Events

The Secret History by Donna Tartt
2023-08-15 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual
Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack. This month’s novel is The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

A contemporary literary classic and “an accomplished psychological thriller … absolutely chilling” (Village Voice), from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Goldfinch.
Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries. But their search for the transcendent leads them down a dangerous path, beyond human constructs of morality.
When you register you will be provided the meeting link to join the conversation.

New York Mets vs. Los Angeles Angels—Monmouth University Night at Citi Field
2023-08-27 12:05 - 15:05 | Citi Field
Come join the Monmouth University Alumni and friends and the New York Mets for a fun-filled day of baseball at Citi Field as the Mets take on the Los Angeles Angels.
Each Special Event Ticket also includes $18 Stored Value, which could be consumed at any concession stands and team store at Citi Field on August 27.

Guajiros Retratos de Otoño, an exhibition of work by Lázaro Niebla
2023-09-01 00:00 - 2023-12-15 23:59 | Pollak Gallery
Lázaro Niebla, a resident of Trinidad de Cuba, documents the connection to the past through reverse woodcut portraits of those that understand it best: his elders. His process begins by collecting discarded colonial window panels that were used to protect the homes in Trinidad de Cuba during the Spanish colonization. He then photographs his subjects, capturing them in a spontaneous moment. Working off of his photograph, Lázaro meticulously carves layer after layer from the repurposed panel, exposing the perfectly preserved wood under the surface. Using acrylic paint, Lázaro adds touches of color to the piece, choosing to leave the skin of the subject wood tone — connecting the person he has chosen to portray to the material that he has chosen to work with. The life of the tree, the window shutter, the home it protected, the subject portrayed, and the artist are all represented in each piece of art.
Artist Demonstration: September 27 from 6pm – 8pm |Great Hall Auditorium
Lázaro Niebla, Cuban wood sculptor, explains his concept, technique, tools and cultural aspects of his work. He’ll show an example of a work in progress and how he accomplishes the carved details of his subjects to create the multi-dimensional texture of his works.

NEW!!! Opening Reception – RESCHEDULED FOR November 10 from 6pm – 8 pm | Pollak Gallery
Please join us for a meet and greet with the artist!

PAT CRESSON - Taking a Leap –The Power of the Natural World - 45 Years of Creative Work
2023-09-05 00:00 - 2023-12-08 23:59 | DiMattio and Ice House Galleries, 400 Cedar Ave, West Long Branch, nj, 07764
Closing Reception and lecture/walking tour: Thursday December 7 – Tour begins at 4pm; Reception (light refreshments) from 5-6pm
This retrospective show, PAT CRESSON Taking a Leap –The Power of the Natural World 45 Years of Creative Work is a combined visual statement of over 45 years of artmaking. It covers 21 different categories ranging from painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, and digital imaging to sculpture. CRESSON have always been interested in a broad range of art topics, styles and techniques and has followed her heart and not limited herself to just one or two topics, series or styles.
Ancient cultures and architecture, botanicals, maps & ephemera, the landscape, weather systems and climate, insects, birds, Asian culture, kimonos, bonsai design, endangered species, marine life and the seashore – these are all topics that have interested her for many years and she returns again and again to them for inspiration. Using these as inspiration and metaphor her interest is also in the exploration of human interaction and the natural world – the navigation between what is hidden and what is revealed.
Recently she has concentrated her explorations into the connection between geometry and Nature. She has explored this by juxtaposing hard edge geometric design form, scientific illustrations, and pattern against organic landscape shapes, portions of sketches, and textured paint.
Many of the artist’s pieces combine drawing, type, painting, graphic design, digital imagery, and original photography. A majority of her prints and images over the years have reflected interests in nature and landscape, legend, myth, storytelling, and spirituality. They complement a 35-year interest in anthropology and archaeology with particular interest in the cultures of Egypt, Japan, China, South American Mayan and the Anastazi.

Pat Cresson – Taj Mahal

Pat Cresson – Vintage Fish

Pat Cresson – Blue-Lagoon-Kimona-Series-Green-Frog

Pat Cresson – Prevailing Winds

Pat Cresson – Moose and Elk

“Cresson has often taken a collage approach in her creative work and this is clear in both paintings and prints. In painting, the artist’s use of oils, wax, and mixed media enhances both the collage look of her work and her atmospheric approach to color. In printmaking, her use of chine-collé and the collograph process heightens the variety of textures and colors in her work. Whether one looks at the paintings and the prints on display here, or the drawings and digital images available on the artist’s website, there are opposing areas of abstract color, a wide array of textures and transparencies, and recognizable images (or in some cases, the vague suggestion of images). Color is one of the artist’s strengths, and her use of it ranges from the poetic to the dramatic. The paintings, which tend to be more abstract than the prints, contain some of her most ethereal color combinations. Line is another strength, especially in the prints that utilize the inherently linear process of intaglio etching.”
Dr. Kate Ogden, Professor of Art History, Stockton State University, NJ
This work was supported, in part, by several Grant-in-Aid-for-Creativity awards and the Urban Coast Institute at Monmouth University.

