Table of Contents
- Program for African Diaspora Studies Presents "Unforgettable Sacrifice"
- National History Day Contest
- New Jersey Historical Commission 2025 Awards Ceremony
- Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference
- Native American Boarding School Symposium
- 5th Annual Student Charity Trivia Tournament
- Works in Progress Seminars
- Congratulations to Our 2026 Honors Society Inductees
- Congratulations to our 2026 History & Anthropology Departmental Award Winners
- 2026 Master’s Theses and Comprehensive Exams
- Student Workers
- Student News
- Alumni News
- Faculty News
- Follow Us on Instagram
Program for African Diaspora Studies Presents “Unforgettable Sacrifice”
Book Talk with Hilary N. Green, Ph.D.
Feb. 27, 2026
Hilary N. Green is the James B. Duke Professor of Africana Studies at Davidson College, and was an Associate Professor of History in the Department of Gender and Race Studies at the University of Alabama (2014-2022), the 2020-2021 Vann Professor of Ethics in Society at Davidson College, Davidson, NC, and an Assistant Professor of History at Elizabeth City State University (2010-2014). She earned her B.A. in History with minors in Africana Studies and Pre-Healing Arts from Franklin and Marshall College; M.A. in History from Tufts University; and Ph.D. in History from the University of North Carolina a Chapel Hill. Her research and teaching interests include the intersections of race, class, and gender in African American history, the American Civil War, Reconstruction, Civil War Memory, the US South, 19th Century America, and the Atlantic World.
National History Day Contest
Feb. 28, 2026
Facilitated by Melissa Kozlowski (488 students and 44 judges)
Each year, students around the world discover history through National History Day by creating historical research projects. Through the process, students develop skills in communication, project management, and historical thinking.
A special thanks to our sponsors: Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, Office of the Provost, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of History and Anthropology, Office of Admissions, Office of Student Activities and Student Center Operations, Gourmet Dining, William Paterson University, the New Jersey Historical Commission, the Amistad Commission, and the New Jersey Council on the Humanities.
New Jersey Historical Commission 2025 Awards Ceremony
March 18, 2026
Great Hall
Award Recipients
- Tamar LaSure-Owens
Mildred Barry Garvin Prize - Elaine Buck and Beverly Mills
Richard J. Hughes Award - Latinas/os in New Jersey: Histories, Communities, and Cultures
Richard P. McCormick Prize
Awards of Recognition
- The Alliance Heritage Center at Stockton University
- Isabella A. Altano
- The Harrison Township Historical Society
- Ralph Hunter
- Jimmy Richardson
- Vivian Thiele
Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference
56th Annual Meeting, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Led by GIS instructor and professional archaeologist Sean McHugh, ten of our anthropology students embarked on the annual pilgrimage to the MAAC conference.
Many thanks to Sean McHugh for leading the charge and special gratitude to our anonymous doner who funds the Mjolnir History & Anthropology Student Travel Fund that allows students to participate in opportunities like the MAAC.
Native American Boarding School Symposium
March 26–27, 2026
The Native American Boarding School Symposium, hosted on Monmouth University’s campus, brought together scholars who have worked with the history of Native American boarding schools in North America with the goal to spark conversation on what is known about Native American boarding schools and what this knowledge means.
The Native American Boarding School Symposium would not be possible without the generous help of the Diversity Innovation Grant from the Intercultural Center at Monmouth University. We are grateful for this grant and thank all of the co-sponsors of this event: the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, the Office of the Provost, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the School of Education, the School of Business, the Department of English, the Department of Criminal Justice, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, the Intercultural Center, the Department of History and Anthropology, African Diaspora Studies, and the Program in Gender and Intersectionality Studies.
