Faculty & Student Achievement
$3 Million Grant Will Help to Break Barriers in Biology
ssistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology Sean Sterrett, Ph.D., is part of a team that was awarded a four-year, $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The main goal of the Research and Mentoring for Postbaccalaureates in Biological Sciences grant is to diversify the field of biology while offering training and mentorship to a new generation of scientists who will be studying species in a world continually impacted by climate change.
In collaboration with scientists from Bridgewater State, Pennsylvania State, Michigan State, and Susquehanna universities, Sterrett will be working to integrate this new research and mentoring network into the existing Salamander Population and Adaptive Research Collaboration Network, known as SPARCnet.
A regional initiative designed to advance the understanding of environmental change on salamander populations across the eastern United States, SPARCnet is made up of a diverse group of scientists; educators; and university, federal, state, and nonprofit partners who up until now have been informally using it as a place to store and share data related to the study of salamanders.
This grant will provide a diverse group of 30 postbaccalaureate mentees with a one-year, paid, mentored-research position at SPARCnet sites in the eastern United States, where, through a combination of research, training, and mentoring, they will be better prepared to successfully enter the competitive STEM workforce and postgraduate education programs.
This grant will help to formalize the group and allow SPARCnet to be a vehicle for mentees to connect with hundreds of fellow students as well as scientists from more than two dozen universities who utilize the network for their research.
Examining the Art of Humor in Presidential Rhetoric
ssociate Professor of Communication Michael Phillips-Anderson, Ph.D., whose scholarship focuses on rhetoric, politics, and humor, as well as the role public discourse plays in the creation of active citizenship, published the chapter, “Founding Contradictions, Contemporary Expressions: Political Humor in American Culture,” in “Political Humor Worldwide.” The chapter “examines the interplay between humor and culture in a time of political polarization and division in the United States,” exploring how humor is derived from the incongruity between the stated ideals of the country’s founding and the lived reality of its people. Phillips-Anderson demonstrates this phenomenon through examples such as the exaggerated look at local government in the fictionalized politics of “Parks and Recreation,” as well as the rhetorical humor wielded by politicians, particularly Donald Trump. In the chapter, Phillips-Anderson also examines “cancel culture” and demonstrates how American comedy wrestles with free speech and accountability.
A Fulbright Experience in Romania
aith Bates ’24M, an adjunct professor in the Department of English, accepted a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award from the U.S. Department of State and Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. She will spend the upcoming academic year in Romania, teaching and assisting with practical and specialized English language and American culture classes at higher education institutions, while also serving as a resource on American culture and history and literary and nonliterary traditions. Since 1946, the U.S. Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 participants from over 160 countries the opportunity to study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
As a Fulbright alumna, Bates will join an esteemed network that includes 61 Nobel Prize laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize recipients, and 40 current or former heads of state or government.
Two additional scholars represented Monmouth in the Fulbright semifinal round: Ausirys Alviz, a doctoral social work candidate and adjunct professor in the School of Social Work, and Cierra Spruill ’24M, a graduate of the physician assistant program.
Grant to Support National Study on Native American Rights and History
he American Philosophical Society (APS) has awarded Katherine Parkin, Ph.D., professor in the Department of History and Anthropology, and Jules Plangere Jr. Endowed Chair in American Social History, a Phillips Fund for Native American Research grant. She will be researching “Involuntary Sterilization and the Forced Removal of Children: A National Native American Study, 1960–1980.”
The Phillips Fund of the APS provides grants for research in Native American linguistics, ethnohistory—which the committee distinguishes from contemporary ethnography as the study of cultures and cultural change through time—and the history of studies of Native Americans, in the continental United States and Canada.
Parkin regularly teaches courses on U.S. women’s history, the cultural history of advertising, and the history of sexuality in America. Her most recent book, “Women at the Wheel: A Century of Buying, Driving, and Fixing Cars,” won the 2018 Emily Toth Award for best book in feminist popular culture. Her first book, “Food Is Love: Food Advertising and Gender Roles in Modern America,” won the same award in 2006.