Billy Joel’s The Stranger
2023-09-05 19:30 - 21:00 | The Great Hall Auditorium/Virtual, 400 Cedar Ave, West Long Branch, NJ, 07720, United States
It’s just like book club but with albums! With new advances in technology, the way we consume music through our devices, apps and on demand streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and iTunes is making the idea of the “album” as an art form extinct. Get together with other music enthusiasts on Tuesday nights to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature Billy Joel’s The Stranger.
This event is offered BOTH in person and via Zoom. Join us in person at the Great Hall Auditorium on the Campus of Monmouth University or join us via zoom. When you register you will be provided the ZOOM meeting link to join the conversation.
Free and open to the public, but registration is required.

J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye
2023-09-12 19:30 - 21:00 | Virtual
Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack. This month’s novel is J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. One of the greatest American novels of all time, The Catcher in the Rye is a classic coming-of-age story: an elegy to teenage alienation, capturing the deeply human need for connection and the bewildering sense of loss as we leave childhood behind.
When you register you will be provided the meeting link to join the conversation.

British Invasion Part 1: Beginnings and Influences
2023-09-19 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-09-26 19:30 - 21:00 | Virtual
Class Schedule: Tuesdays – September 19 & 26 | 7:30 – 9:00 PM
Before the Beatles kicked off the British Invasion of the US, a musical revolution was underway in the UK. Teens reveled in listening to a specific type of American music: rock and roll from Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Little Richard, and more. Early Motown reached the Merseyside, along with records by little-known (in America) R&B artists. At the same time, James Brown and Ray Charles scored hits both in the US and the UK. However, folk also attracted teens’ attention through a genre called skiffle, a style that would greatly influence budding musicians such as John Lennon and Jimmy Page.
This two-session virtual course taught by Kit O’Toole examines the influences of these genres on what would become the British Invasion, which would ultimately transform music worldwide. The class will survey the artists that would predate the Beatles: Billy Fury, Cliff Richard, the Shadows, Tommy Steele, The Vipers Skiffle Group, and much more. It will reveal just how different the UK and US charts looked prior to the British Invasion, and how these artists and numerous genres contributed to the transformation from 1950s to 1960s sounds.
Zoom Link will be provided upon registration.

Willie Nile
2023-09-23 20:00 - 23:00 | Pollak Theatre
Join us for our Performing Arts season-opening concert with Willie Nile and opening act James Maddock.
The New York Times called Buffalo, NY born Willie Nile “one of the most gifted singer-songwriters to emerge from the New York scene in years.” Uncut Magazine called him “A one-man Clash.” His album Streets Of New York was hailed as “a platter for the ages” by Uncut. Rolling Stone listed The Innocent Ones as one of the “Top Ten Best Under-The-Radar Albums of 2011” and BBC Radio called it “THE rock ‘n’ roll album of the year.” His single from that album, “One Guitar,” was the “Top Pick of the Week” in USA Today.
Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend, Lou Reed, Lucinda Williams, Jim Jarmusch, and Little Steven are among those who have sung his praises. His album, American Ride, won “Best Rock Album of the Year” at the Independent Music Awards. It appeared on dozens of year-end Top Ten lists for 2013 and was voted “Album Of The Year” by Twangville Magazine. Bono called it, “One of the great guides to unraveling the mystery that is the troubled beauty of America.”
Willie has toured across the U.S. with The Who and has sung with Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr. As the induction program from the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame says: “His live performances are legendary.” His 2020 album New York At Night got rave reviews, with The Associated Press calling it: “As sharp and guitar-driven as ever…the fire within Nile, once a peer of The Replacements and The Clash, continues to light a similar torch…anthemic…custom made for these times..” Downbeat Magazine calling it a “sonic love letter to Gotham.” His new studio album The Day The Earth Stood Still features a duet with Steve Earle on the song “Blood On Your Hands.” The London Times called him “A man who embodies the true spirit of rock n’ roll.” The New Yorker wrote that Willie Nile is “One of the most brilliant singer-songwriters of the past 30 years.”