Thank You To:
Keynotes: Brenda J. Child, Ph.D., Ojibwe, Preston McBride, Ph.D., Jessica Fremland, Ph.D., Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota
Panelists & Speakers: Farina King, Ph.D., Citizen of the Navajo Nation, Nathan Sowry, Ph.D., Elisabeth Davis, Ph.D., David B. MacDonald, Ph.D., The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition Co-Directors for Oral History Programs, Lacey Kinnart, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians & Charlee Brissette, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
We would also like to thank Claire Garland, Anita Clark, and the Sand Hill Indians for loaning Monmouth University the Christina R. Dickerson Ceremonial Dress and Accessories, as well as other clothing and accessories from their personal collections. We also are grateful to the Shrewsbury Historical Association for the loan of a bandolier bag.
Special thanks to Maura Foley for this article, and for all of her help with this event!
5th Annual Student Charity Trivia Tournament
April 17, 2026
Thank you to all of you who watched/donated/supported our 5th Annual Monmouth University Student Charity Trivia Tournament and Hawk TVs 30th Anniversary Celebration! Together we ended up raising $2,272 throughout the evening after GoFundMe fees! $1,136 has officially been donated to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the remaining $1,136 has been donated to the American Liver Foundation—the Charity chosen by our victorious student contestant, Emily Capper!
Works in Progress Seminars
Our Works in Progress (WIP) series provides a forum for both full-time and part-time faculty in the Department of History and Anthropology (and occasionally beyond) to present their research in progress and teaching pedagogy to the campus community. Presentations generally take place once per month on Wednesdays from 1:15-2:15 p.m.. Thank you, Maryanne Rhett, Ph.D., for chairing this important series. WIP was founded by Hettie V. Williams Ph.D.
Thank You to Our Spring 2026 Presenters
“California Dreamin’: A 1960s Anthem”
Presenter: Kenneth Campbell, Ph.D.
“Teaching ‘About’ Communism in New Jersey’s High Schools: Curricular Arguments in Cold War Grammar”
Presenter: Chris DeRosa, Ph.D.
“Examination of Differences in Height, Weight, and Body Mass Index of Students From Two Disparate School Districts in Central New Jersey”
Presenter: Hillary DelPrete, Ph.D.
Congratulations to Our 2026 Honors Society Inductees
Lambda Alpha
- Graduate
- Jared Commander
- Ariana Fruscione
- Allison Magerr
- Alexandra Mytnick
- Undergraduate
- Rachel Damstra
- Andrea Sierra
Phi Alpha Theta
Ethan Rush
Gamma Sigma Theta
Angelina Iovino
Congratulations to our 2026 History & Anthropology Departmental Award Winners
- Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar in Anthropology
Rachel Damstra - Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar in History
Reagan Dunn and Yanni Trogan - Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar in History-Political Science
Owen Bros - Outstanding Graduate Scholar in Anthropology
Allison Magerr and Alex Mytnick - Outstanding Graduate Scholar in History
Shannon Whartnaby - Department of History & Anthropology Service Award
Reagan Dunn - Future Educator Award
Sean Massett and Riley McGee - Brian Greenberg Social Justice Award
Mariami Ramirez Tsuladze
2026 Master’s Theses and Comprehensive Exams
Anthropology – Masters Theses
- Rebecca Ashdot: “A Lithic Analysis of the Koens-Crispin Site: The ‘Cross’-Examination”
- Readers: Adam Heinrich, Ph.D., and Sean McHugh, M.A.
- Charlene Boehm: “Twin Lights State Park and the Archaeology of Tourism”
- Readers: Richard Veit, Ph.D. and Adam Heinrich, Ph.D.
- Jared Commander: “Understanding Exaptation through the Evolution of the Human Mind”
- Readers: Hillary DelPrete, Ph.D., and Richard Veit, Ph.D.
- Allison Magerr: “Disciples of All Nations: Ethnicity and Cultural Identity in Moravian Bethlehem” (pass with distinction)
- Readers: Richard Veit, Ph.D., and Dane Ward, Ph.D.
- Samuel Meyer: “Rooted In Different Grounds: West African Vodun Transformations to Haitian Vodou and American Voodoo/Hoodoo, in the New World”
- Readers: Adam Heinrich, Ph.D., Richard Veit, Ph.D., and Sean McHugh, M.A.