New Beatles Book Is Essential Guide for Fans and Educators Alike
rofessor of English and Popular Music Kenneth Womack, Ph.D., and Specialist Professor and Chair of the Department of Music and Theatre Arts Joe Rapolla published “Introducing the Beatles: Background and Resources,” designed for teachers and students of the Beatles interested in placing their “remarkable musical output within the context of their years as a working rock ’n’ roll group.” With QR codes embedded throughout the publication to play each track on Spotify, the book aims to attract a regular readership via course adoptions, while also enjoying a wide audience of general readers who “take every opportunity to learn more about the band’s exciting and, at times, moving story.”
Womack is a leading Beatles scholar, having published his research about the band with such vaunted presses as Oxford, Cambridge, and Cornell. His latest book, “Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans,” was named Music Book of the Year at the MiCannes Awards held in Cannes, France, in June and was also named a Rolling Stone magazine Top 10 Music Book for 2023.
Rapolla is a veteran music industry consultant, having partnered with the world’s leading entertainment, media, and sports brands, including Universal Studios, MTV, HBO, Apple, Sony, IPG, BMI, and CBGB. He was one of four finalists for the 2024 Music Business Educator of the Year Award presented by the Music Business Association.
Patent Pending for App That Aims to Help Those Affected During Floods
pecialist Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering Raman Lakshmanan, Ph.D., and recent computer science graduate Ava Taylor ’23 filed a nonprovisional U.S. patent (18/635,475) and trademark application for the app Fludz in April. Fludz is a crowdsourced flood data distribution and analysis service that allows users to report and view local data about flooding conditions. Users are able to report flooded areas, if conditions are worsening, road hazards, flood depth estimates, and more in real time and get information on safe evacuation routes. According to Lakshmanan and Taylor, the current emergency alert systems are not as effective as they could be in protecting the public from dangers during flood events, and this app aims to fill the void at a local level for the more than 167 million people in the United States who are exposed to flood risks—a number expected to increase as climate change, urbanization, and land use changes progress. The system and method for local flood data collection and distribution developed for Fludz could be adapted for various other applications, such as pollution reporting, tree/plant disease tracking, and reservoir overflow monitoring.
New Book Explores the Contributions of Black Women Intellectuals in U.S. History
ssociate Professor of African American History Hettie V. Williams, Ph.D., and Melissa Ziobro, curator at the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music and adjunct professor of public history, published “A Seat at the Table: Black Women Public Intellectuals in US History and Culture.”
While Black women’s intellectual history continues to grow as an important subfield in historical studies, there remains a gap in scholarship devoted to the topic. “A Seat at the Table” seeks to fill this void, presenting essays curated by Williams and Ziobro on African American women within the larger context of American intellectual history. Divided into four parts, the volume features women in politics, art, government, journalism, media, education, and the military with essays from prominent figures including Shirley Chisholm, Oprah Winfrey, journalist Charlotta Bass, and anti-abortion activist Mildred Fay Jefferson.
The book is a follow-up to Williams’ previous work, “Bury My Heart in a Free Land: Black Women Intellectuals in Modern U.S. History.”
Physician Assistant Students Earn State and National Scholarships
hysician assistant students Marlie Doriston ’24M and Ariana Ochoa were awarded the Executive Women of New Jersey (EWNJ) and National Health Service Corps (NHSC) scholarships, respectively, marking the first time Monmouth students were awarded these scholarships since the inaugural PA class graduated in 2017. Doriston, a third-year student who is currently in the clinical phase of the program, was awarded an EWNJ scholarship for the 2023 Graduate Merit Program. This annual scholarship is awarded to women who are nontraditional graduate students attending New Jersey colleges and universities. Ochoa, a second-year student who is currently finishing up the didactic phase of her program, was awarded an NHSC scholarship given to students pursuing primary care health professions training. In return, scholars commit to providing primary care health services in health professional shortage areas. Ochoa has committed to work as a PA in an underserved area for a minimum of two years after her graduation in 2025.
New Book Examines the Impact of Student Loan Debt on Social Mobility
obert H. Scott III, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Economics, Finance, and Real Estate; and Joseph N. Patten, Ph.D., and Kenneth Mitchell, Ph.D., professors in the Department of Political Science and Sociology, published “Bait and Switch: How Student Loan Debt Stifles Social Mobility.”
