About

Emily Carol Burns is an associate professor of graphic design at the Stuckeman School at Penn State and serves as the graduate program coordinator for graphic design. Her interdisciplinary research interests include design and the expanded field, encompassing visual arts, entrepreneurship, and sustainability. Burns has developed new projects and curricula in design education and investigates the creative process. She is the founder of Maake, a collaborative, artist-run arts organization that curates and publishes the work of contemporary artists through a biannual print publication and maintains an online archive of features and interviews. Maake Projects, the public exhibition space, curates exhibitions and nomadic public events across galleries in the country, aiming to provide publishing opportunities, improve access and equity in the visual arts, and build community worldwide. Burns specializes in typography, type design, branding, editorial design, and curatorial and exhibition design. She earned a certificate in type design from the Type@Cooper program at The Cooper Union in New York City. Her achievements in design have earned awards and recognition from organizations such as AIGA, UCDA, Graphis, the Art Director's Club of Tulsa, and the UDA International Design Competition, with her work exhibited internationally and across the United States. She has been a visiting speaker at various institutions including BRIC Brooklyn, NARS Foundation, The School of Visual Arts, and Pratt Institute. Burns holds a BFA in Drawing and Painting and an MFA with a concentration in graphic design from Penn State. Since 2010, she has operated a freelance design studio focusing on identity design, editorial, photography, and packaging projects.

Research topics

• Virology
• Psychology
• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Psychotherapist
• Pediatrics
• Geography

Selected publications

• Interim Findings: October 2025 – January 2026 Influenza Season in the United States

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Coping During Covid: Yoga and Meditation Accessibility in Academic Libraries During the Pandemic

  College & Research Libraries · 2024

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Psychology
  • Psychotherapist
  • Medicine

  Discussions about coping, resilience, and mental health accompanied the COVID-19 shutdowns and gradual return to academic and workspaces across the US through 2021. As physical and spiritual practices, yoga and meditation have been shown to help people through adversity and create resilience. Academic librarians were surveyed about yoga and meditation programs throughout the pandemic. The survey found that while yoga and meditation programs in academic libraries are on the rise, many cancelled their sessions because of the pandemic. Additionally, more can be done to make these sessions accessible.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Patient Factors and Clinical Outcomes Associated with an Atypical Presentation of Older Adults Hospitalized with COVID-19

  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2021-01-01

  article
  Publisher

• The Impact of COVID-19 Related Social Restrictions on Older Adults' Psychosocial Status: A Qualitative Study

  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2021-01-01

  articleSenior author
  Publisher

• Hospitalizations Associated with COVID-19 Among Children and Adolescents — COVID-NET, 14 States, March 1, 2020–August 14, 2021

  MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report · 2021 · 290 citations

  • Medicine
  • Pediatrics
  • Virology

  Although COVID-19-associated hospitalizations and deaths have occurred more frequently in adults,† COVID-19 can also lead to severe outcomes in children and adolescents (1,2). Schools are opening for in-person learning, and many prekindergarten children are returning to early care and education programs during a time when the number of COVID-19 cases caused by the highly transmissible B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is increasing.§ Therefore, it is important to monitor indicators of severe COVID-19 among children and adolescents. This analysis uses Coronavirus Disease 2019-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET)¶ data to describe COVID-19-associated hospitalizations among U.S. children and adolescents aged 0-17 years. During March 1, 2020-August 14, 2021, the cumulative incidence of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations was 49.7 per 100,000 children and adolescents. The weekly COVID-19-associated hospitalization rate per 100,000 children and adolescents during the week ending August 14, 2021 (1.4) was nearly five times the rate during the week ending June 26, 2021 (0.3); among children aged 0-4 years, the weekly hospitalization rate during the week ending August 14, 2021, was nearly 10 times that during the week ending June 26, 2021.** During June 20-July 31, 2021, the hospitalization rate among unvaccinated adolescents (aged 12-17 years) was 10.1 times higher than that among fully vaccinated adolescents. Among all hospitalized children and adolescents with COVID-19, the proportions with indicators of severe disease (such as intensive care unit [ICU] admission) after the Delta variant became predominant (June 20-July 31, 2021) were similar to those earlier in the pandemic (March 1, 2020-June 19, 2021). Implementation of preventive measures to reduce transmission and severe outcomes in children is critical, including vaccination of eligible persons, universal mask wearing in schools, recommended mask wearing by persons aged ≥2 years in other indoor public spaces and child care centers,†† and quarantining as recommended after exposure to persons with COVID-19.§§.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Handbook for Developing Behavior Interventions