History – Masters Theses
- Andrew Griffin: “They hardly weigh in the scales”: Racial Biology and America’s Confrontation with Nazism
- Readers: Frederick McKitrick, Ph.D., and Christopher DeRosa, Ph.D.
History – Passed Comprehensive Exam
- Scott Pauciello
- Natasha Rodriguez
- Shannon Whartnaby
Student Workers
Big thanks to Nick and Emma for all of their help this year, we are lucky to have them!
Student News
Senior Conferences
- Reagan J. Dunn: “‘To that place, all the ivory is brought’: Aksum and the Global Middle Ages”
- Paige M. Green: “An Unseen War: Smallpox, Inoculation, and Survival in Revolutionary America”
- Aidan F. Tucker: “One Villain, One System: The Tweed Ring and the Politics of Democratic Reform”
- Salvatore Saputo: “When Firepower Replaced Strategy: Why U.S. Army Doctrine Failed in Vietnam”
- Charlotte S. Larish: “Staged Freedom: Defectors, Intelligence, and the Cold War State”
- Jared A. Trujillotovar: “Translanguaging: Deconstructing Linguistic Hierarchy in Classrooms”
- Kyra Widecki: “When Homes Became Schools: Institutional Displacement, Inequality, and Surveillance During COVID-19”
- Dan Klimek: “Autism Representation in Media: Reliable or Not Reliable?”
- Connor Mohr: “Horse Soldiers: How Cavalry Went from a Confederate Advantage to a Union Advantage in the American Civil War”
- Sean Massett: “State Violence and its Limits: British Retaliation on Bloody Sunday 1920”
- Amy Margiatto: “Something’s Better than Nothing: Michael Collins and the Anglo-Irish Treaty”
- Philip White: “Dictator or Defender of Democracy? The Truth about Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Presidency”
- Riley McGee: “Things Worse than Death: Dehumanization in the Auschwitz Concentration Camps”
- Thomas Maggi: “The Pearl Harbor Decision: Japan’s Self- Destructive Planning”
- Matthew J. Cioletti: “Home Runs: The Story of Baseball’s Greatest Serving in World War II”
- Yanni D. Trogan: “From a Dreaming Strategist to a Pragmatic Commander: The Change in Leadership of the 21st Bomber Command from Haywood Hansell to Curtis LeMay”
Research Poster Presentations
Students in Dr. Hillary DelPrete’s Human Variation class presented posters on their semester research.
Shinayo Bartholomew-Stewart: “Personal Space Preferences Among Veterans”
Valentina Bertini: “What is the Relationship Between Hand Size and Grip Strength?”
Reagan Dunn: “Analyzing Trends Between Personality and Geography”
Olivia McGlone: “Stress in Context: Linking Resting Heart Rate (RHR) to College Student Experiences”
Hannah Reid: “Time Perception and Birth Order”
Christopher Sheroke: “Iris Color as an Indicator for Hue Discrimination”
Charlies Walsh: “Does arm length influence maximum bench press performance in men?”
Gina Holmes Named 2025–2026 Turrell Scholar
We are proud to announce that Gina Holmes has been selected as the recipient of the Douglas W. Turrell Memorial Scholarship for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Established in 1993, this scholarship holds a special place in our university’s history. It was created by Richard Turrell—a dedicated long-term member and former chairman of the Board of Trustees—in memory of his son, Doug. At the time of his tragic passing at age 27, Doug was a graduate student in our history department.
For over three decades, this endowment has honored Doug’s memory by supporting students who share his passion for the humanities. The Turrell Scholarship is designed to bolster students who are committed to the study of Philosophy. To qualify, students must pursue either a major or minor in philosophy, and maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Holmes follows in the footsteps of previous dedicated scholars, like Jocelyn Marsh (2022–23) and Amanda Keighron (2023–25), showcasing the continued strength of our philosophy program.
Please join us in congratulating Holmes on this well-deserved achievement!
Alumni News
During their whirlwind trip to Europe this spring, Richard Adamczyk ’18 ’19M proprosed to his long time love, Mariellen Bollock, in the Alps of Gornergrat, Zermatt, Switzerland. She said yes!