Homecoming Tailgate 2023
2023-09-30 10:00 - 13:00 | Practice Field
Register for the biggest event of the year to celebrate your Hawk pride and 90 years of Monmouth!
Please note: early entry is only for guests with MVP tickets, as well as any guests of MVP ticket holders under 21.
MVP Tailgate Ticket

Early access to the Tailgate at 10 a.m.
Access to cash bar, tailgate food, children’s activities and live music
Monmouth University Homecoming 2023 t-shirt (while supplies last)
One drink ticket
Your name on the scoreboard during the game! (Must be registered by 9/26 for inclusion on scoreboard)
$1 of the ticket price will support the Access Fund, which provides scholarships for students with unmet need.

Free Tailgate Ticket

General access to the tailgate at 11 a.m.
Access to cash bar, tailgate food, children’s activities and live music

Enjoy more that Monmouth has to offer during Homecoming weekend! More events to come.
Saturday, Sept. 30

10 a.m. – Historic Tours of the Great Hall
1 p.m. – Monmouth Football vs. Lehigh
7 p.m. – Men’s Soccer vs. Charleston – Hesse Field

Special Advance Screening - Miranda’s Victim
2023-09-30 18:00 - 23:00
It’s 1963, when Trish, 18, walks home at night from her job at a Phoenix theater. Suddenly, a stranger brandishing a knife ties Trish up and forces her into the back seat of his 1953 Packard. He then takes her to a deserted road and brutally sexually assaults her. Determined to have her assailant jailed, Trish reports the sexual assault to the skeptical police. It’s only after Trish undergoes a polygraph test and an extremely humiliating physical exam, that the detectives discover other women have been similarly attacked. But no one could know that Trish’s commitment to finding justice would trigger a law that would transform a Nation.
6:00 pm – Opening Reception – Great Hall – Additional Ticket Required
7:45 pm – Introduction and Screening, Miranda’s Victim– Pollak Theatre
10:15pm – Panel Discussion with Cast Members, Director, Producer and Special Guests

Filmed at locations throughout Monmouth County, including on the Monmouth University campus.

Step Afrika
2023-10-02 18:00 - 20:00 | Pollak Theatre
Enjoy the company’s self-titled work Step Afrika! This show introduces audiences to stepping through both a traditional and contemporary lens. Step Afrika! blends percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities; traditional African dances; and an array of contemporary dance and art forms into a cohesive, compelling artistic experience. Performances are much more than dance shows; they integrate songs, storytelling, humor, and audience participation. The blend of technique, agility, and pure energy makes each performance unique and leaves the audience with their hearts pounding.(presented in partnership with Student Activities)

Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
2023-10-03 19:30 - 21:00 | The Great Hall Auditorium/Virtual, 400 Cedar Ave, West Long Branch, NJ, 07720, United States
It’s just like book club but with albums! With new advances in technology, the way we consume music through our devices, apps and on demand streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and iTunes is making the idea of the “album” as an art form extinct. Get together with other music enthusiasts on Tuesday nights to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
This event is offered BOTH in person and via Zoom. Join us in person at the Great Hall Auditorium on the Campus of Monmouth University or join us via zoom. When you register you will be provided the ZOOM meeting link to join the conversation.
Free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Fall Internship and Career Fair 2023
2023-10-04 13:00 - 16:00 | OceanFirst Bank Center
Fair for Internship and Career Opportunities
Contact careerdevelopment@monmouth.edu to register.

Spider Thieves
2023-10-05 19:30 - 22:00 | Pollak Theatre
Directed by Guillermo Helo
Chile, 2017
Inspired by actual events, this teenage thriller is a unique social commentary on dreams, class, and unfulfilled expectations in contemporary Chile.
Three teenage girls from a Santiago shanty town set in motion a plan to climb buildings and plunder expensive apartments. All they want is to have all the cool and trendy stuff they see advertised in TV commercials and department stores. Word spreads and soon enough they became the notorious “spider thieves.”
There will be a post screening Q&A hosted by Professor Manuel Chavez with special guest speakers Prof. Priscilla & Gustavo Gac-Artigas

Benjamin Nugent
2023-10-10 16:30 - 17:30 | Great Hall 104 (Julian Abele Room)
Benjamin Nugent is the author of Fraternity: Stories (FSG, 2020). He was awarded The Paris Review’s 2019 Terry Southern Prize for his fiction, which has been published in The Best American Short Stories and other anthologies. He’s written for Harper’s, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications. He grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts, and is currently Director of the Mountainview Low-Residency MFA at Southern New Hampshire University.

Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood
2023-10-10 19:30 - 21:00 | Virtual
Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack. This month’s novel is Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood. A poignant story of one college student’s romantic coming-of-age, Norwegian Wood takes us to that distant place of a young man’s first, hopeless, and heroic love.
When you register you will be provided the meeting link to join the conversation.

Ballet Hispánico
2023-10-14 20:00 - 22:00 | Pollak Theatre
Ballet Hispánico is the nation’s renowned Latino dance organization and one of America’s Cultural Treasures. For 50 years Ballet Hispánico has been bringing communities together to celebrate and explore Latino cultures through innovative dance performances, transformative dance training, and enduring community engagement experiences. The organization’s founder, National Medal of Arts recipient Tina Ramirez, sought to give voice to the Hispanic experience and break through stereotypes. Today, Ballet Hispánico is led by Eduardo Vilaro, an acclaimed choreographer and former member of the Company, whose vision of social equity, cultural identity, and quality arts education for all drives its programs.

The evening’s program will include:
Club Havana
Choreographer Pedro Ruiz, a native of Cuba, brings the intoxicating rhythms of conga, rumba, mambo, and cha cha to life in “Club Havana.” Set to a fusion of Cuban, jazz, and big-band swing music, this performance promises to be a silky, sexy joy.
New Sleep (Duet)
Choreographed by William Forsythe, “New Sleep (Duet)” offers a unique and inventive dance movement based on balletic axioms. Forsythe’s work reorients ballet as a dynamic 21st-century art form, pushing the boundaries of dance.
Línea Recta
From choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa comes “Línea Recta,” a powerful and resonant work that explores the absence of physical partnering in flamenco dance. While maintaining the genre’s hallmark passion, Lopez Ochoa’s piece offers an original and explosive movement language performed to flamenco guitar by Eric Vaarzon Morel.

Writing Memoir
2023-10-17 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-10-19 19:30 - 21:00 | Virtual
Class Schedule: Tuesday Oct. 17 & Thursday Oct. 19 | 7:30 – 9:00 PM
This two-session virtual course taught by Mike Farragher provides attendees with an introduction to basic modes for telling the stories of their lives. Working in a supportive workshop setting, students will enjoy engaging, wide-ranging discussion about the joys and challenges of bringing their memories to life. Instructor: Mike Farragher, Monmouth University alumnus and author of numerous works of fiction and memoir.
Whether you have dreams of being a bestselling author or you’re committed to creating your life story as an heirloom for future generations of your family, memoir writing can be a rewarding endeavor to help make sense of your life journey.If you’ve ever said aloud, “I should write a book someday,” but didn’t know where to begin, this course will get you on the road to fulfilling that creative dream.
This course will explore how to get started, tools to overcome lack of confidence and overwhelm, provide creative writing prompts, and instill a disciplined process essential for success that has produced proven results for unknown and known authors alike.
Zoom Link will be provided upon registration.

Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking
2023-10-21 13:00 - 17:00 | Pollak Theatre
Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Conductor), Latonia Moore (Sister Rose), Joyce DiDonato (Sister Helen Prejean), Susan Graham (Mrs. Patrick De Rocher), Ryan McKinny (Joseph De Rocher) Jake Heggie’s powerful work has its highly anticipated Met premiere in a new production by Ivo van Hove. Based on Sister Helen Prejean’s memoir about her fight for the soul of a condemned murderer, Dead Man Walking matches the high drama of its subject with Heggie’s poignant music and a libretto by Tony and Emmy Award–winner Terrence McNally. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium, with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato starring as Sister Helen. The cast also features bass-baritone Ryan McKinny as the death-row inmate Joseph De Rocher, soprano Latonia Moore as Sister Rose, and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham—who sang Helen Prejean in the opera’s 2000 premiere—as De Rocher’s mother.
Content Advisory: Dead Man Walking contains a depiction of a rape and murder, as well as other adult themes and strong language.

TITIAN: THE EMPIRE OF COLOR
2023-10-23 19:30 - 21:30 | Pollak Theatre
Winning over popes and emperors with his iconic, revolutionary works Titian succeeded in becoming one of the artists that symbolized the entire Renaissance.
Titian was an extraordinary master of color and a brilliant entrepreneur, innovative both in a painting’s composition but also in how to sell it. In only a few years, Tiziano Vecellio became the official painter of Venice and the utmost artist sought after by the richest and most influential Courts in Europe.
From Ferrara to Urbino, from Mantua to Rome, up to the Spain of Carlos V and his son Felipe II, Titian crossed his century illuminating it with his works of art, inspiring future generations of artists. Perfect interpreter of religion and mythology, portrayer of immediate expressive strength, he dominated his time outshining his contemporaries, always abiding by his motto: ‘Art is more powerful than Nature’.
Special guest: Jeff Koons
Estimated runtime: 88 minutes

Music Industry Network Event
2023-10-24 19:00 - 21:00 | Lauren K. Woods Theatre
The Monmouth University Music and Theatre Arts Department and Blue Hawk Media Group is hosting a networking event to connect students with alumni working in the music and entertainment field and expand their knowledge of the music industry. Come meet with alumni at Warner, Sony, SiriusXM and more!

