����APP

Across disciplines, ����APP faculty members are prolific in their scholarly contributions, from highly cited research papers to edited volumes. Among their successes include ’s bestselling novels and Walt Hunter’s , The Singing Word. 

Looking for a new winter read? Consider these recent books written by CWRU faculty members.

Sea, Poison (New Directions)

Caren Beilin, PhD
Assistant professor, Department of English 

Beilin’s most recent novel, Sea, Poison (New Directions) is described as “a darkly funny, electrifying tale of polyamory, illness, health-care malfeasance, and gynecological crime mixed with Oulipian madness.”

She spins the tale of a Philadelphia writer who undergoes a botched eye surgery, stalling her work on a book about gynecological malpractice. This challenge is set against the backdrop of a complicated tangle of personal relationships.

Reviews have dubbed Beilin’s book as “an absurdist masterpiece” (Amina Cain), “a deeply weird read” (Cassie Packard), and “a spirited and liberated performance” (Ron Slate). Sea, Poison has been longlisted for the 2025 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction.

Beilin previously won the Vermont Book Award for Fiction for Revenge of the Scapegoat (Dorothy, 2022).

KRISPR

Barbara Kuemerle, PhD, under pen name Jennifer Handler
Senior instructor, Department of Biology

Published in 2024, Kuemerle’s adult fiction/suspense novel explores ethical obligations in the face of cutting-edge technology. Under the pen name Jennifer Handler, Kuemerle draws on her scientific knowledge to use storytelling for advocacy, education and entertainment. 

The book’s heroine creates a powerful gene-editing technology and must decide whether to destroy it or use it to help her family.

Kuemerle has promoted the book at author events in Los Angeles, Chicago and local bookstores. She’s also used it as an opportunity to give lectures on CRISPR Cas 9 gene editing.

Reluctant Conquest: American Wealth, Power, and Science in the Arctic (Yale University Press)

Kathryn C. Lavelle, PhD
Ellen and Dixon Long Professor in World Affairs, Department of Political Science

In this book, Lavelle considers American relations across the circumpolar North, incorporating discussions of economics, national security and science that are conventionally separated. 

She argues that it is impossible to understand U.S. policy without a knowledge of American political development and of how scientific understandings have grown alongside studies of climate and other environmental issues. This history has important implications for future American policy regarding traditional national security and political economy, in addition to climate change and environmental cooperation.

From Ohio with Love: A Cold War Memoir (independently published)

William Marling, PhD
Professor, Department of English

Growing up during the Cold War in the Midwest to German and Irish parents, Marling’s upbringing was shaped by the tension—and small joys—that defined childhood during this period. 

Marling penned Ohio with Love: A Cold War Memoir to detail his childhood experiences, his seventh book.

Our Guide to Navigating ADHD: How to Embrace Challenges, Develop Grit, and Flourish (Greenleaf Book Group Press)

Jane Timmons-Mitchell, PhD
Associate clinical professor of psychology, School of Medicine

Timmons-Mitchell, a child psychologist, penned Our Guide to Navigating ADHD: How to Embrace Challenges, Develop Grit, and Flourish with her son, Stephen Mitchell. Their book offers insights into guiding children with ADHD to become happy, successful adults through personal stories, evidence-based approaches and recommended skills.

Timmons-Mitchell pulls from her experiences both as a professional psychologist and a mother, and Mitchell contributes his insights as a successful adult with ADHD.

The book, which is expected to be published in July 2026, is ideal for parents of children with ADHD, nurses, doctors, educators and other healthcare professionals.

Pre-order through , , , and is available now.