“We traveled to the beautiful village of Zermatt, Switzerland, nestled right in the Alps at the foot of the majestic Matterhorn. It was here, at the top of a mountain in this surreal and magical place, that I asked the woman I love to marry me. This gorgeous, sweet, thoughtful, courageous, and altogether amazing woman has been my greatest joy for the past couple of years, and I am the luckiest man in the world that she agreed to be my partner forever.”
Paige Harrington graduated in 2024 with a B.A. in anthropology and minor in gender studies and sexuality. Her interests lie in biological anthropology, specifically primatology, paleoanthropology, and human variation. She is pursuing acceptance to graduate school to further her studies and academic career. She is currently working full-time at Chimp Haven, a non-profit sanctuary for more than 300 chimpanzees retired from laboratory research. The 200-acre sanctuary is located in Eddie D. Jones Nature Park in Keithville, Louisiana.
Faculty News
Julius Adekunle, Ph.D.
Professor Julius Adekunle is a distinguished historian and the recipient of the 2026 Kwame Nkrumah Award, recognized for his profound contributions to Pan-Africanism and the globalization of African history. His extensive research spans the complexities of Nigerian federalism, the political identity of the Middle Belt, and the cultural resilience of Rwanda. By bridging the gap between local narratives and international discourse, his work provides a vital theoretical framework for understanding governance, identity, and the lingering effects of colonial legacies across the continent.
Beyond his academic rigor, Adekunle is a dedicated mentor and community leader who has shaped the next generation of scholars at Monmouth University. His legacy is defined by a unique intersection of disciplines, combining his expertise in history and anthropology with a passion for creative poetry and spiritual leadership. Whether through his editorial contributions or his advocacy for the African diaspora, he remains a steadfast voice for unity, integrity, and the social progress of African nations.
Melissa A. Brzycki, Ph.D., Distinguished Teacher Award 2026 Recipient
Dear Graduating Class of 2026,
Congratulations on finishing your degree, Class of 2026! You should be proud of yourself. Take the time to celebrate this accomplishment with your loved ones.
I hope that you have learned many things while at Monmouth: the content and skills taught in your classes; the applications of knowledge in your research projects, service learning, or internships; and the brain-fortifying pleasure of wrangling difficult and complex knowledge and making it your own.
I also hope that you learned other, more abstract lessons. I hope that you have learned that you are capable of hard things. You have done hard things while you have been here, and you have succeeded, and you can do that again.
I hope that your time here has taught you to understand the world and recognize its difficult truths. I hope that you can recognize the inequalities and cruelties of this world, take action to make them better in your own way, and integrate that work into a joyful and satisfying life.
I hope you have gained appreciation for the importance of community and relationships of care. I hope that you have created meaningful and lasting bonds that you will carry forward after graduation, and that you will also continue to create strong relationships and build community for the rest of your life.
I also hope you will come back and visit your old professors once in a while. We would love to see you.
Congratulations!
Kenneth Campbell, Ph.D.
Forthcoming Book Available Fall 2026
Exploring the transformative and tumultuous decade of the 1960s, Unveiling the Global Sixties follows the sweeping changes that shaped its cultural, political and social landscapes. From the ashes of World War II emerged a period of revolution, and this book guides readers through the intricate web of events, ideologies and personalities that defined it.
Starting with the post-war period that set the scene for the 1960s, it then turns to the high-stakes rivalry of the Cold War, the countercultural movements and sexual revolution that redefined societal norms, the worldwide anti-war protests that ignited change, anti-colonial struggles and independence movements across the globe, and the complex relationship between environmental awareness and modern consumerism. Without neglecting the key developments associated with the West, the book will give significant treatment, among other topics, to the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East, the struggle of African nations for independence, the impact of the Cold War on nonaligned nations, and key developments in Latin America. This survey provides a holistic understanding of a decade that reverberates in contemporary culture and continues to impact our world today.
Katherine Parkin, Ph.D.
Katherine Parkin, Ph.D., Jules Plangere Endowed Chair in American Social History and professor in the department of History and Anthropology, recently received two prestigious awards at the Business History Conference in London, England.