  2020

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Psychology

  Abstract Positive Behavior Support Plans (PBSP) consist of an outline of interventions, preventive measures, teachable behaviors, and reinforcers to help a student with Emotional Behavior Disorder (EBD). Emotional Behavior Disorder is defined by IDEA as a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance: an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. This paper describes the assessment of student behavior using a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA). A Functional Behavior Assessment will describe why a student engages in a certain behavior and is a critical component in creating a Positive Behavior Support Plan. A description of this process of creating to implementation and follow-through of a PBSP is also described. Finally, ten evidence-based behavior interventions that can be included in Positive Behavior Support Plans are highlighted.

  Publisher

• Guides: Self-Care Resources for Stress Related COVID19: BIPOC

  2020-08-10

  libguides1st authorCorresponding

  Meditation and Yoga research and resources for dealing with stress during the COVID19 Pandemic. Resources for BIPOC

  Publisher

• Guides: Self-Care Resources for Stress Related COVID19: Online Videos

  2020-08-10

  libguides1st authorCorresponding

  Meditation and Yoga research and resources for dealing with stress during the COVID19 Pandemic. Online Workshops

  Publisher

• Lightweight alternative tech: a study of Chromebooks in the academic library classroom

  Library Hi Tech · 2019-11-23 · 3 citations

  article

  Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate Chromebooks as an alternative to the traditional computer laboratory for library instruction in an academic environment. The results of this study could help inform the creation of a mobile instruction lab that students and librarians quickly construct inside any classroom with minimal effort and no software to manage. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was distributed to student participants. The survey contained two demographic questions followed by seven user experience questions related to the in-classroom use of Chromebooks; most questions were quantitative in nature. Findings The majority of respondents (84 percent) strongly or somewhat agreed that Chromebooks were easy to use, and 15 percent of the respondents reported some difficulty accessing the university’s Wi-Fi system while using the devices. Research limitations/implications This introductory study was limited to a survey population primarily comprised of lower-level undergraduate students in their first two years of study. Additionally, Chromebooks were not tested in an educational environment using G Suite for Education, which could increase the opportunities for use in an academic setting. Practical implications The study’s findings, combined with the portability and long battery life of Chromebooks, make them a candidate for a mobile instruction lab. Originality/value This research seeks to explore the viability of Chromebooks as an affordable and easy to manage alternative to wired instruction rooms, using a light laptop technology that is becoming increasingly familiar to college students.

  PublisherDOI

• Academic Librarians’ Experiences and Perceptions on Mental Illness Stigma and the Workplace

  College & Research Libraries · 2019-07-01 · 23 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Research has been conducted within academia about faculty members and students who have experienced mental illness from a variety of theoretical perspectives, including disability studies. While this research acknowledges that the stigma surrounding mental illness keeps people from sharing their experiences, there has not been research that focused specifically on librarians in higher education. This study sought to determine if mental illness stigma affects academic librarians and their professional environments, including teaching and providing services for students, using a survey modeled on one from the psychological literature. The responses revealed that stigma greatly influences academic librarians, particularly with regard to disclosure. An allowance for disclosure without the fear of stigmatization would not only help librarians but would also help other members of our academic communities. Sharing these survey results can begin to fill a gap that exists in the literature between librarians experiencing mental illness, the stigma that they experience because of it, and changing our academic culture.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Brian Quinn

  Harvard University

  4 shared

• Megan Benson

  Texas Tech University

  4 shared

• Amy Deuink

  Pennsylvania State University

  4 shared

• Beth Seyala

  Pennsylvania State University

  4 shared

• Liron Sinvani

  North Shore Diabetes and Endocrine Associates

  2 shared

• Allison Marziliano

  Feinstein Institute for Medical Research

  2 shared

• Maximilian N. Diefenbach

  Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

  2 shared

• Shannon Richie

  Pennsylvania State University

  2 shared

Awards & honors

• AIGA Flux awards in both publication and package design
• Recognition from the University and College Designers Associ…
• Recognition from Graphis
• Recognition from the Art Director's Club of Tulsa
• Recognition from the United Design Alliance (UDA) Internatio…