Clay weekly context brief for the University category (ISO week 2026-W39). Clay tracks publications from the University feed list. Below are recent items from this category, each with its source and a short description of what the publication covers when one is available in the source feed. Recent publications: 1. A new chapter for MIT Reads Source: MIT News Link: https://news.mit.edu/2026/new-chapter-mit-reads-0918 The popular MIT Libraries program MIT Reads is shifting its focus to fiction and memoir. 2. Chatbot attachment issues Source: Harvard Gazette Link: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2026/09/chatbot-attachment-issues/ When AI companions get a personality update, some users respond with grief, study finds 3. Could AI really kill us all? Your questions, answered. Source: MIT Technology Link: https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/18/1144435/could-ai-really-kill-us-all-your-questions-answered/ On Wednesday, MIT Technology Review hosted a live Roundtables event for subscribers that asked the question everyones asking right now: Could AI really kill us all? 4. How should AI be regulated? Source: Johns Hopkins University News Link: https://hub.jhu.edu/2026/09/17/next-conversations-governing-ai/ A panel of artificial intelligence experts discusses the difficulties of governing the rapidly growing technology as part of the university's Next Conversations series. 5. Kenneth Schultz appointed BOSP faculty director Source: Stanford News Link: https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2026/09/kenneth-schultz-faculty-director-bing-overseas-studies-program The political science professor and longtime Bing Overseas Studies Program faculty partner shares his vision for what comes next and why global education is more important than ever. 6. Neighborhood by neighborhood: Mapping what shapes healthy aging Source: University of Michigan News Link: https://news.umich.edu/neighborhood-by-neighborhood-mapping-what-shapes-healthy-aging/ With an $11 million award from the National Institute on Aging, University of Michigan researchers will build and share national data that track how neighborhood conditions change over time, helping scientists study how local environments affect older adults' health. 7. Disorder is key to tuning a high-temperature superconductor Source: Cornell Physical Science Engineering Link: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/09/disorder-key-tuning-high-temperature-superconductor Superconductivity in iron selenide is primarily controlled by disorder in the crystal lattice, not electron count, Cornell physicists have found, a new insight for understanding high-temperature superconductors 8. From knowing to doing: NUS academics and students drive impact through community research Source: National University of Singapore News Link: https://news.nus.edu.sg/from-knowing-to-doing-nus-academics-and-students-drive-impact-through-community-research/ Every day, rain or shine, Tommy (not his real name) makes his way to Waterloo Street in his motorised wheelchair. 9. Q&A: UW researchers respond to recent concerns over AI risk Source: University of Washington News Link: https://www.washington.edu/news/2026/09/16/uw-researchers-discuss-ai-risk/ Recent news about AI safety is fueling a new wave of political and societal fear.Five UW AI researchers discuss the real risks of AI and what to do about them. 10. Ulrich Knoepflmacher, towering scholar of Victorian fiction, poetry and childrens literature, dies at 95 Source: Princeton University News Link: https://www.princeton.edu/news/2026/09/16/ulrich-knoepflmacher-towering-scholar-victorian-fiction-poetry-and-childrens Knoepflmacher's research interests included Victorian literature and culture, English and American childrens books, 19th-century poetry and the English novel. He was among the first to recognize the scholarly value of childrens literature. 11. Compassion over cruelty: a call for empathy in incarceration Source: Cornell Arts and Humanities Link: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/09/compassion-over-cruelty-call-empathy-incarceration In his new book,Cast Out: A Call for a Forgiving Society in an Age of Incarceration, Joseph Margulies from the College of Arts and Sciences explores compassion and empathy, and the idea that there is no them, there is only us. 12. Leading scholar of extremism to give University Lecture Source: Cornell Law Government Link: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/09/leading-scholar-extremism-give-university-lecture Cynthia Miller-Idriss 94 will deliver a Cornell University Lecture examining links between misogyny and violent extremism. 13. Executives reshaping hospitality to speak on campus Source: Cornell Business Economics Link: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/09/executives-reshaping-hospitality-speak-campus At the fall 2026 Nolan School Deans Distinguished Lecture Series, executives share expertise in food and beverage, real estate, AI, resorts and more. 14. Good vibes: Phones promote shared space, not silos, in Arts Quad installation Source: Cornell Architecture Link: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/09/good-vibes-phones-promote-shared-space-not-silos-arts-quad-installation Vibe Coating integrates green-screen technology and AI to visualize participants' prompts as an immersive, continuously changing environment. 15. Cornell Unplugged encourages mindful tech use, social connection Source: Cornell Energy Environmental Sustainability Link: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/09/cornell-unplugged-encourages-mindful-tech-use-social-connection New event asks the community to decrease technology use, increase face-to-face interaction and consider that every AI chat, doomscroll and text message has a water, energy and carbon footprint. 