Parkin earned the 2025 Ralph Gomory Prize for her book, “The Abortion Market: Buying and Selling Access in the Era Before Roe,” and the 2025 Philip Scranton Prize, for the article, “The Business of Abortion: Referral Services, Cross-Border Consumption, and Canadian Women’s Access to Abortion in New York State, 1970-1972,” which was co-authored with Sarah Elvins, Ph.D., from the University of Manitoba, and published in Enterprise and Society.
According to the prize committee, members were “extremely impressed by both the concept and execution” of “The Abortion Market.” They also praised the accompanying article for its “originality, conceptual clarity, and exemplary integration of business history with the histories of consumption, gender, and the state.” The committee also noted that the article “stood out immediately for the precision of its argument and the sophistication with which it situates entrepreneurial activity,” adding that it, “is a model of how business history can engage with urgent historical questions without sacrificing analytical rigor.”
In addition to these honors, “The Abortion Market” was named a finalist for the organization’s Hagley Prize.
Parkin presented the 2026 Anita S. Goodstein Lecture in Women’s History at the University of the South on April 7. She delivered the lecture, “Revisiting Sex & the Office: A Conversation on the History of Gender, Power, and Desire,” with Katherine Turk, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The discussion examined the contemporary challenges women face in the workplace, alongside key insights of the newly released second edition of “Sex & the Office,” authored by the late Julie Berebitsky, founder of the University of the South’s Women’s and Gender Studies program. The latest edition features a new afterword written by Parkin.
In her new article, “The Right Number of Children—Emko Birth Control in Puerto Rico and the US, 1962–1966,” published in the Journal of Family History, Parkin, considers how population control ideologue Joseph Sunnen distributed his spermicidal vaginal foam Emko, first in Puerto Rico and then surreptitiously to poor and working-class women in the United States through the mail and in concert with Planned Parenthood in clinics and their workplace.
Sunnen sought to limit the country’s population by advancing an idealized American family of only one or two children. With a coordinated public relations campaign, he created the first mainstream magazine ad for birth control and placed ads in newspapers and magazines nationally to sell Americans on the benefits of having smaller families.
Parkin is the Jules Plangere, Jr., Endowed Chair in American Social History and professor in the department of History and Anthropology. Her recent scholarship includes “The Abortion Market: Buying and Selling Access in the Era Before Roe,” published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. Her related scholarship, “The Business of Abortion: Referral Services, Advertising, and Canadian Women’s Access to Abortion in New York State, 1970-1972,” co-written by Sarah Elvins, Ph.D., was awarded Best Scholarly Article in Canadian Business History in 2025.
Hettie V. Williams, Ph.D.
Hettie V. Williams, Ph.D., associate professor of African American History in the Department of History and Anthropology, recently presented her work as part of the Conversations in Black Freedom Studies roundtable series presented by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. This month’s event topic was “Freedom North: Civil Rights and Racial Justice in the Northeast and Midwest.”
As part of the virtual event, Williams brought a feminist analysis to the Northern struggle in the discussion of her publication, “The Georgia of the North: Black Women and the Civil Rights Movement in New Jersey” (Rutgers University Press, 2024).
The book’s historical narrative focuses on Black women and civil rights movement in New Jersey from the Great Migration to 1954. Williams specifically centers the book around the critical role played by Black women in forging interracial, cross-class, and cross-gender alliances at the local and national level and their role in securing the passage of progressive civil right legislation in the Garden State.
Additional presenters included Ashley Howard, Ph.D., professor of African American studies at the University of Iowa; Michelle Adams, JD; Henry M. Butzel, professor of law at the University of Michigan; and Brian Kwoba, Ph.D., associate professor of history and director of the African and African American Studies program at the University of Memphis.
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem is one of The New York Public Library’s renowned research libraries. A world-leading cultural institution devoted to the research, preservation, and exhibition of materials focused on African American, African Diasporic, and African experiences, the Schomburg stewards a collection of over 11 million items.
Williams’ article “Black Women and the Brown Decision” was published on March 5 in the Black Perspectives section of The African American Intellectual History Society.
