At the American Folklore Society's 2026 Annual Meeting, Don Harmon, MA student, was awarded the 2026 Folklore & Science Junior Prize from Folklore & Science Section for his paper titled "Schrödinger's Story: Imagining a Quantum Future for Folklore Studies."
The prize recognizes student papers on the intersections between folklore and science. The paper was formally presented this fall at the 2026 AFS (American Folklore Society) Annual Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.
Harmon's paper draws on multiformity, performance theory, and the philosophy of physics to stage a conversation between folklore concepts and quantum principles. The Folklore and Science Prize Committee highlighted Harmon's "ability to identify overlapping gaps in both folklore studies and quantum mechanics scholarship."
Benjamin Dreyfus, instructional professor in Mason's Department of Physics and Astronomy, comments on the value of storytelling analogies for science education: "As quantum science and technology become more prevalent across various fields, it is more important than ever to find ways to make quantum concepts accessible to learners who may not have advanced physics backgrounds." Dreyfus and the Physics Department at Mason were not involved in the project.
Harmon studies how folklore methods connect with scientific and technological principles. He is originally from Oak Park, IL and resides in Washington, D.C.