Research Unplugged concludes its fall series of community conversations with Penn State faculty this week with a program on Thursday, Nov. 15, by Anthony Leach and members of the acclaimed Penn State School of Music choral group Essence of Joy.

Research Unplugged continues its line-up of lively community discussions with a presentation on Nov. 8 by Simon Bronner, who will discuss "Campus Traditions: Folklore from the Old-Time College to the Modern University." Bronner, Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Folklore and chair of the American Studies program at Penn State Harrisburg, is the author or editor of more than 30 books on American folklore and tradition. His recent book, Campus Traditions: Folklore from the Old-Time College to the Modern Mega-University, examines student traditions in college culture, including hazing, cheating, drugs and alcohol abuse, sports and extreme college rivalries, and sexuality, and tracks their changes over time.

Research Unplugged, the speaker series that brings Penn State researchers into the community for lively public discussions, will kick off its fall season on Oct. 11 with a talk led by Lisa Gatzke-Kopp on "The ABCs of ADHD: Inside the Brains of Kids with Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorders."

In this video clip, Maryann Frazier talks about the decline of pollinators and the prime suspects behind it. Some of these suspects include the use of pesticides, on both small and large scales, that destroy food sources for bees; agribusiness practices such as monocropping, in which the same single crop is planted year after year, eliminating the plant diversity pollinators need; stress caused by transporting the bees across country for commercial pollination needs; and threats such as nosema disease, viruses and mites. Maryann Frazier is Senior Extension Associate in the Department of Entomology at Penn State. This brief clip was excerpted from Frazier's Spring 2012 Research Unplugged talk titled "Disappearing Bees: An Update on the Search for Prime Suspects."

Mark Neely, McCabe-Greer Professor in the American Civil War, spoke on "Lincoln and Liberty: A Closer Look at Abraham Lincoln and the Constitution in Wartime" at last week's Research Unplugged event.