West Virginia University Libraries has selected three undergraduate students as 2026 Robert F. Munn Library Scholars Award recipients. Undergraduate students Kelsey Clodfelter, a senior majoring in technical art history; Noah Haak, a senior majoring in political science; and Camryn Morgan, a senior double-majoring in English and philosophy, were selected out of a competitive pool of exceptional humanities or social sciences research paper submissions.
Along with a $1,000 award, their names will be added to a plaque in the WVU Downtown Library and their essays added to the Research Repository @ WVU. Their papers can be read at researchrepository.wvu.edu/munn.
One of the great joys of being a librarian is in supporting student success through expertise and resources. We at WVU Libraries are pleased to recognize Kelsey Clodfelter, Noah Haak, and Camryn Morgan for their thorough and thought-provoking research. Mark Paris, Dean, WVU Libraries and Press
Clodfelter was named a Munn Scholar for her thesis, “Collecting Dust (Jackets): Regarding the Life and Ephemerality of Dust-Jackets through the Early to Mid-Twentieth Century,” which examines the dust-jacket as a liminal form of printed ephemera, tracing its evolution between disposable packaging to a culturally significant archival object. Clodfelter argues that the increasing incorporation of aesthetics, information, and advertising transformed dust-jackets into cultural artifacts with value beyond their protective function. Their preservation challenges conventional distinctions between ephemera and archival material.
“Rather than serving solely as a repository of information, the library functioned as an active research environment that shaped both the methodology and conceptual development of my project,” said Clodfelter. “The support of WVU Libraries, the West Virgina & Regional History Center, and especially Rare Book and Print Collection Archivist Rigby Philips was fundamental to the completion of this project and to my development as an undergraduate researcher.”
Haak was named a Munn Scholar for his essay, “The Very Existence of the Empire: U.S.-Japanese Economic Relations and the Road to Pearl Harbor.” His research argues that the most common historiography of the U.S. and Japanese Empire’s relationship before Pearl Harbor has been sidelining the economic struggle between the two nations as context rather than cause when discussing the conflict, a choice that leaves out important economic analysis explaining both expanding American executive authority and realist Japanese decision-making that pushed both nations into the Pacific Theater.
“Before I even chose a topic for Professor Siekmeier's HIST 464 class on American foreign policy, we had a session in the library to help us become familiar with WVU Libraries resources and how to conduct research” said Haak. “This in-person practice was a crucial experience that not only improved upon my understanding of document analysis but also reinforced the importance of in-depth research and why it is important to take serious time in reading and selecting sources for research papers.”
Morgan was named a Munn Scholar for her essay, “The Nameless Monster: Outperforming Gender in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” which explores the idea of Shelley purposefully not giving a real, human name to the Monster, nor a specified gender. Morgan argues that the Monster is an experimentation of un-gendered embodiment that Shelley meticulously crafted and which can be read through the lens of Trans-studies as a literary example of what she terms, “Gender Outperformance.”
“I define this as what may be embodied once gender is either fully abandoned, never granted, or stretched beyond its normative limits. Once gender is outperformed, it is transcended,” said Morgan. “As I approach my upcoming graduation, I have been extremely reflective of my time at WVU and how my desire to become an author has blossomed. The research workshops that the library has hosted for my classes, the kindness I have received from librarians, and the online databases and Interlibrary Loan Service has culminated in this final paper.”
WVU Libraries thanks award committee members Jess Calvert, Martin Dunlap, Catherine Fonseca, and Miranda Smith for reviewing and selecting the awardees from a competitive pool of essays.
WVU Libraries and WVU Honors College established the Robert F. Munn Library Scholars Award in 2008 to honor Dr. Robert F. Munn, dean of library services from 1957-1986. The award goes to one or more students for an outstanding humanities or social sciences thesis or essay based on original research using resources from WVU Libraries. Past and present Munn Scholar papers can be read at researchrepository.wvu.edu/munn.