violence. This study examines anti-gender politics as an active and pivotal component of authoritarian state policies and discourse.

Assistant Professor Lauran Brewster (Fisheries Oceanography) and Professor Steve Cadrin (Fisheries Oceanography) co-published "Portfolio analysis identifies opportunities to reduce revenue-risk trade-offs in New England multispecies demersal fisheries" in ICES Journal of Marine Science. The piece examines how portfolio approaches could help reduce economic risk in New England multispecies fisheries.

Assistant Teaching Professor Basil H. Aboul-Enein (Health & Society) recently co-published "Faith, food, and healing: a global cross-sectional study of knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to Islamic complementary and alternative foods and remedies" in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies. This multinational cross-sectional study examines the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of adult Muslims regarding the foods and remedies mentioned in the Holy Qur'an and the Prophetic Sunnah, along with their associated factors and determinants. Aboul-Enein also co-published "School-based nutrition interventions conducted across the Balkan states of former Yugoslavia: a scoping review" in Nutrition and Food Science. This review aims to synthesize peer-reviewed studies that implemented school-based nutrition interventions in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Kosovo. 

Professor Shakhnoza Kayumova (Education) served as a panelist for the "Future of the Workforce and Capacity Building" session at the UN's International Youth Day 2026: Youth and AI Summit, contributing to discussions on AI's impact on the workforce, future skills, capacity building, governance, and youth involvement in shaping AI policy.

Associate Professor Mwalim Peters (English & Communication) was selected to be one of 13 New England recording artists to perform at the inaugural Y.O.U.R. Music Awards at the Strand Theater in Boston. Peters is a nominee in the Blues category.

Associate Professor Ilknur Yesilcinar (Nursing) and Associate Professor Jennifer Viveiros (Nursing) have been selected to receive the $1,500 International Society of Nurses in Genetics (ISONG) Education Award for their project, "Genomic Competencies for Undergraduate Nursing Students Using High-Fidelity Prenatal Visit Simulation." This project will develop and evaluate a high-fidelity, genomics-focused prenatal simulation scenario specifically designed for undergraduate nursing students. The project aims to create the first maternity simulation scenario to incorporate a genomics-focused approach, helping prepare future nurses to integrate genomic competencies into maternity care.

Isabelle Fonseca '28 was selected as a 2026 Rappaport Fellow, joining a competitive cohort of graduate students from across Massachusetts committed to careers in public service. The Rappaport Fellowship provides outstanding law students with paid summer placements in public service organizations while connecting them with leaders in law, government, and public policy.