16. The New Era of Lawyerless Contracting Source: Oxford University Link: https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/the-new-era-of-lawyerless-contracting/ Contract generators, platforms, and AI are reshaping consumer contracts. Luka Nenadic explains how and highlights the potential pitfalls and policy implications. 17. Many young people are being prescribed multiple psychiatric drugs at once which can be risky Source: University of Pennsylvania News Link: https://penntoday.upenn.edu/penn-in-the-news/many-young-people-are-being-prescribed-multiple-psychiatric-drugs-once-which-can Many young people are being prescribed multiple psychiatric drugs at once which can be risky Sean Hennessy of the Perelman School of Medicine led a study that explored the risks of prescribing multiple medications at once. 18. Robert J. David Source: McGill University News Link: https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/node/22751 Robert David Title: Professeur(e) titulaire Department: Faculté de gestion Desautels Areas of expertise: Émergence de nouvelles industries; transformation des industries matures; évolution des pratiques de gestion; institutions et esprit d'entreprise Email address: robert. 19. A new understanding of how enzymes influence bacterial protein production Source: MIT News Link: https://news.mit.edu/2026/how-enzymes-influence-bacterial-protein-production-0918 A study from SMART's antimicrobial resistance research group sheds new light on how bacteria use RNA modification to control protein production, opening new avenues to study bacterial adaptation and identify future targets for antimicrobial therapeutics. 20. What good luck means to a coal miner Source: Harvard Gazette Link: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2026/09/what-good-luck-means-to-a-coal-miner/ Berlin artist explores labor, pride, and unsung heroes of Germanys economic miracle in Harvard exhibit 21. The specter of AI-enabled bioweapons is a wake-up call for biotech Source: MIT Technology Link: https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/18/1144329/the-specter-of-ai-enabled-bioweapons-is-a-wake-up-call-for-biotech/ In recent weeks, leaders of some of the biggest AI companies have warned that the very tech they are developing is dangerous. 22. Study explores which pairings of people and AI agents perform best Source: Johns Hopkins University News Link: https://hub.jhu.edu/2026/09/17/optimizing-chemistry-between-people-and-ai/ Study by researchers at Johns Hopkins and MIT could pave the way for better hiring and team-building strategies 23. Healthy Living fall registration Source: Stanford News Link: https://healthyliving.stanford.edu/classes/register/hip_classes.php?t=1cce34dfd3cbss383d348a508b1be48cc821&tp=1 Healthy Living fall registration is now open, with a wide variety of free and STAP-eligible wellness offerings. Explore the schedule. 24. What praising addiction looks like Source: University of Michigan News Link: https://news.umich.edu/what-praising-addiction-looks-like/ What if, instead of shaming people for their addictions, we embraced the idea that we are all addicts? 25. NSF grant to explore whether AI can support students critical thinking Source: Cornell Physical Science Engineering Link: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/09/nsf-grant-explore-whether-ai-can-support-students-critical-thinking Cornell has received a $750,000 grant to study AI-powered reflection tools that build student critical thinking skills. 26. Better weathering together: Enabling everyday life in a hotter Singapore Source: National University of Singapore News Link: https://news.nus.edu.sg/better-weathering-together-enabling-everyday-life-in-a-hotter-singapore/ By Prof Petra Tschakert from the Dept of Geography, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at NUS The Straits Times, 16 September 2026, Opinion, pB3 27. Faculty/staff honors: CRNS fellow-ambassador, Richard R. Ernst prize and a National Science Foundation award Source: University of Washington News Link: https://www.washington.edu/news/2026/09/14/faculty-staff-honors-crns-fellow-ambassador-richard-r-ernst-prize-and-a-national-science-foundation-award/ Recent recognition of faculty and staff at the University of Washington includesFrances National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), the RichardR. 28. What Is Missing?: Stunning exhibition by Maya Lin opens new gallery at Briger Hall Source: Princeton University News Link: https://www.princeton.edu/news/2026/09/15/what-missing-stunning-exhibition-maya-lin-opens-new-gallery-briger-hall The centerpiece of the exhibition is a two-story multimedia display that presents immersive, larger-than-life audio and video of threatened and endangered species. The show opens with an artist talk Sept. 22. 29. When worldbuilding impulses merge with real world politics Source: Cornell Arts and Humanities Link: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/09/when-worldbuilding-impulses-merge-real-world-politics Reactionary Worldbuilding, a book co-edited by comparative literature scholar Anindita Banerjee, explores how speculative fiction and worldbuilding have influenced extremist ideologies and political movements. Sources in this brief: Cornell Architecture; Cornell Arts and Humanities; Cornell Business Economics; Cornell Energy Environmental Sustainability; Cornell Law Government; Cornell Physical Science Engineering; Harvard Gazette; Johns Hopkins University News; MIT News; MIT Technology; McGill University News; National University of Singapore News; Oxford University; Princeton University News; Stanford News; University of Michigan News; University of Pennsylvania News; University of Washington News. Selected 29 of 304 available items for this weekly brief.