Bruce Springsteen’s Tracks
2023-10-24 19:30 - 21:00 | The Great Hall Auditorium/Virtual, 400 Cedar Ave, West Long Branch, NJ, 07720, United States
It’s just like book club but with albums! With new advances in technology, the way we consume music through our devices, apps and on demand streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and iTunes is making the idea of the “album” as an art form extinct. Get together with other music enthusiasts on Tuesday nights to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature Bruce Springsteen’s Tracks.
This event is offered BOTH in person and via Zoom. Join us in person at the Great Hall Auditorium on the Campus of Monmouth University or join us via zoom. When you register you will be provided the ZOOM meeting link to join the conversation.
Free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Kislak Real Estate Institute Golf Outing
2023-10-30 10:30
Hear from University Leadership and the inspiring students who will benefit from your generosity, while networking with dozens of aspiring real estate professionals. All Golfers will receive lunch, a player gift, on-course competitions, use of the driving range and putting green, a golf cart, a forecaddie, access to the cocktail hour and dinner, and networking opportunities. Please Note: Attendance is limited. Proper attire on course is required. Soft spikes only.

Kaitlyn Greenidge
2023-10-30 16:30 - 17:45 | Great Hall 104 (Julian Abele Room)
Kaitlyn Greenidge’s debut novel is We Love You, Charlie Freeman (Algonquin Books), one of the New York Times Critics’ Top 10 Books of 2016. Her writing has appeared in the Vogue, Glamour, the Wall Street Journal, Elle, Buzzfeed, Transition Magazine, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Believer, American Short Fiction and other places. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Whiting Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University and the Guggenheim Foundation. She is currently Features Director at Harper’s Bazaar as well as a contributing writer for The New York Times. Her second novel, Libertie, is published by Algonquin Books and out now.

Bram Stoker's Dracula: Was he actually Irish?
2023-10-31 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-11-02 19:30 - 21:00 | Virtual
Class Schedule: Tuesday Oct. 31 & Thursday November. 2 | 7:30 – 9:00 PM
The Gothic horror novel Dracula has never been out of print since its publication in 1897; yet, the book’s Dublin-born author, Bram Stoker, is virtually unknown. This course unearths clues in the life and experiences of Stoker, as well as in Irish history, mythology, folklore and language, to answer the question in the course title. This two-session virtual course taught by Maureen D. Brady is a unique investigation of the novel focused on the Irish influences that inspired the classic tale and shaped its enduring legacy. Note: Reading the novel is not a prerequisite for the course.
Zoom Link will be provided upon registration.

Social Work Alumni Lecture
2023-11-02 09:00 - 12:00
Join Us for an Inspiring Morning with Michael Cronin, Ph.D., LCSW
Are you ready to elevate your social work skills and leadership potential? Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to hear from Michael Cronin, Ph.D., LCSW, a true luminary in our field.
Cronin will be sharing his insights on leadership in social work, offering valuable strategies, and igniting your passion for making a difference. Join us for a morning of inspiration and transformation.
Mark your calendar, register now, and be part of this enlightening experience! Let’s lead the way to a brighter future in social work together
Alumni Award Winner 2023
We are thrilled to announce that this year’s recipient of the Alumni Award is a distinguished member of our Class of 2009. Join us in celebrating Kristen Rasinya and her outstanding achievements and contributions to the field of social work.
We hope you’ll join us in celebrating the achievements of our entire alumni community and show your support for the Class of 2009. Let’s unite to make this event memorable and inspiring for everyone!
The Louis E. Cimaglia ’08 Memorial Scholarship in Social Work
This memorial scholarship has been established to celebrate the life of Louis E. Cimaglia, whose life was tragically cut short on March 23, 2018, nine years after a car accident left him with a traumatic brain injury.
Lou received his Bachelor of Social Work from Monmouth University in 2008, and was two months away from receiving his Master of Social Work from Monmouth University when he was in the devastating accident.
This scholarship has been established to commemorate Lou’s exceptional commitment to children and families, and to inspire future MSW students to explore clinical opportunities in the disabilities field.
