Dive into lively conversations at Barnard Authors’ Shelf, where Barnard alumnae and faculty bring their books to life with the stories, questions, and ideas behind them. Across the year, join us in person or online to discover new voices, revisit familiar ones, and be part of the conversations their work is shaping right now.

Fall '25 & Spring '26 Offerings

Global Health Impacts of Nanotechnology Law – Ilise Feitshans ’79 & Dean Pulcherie Amougui Galaoua

Date: November 18, 2025

Format: Online on Zoom

Languages: Presented in English and French

This is a past event. Registration is closed.

Two world experts, Ilise Feitshans ’79, DIR, JD, SCM, and Dean Pulcherie Amougui Galaoua of The Catholic University of Central Africa Law School in Yaoundé, Cameroon, lead a conversation on how nanotechnology may shape global health disparities, especially in women’s health.

Globally, women’s health lags behind men’s at every stage of life. Addressing these disparities requires rethinking nutrition, food systems, and labor. Nanotechnology offers tools to grow and store food with less manual labor and shorter timelines, creating new possibilities for narrowing gender health gaps.

This program explores the law and promises of nanotechnology in efforts to feed Cameroon, Africa, and the wider world. Students and faculty from both Barnard and The Catholic University of Central Africa will join live.

Purchase Global Health Impacts of Nanotechnology Law

Marguerite Sheffer ’09 – The Man in the Banana Trees

Date: December 10, 2025

Format: Online on Zoom

Time: 6:30–7:30 PM (ET)

Marguerite Sheffer ’09’s debut collection, The Man in the Banana Trees, spans the past, present, and future, from the American Gulf South to the orbit of Jupiter. The stories introduce teachers and students, ghosts and aliens. An ice cream consultant in 2036 predicts a disastrous flavor trend, and a disgruntled New England waiter investigates a mysterious tanker crash. Across varied settings and genres, a thread of the fantastic runs through the collection as characters struggle to grasp what lies just beyond their perception: something sinister, or perhaps miraculous.

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Purchase The Man in the Banana Trees

Anne Marie Chaker ’97 – Lift

Date: Spring 2026 (exact date and time TBA)

Format: On campus, Barnard College

In Lift, Anne Marie Chaker ’97 examines the forces that have led generations of women to internalize the message that they should make themselves smaller. She shows why building muscle supports long term health and offers a powerful source of confidence. Drawing on research that challenges conventional stories about women’s bodies, Chaker argues that strength training can shift how women move through the world, respond to setbacks, and see their own value. Science also shows that increasing muscle mass can help protect women’s bodies as they age and reshape the messages we pass on to the next generation.

Registration is not open yet. In the meantime, you can purchase the book by clicking the link below:

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