Williams was recently interviewed on the podcast, “Beyond the Brown & Gold” hosted by Rowan University Radio. The series highlights the lives and memories of Glassboro State College and Rowan University alumni. In the interview, Williams details her journey from Glassboro State College to a tenured position at Monmouth University. She shares memories of influential mentors, her research on African American history, and how programs like EOF/MAP and AmeriCorps shaped her path.
Williams’ conversation with hosts Jessica Kanady and Rob Lightfoot also covers her books, including “The Georgia of the North: Black Women and the Civil Rights Movement in New Jersey,” her podcasts, her popular course on the history of love and marriage, and how she approaches teaching today amid student anxiety and new tools like AI.
Williams is a historian of 20th century American history, former director of the William Monroe Trotter Institute for the Study of Black Culture at UMass Boston, and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Women’s History. She is the recipient of the Eugene Simko Faculty Leadership Award, the PGIS Award in Social Justice, co-founder of the MonmouthUniversity Interdisciplinary Conferenceon Race, founder of the Works inProgress Seminar series, and past president of the African American Intellectual History Society
Women Behind The Boss Take Center Stage
Calling all Bruce fans! Melissa Kozlowski, curator of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, presented “Women of the E Street Band” at events at the Plumsted Branch and the Lacey Branch of the Ocean County Library.
The “core” members of Bruce Springsteen’s famed E Street Band over time are generally listed as Garry Tallent, Roy Bittan, Max Weinberg, Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren, Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, David Sancious, Vini Lopez, and Ernest “Boom” Carter. The band would not be what it is today, however, if not for a number of strong and talented, but too-often-overlooked, women.
This multimedia talks explored the likes of Adele Springsteen, Marion Vinyard, Barbara Dinkins, Dee Holmes, Suki Lahav, Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell, and others who have supported and shaped the E Street Band from its pre-history to the present.
Kenneth Campbell, Ph.D., Retires After 40 Years of Service
- “On Friday May 1, 2026 a retirement celebration for Dr. Kenneth Campbell was held at the home of Chris DeRosa and Katie Parkin.
Looking around the room I couldn’t help but be struck by how profoundly Ken has shaped, not only our Department, but the whole Monmouth University community. The effects of Ken’s teaching and mentorship reverberate across campus in the classroom and advising sessions held by some of the University’s most dynamic teachers and advisors. Once students, now colleagues, Ken’s legacy is written in the lesson plans of many in our department, and elsewhere on campus. For my part, Ken offered a tremendous wealth of guidance in how to navigate complicated and intense situations with calm and diplomacy.”
—Maryanne Rhett
“I first met Ken Campbell in 1995, when he hired me to teach two sections of Western Civilization in World Perspective at Monmouth. It proved to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. As, first, department chair of History and Anthropology, then Associate Dean, and in his return to the department Ken has always been a guiding and nurturing mentor. He encouraged and inspired me to be a better teacher, unsparing in his praise of what he saw me do well. At the same time, Ken did not hold back in critiquing my performance, but his advice was always given in the gentlest of terms.
A foundation of our friendship has been the shared field of early modern British history. Ken has made significant contributions to the field with a well-received studies of English papists and separatists in the seventeenth century. He has also served as a patient sounding board and editor of my own writing. Our shared interests led us to put together panels and present papers at conferences across the United States. Those conferences offered great opportunities, of course, to strengthen scholarly pursuits, but they also provided a way to strengthen a friendship outside Monmouth. I came to know Ken as intellectually curious, a great raconteur, and a kindhearted man.
Apart from the academic world, there have been trips to baseball games, the US Open, restaurants across New Jersey, a Blood, Sweat & Tears concert, and a memorable trip to traffic court in Newark. In each setting Ken made the outings fun-filled with his keen-edged wit, joie de vivre, and affability. There is so much I owe to Ken Campbell – from starting me on my chosen career to his always valuable advice and steady friendship. I shall miss him sorely around the halls of Monmouth, but I wish him well on his retirement. Ad multos annos!”
—Matthew O’Brien