Scott, Patten, and Mitchell provide a historical overview of student loans and highlight how the student loan policy has evolved over the decades from a public good to a loan-based model, creating debt for millions of student borrowers, contrary to its original purpose of promoting social mobility.
Scott is the Arthur and Dorothy Greenbaum/Robert Ferguson/NJAR Endowed Chair in Real Estate Policy at Monmouth University and has published three books, 23 peer-reviewed journal articles, and more than 30 additional scholarly artifacts. Patten coaches the University’s policy debate team, the Debate Hawks; teaches courses in American politics and public policy; and is a recipient of the Monmouth University Distinguished Teaching Award. Mitchell, whose publications and peer-reviewed articles appear in the Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Monthly Review, the Journal of Oxford Development Studies, and more, is a Model UN advisor.
Awards & Accolades
- Emily Ferris ’24, a biology graduate, received an award for presentation excellence at the meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Pharmacology Society, a subset of the American Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics serving the tri-state area. Two recent biology graduates, Ilona Maczka ’23 and Nicholas Pillarella ’21, ’24M, contributed to the work Ferris presented.
- Christine Grabowski, adjunct professor and clinical supervisor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, won the National Association of School-University Partnerships’ (NASUP) Exemplary Mentor Teacher Award at NASUP’s annual meeting in March for her work with Monmouth pre-service teachers.
- Recent graduates of the BFA in Graphic and Interactive Design program, Natalie Rolon-Issa ’24 and Madyson Lagotta ’24, were selected as student winners of the Hiiibrand Awards 2023 (Logo Design Category). The awards, which were judged by a team of six international artists and designers, commend individuals and teams that have realized design innovation and excellent performance in the field of communication design.
- Wobbe F. Koning, MFA, associate professor of animation in the Department of Art and Design, received the Best Demo Award at the IEEE CTSoc Conference on Gaming, Entertainment and Media in Turin (Torino), Italy, where he showcased the interactive VR Experience Inviting Motion.
- Nicole Mautone ’24, an English graduate, was awarded the New Jersey College English Association’s (NJCEA) Graduate Student Paper Award for the best graduate student paper among submissions by master’s and doctoral candidates from across the state after she presented her research, “Expectations and Subversions: The Semiotics of Psychological Horror in Doki Doki Literature Club,” at the NJCEA annual conference.
- Dawn Schultz, adjunct professor in the Department of Health and Physical Education, was named the 2024 Dance Education Teacher of the Year by the New Jersey Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. She was recognized for her ability to educate creatively and utilize various methodologies, present a balanced and sequential curriculum, and emphasize the significance of dance as an integral cultural component.
- Nancy Uddin, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of the Department of Accounting, was named a 2023 Exceptional Educator at the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants Ovation Awards. The Exceptional Educator category acknowledges college accounting educators who distinguish themselves with their excellence in teaching and prominence in statewide or regional activity to actively encourage careers in accounting and serve as role models in academia.
Trio Wins Competitive Grant for Climate Education
he Monmouth University Climate Education Collaborative (MUCEC) was awarded a competitive grant of over $311,000 from the New Jersey Department of Education to develop a program intended to train and better prepare New Jersey K–12 educators to teach climate change at grade-appropriate levels across all subjects. Monmouth is one of four New Jersey universities to receive a Climate Education Collaborative grant and the only private university to receive funding from this program.
MUCEC was developed by Michelle Schpakow, Ed.D., science education lecturer in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction; Catherine Duckett, Ph.D., associate dean of the School of Science; and Peter Jacques, Ph.D., Rechnitz Family/UCI Endowed Chair in Marine and Environmental Law and Policy and professor in the Department of Political Science and Sociology, in collaboration with Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute, New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, and Monmouth Conservation Foundation.
Professor Is One of Five International Artists Chosen for Artist-in-Residence
imberly Callas, MFA, associate professor of Art and Design, was one of five international artists chosen to serve as an artist-in-residence (AiR) at the Arts Quarter Budapest (AQB), an independent art center in Budapest, Hungary, in March 2024. Housed in a renovated factory building, the former Haggenmacher brewery, the center has exhibition galleries for contemporary art, studios for local artists, and space for an experimental sound studio and performance. The residency offered opportunities for the residents to integrate into the Budapest art scene and assisted in establishing professional connections that support work and career development.
Callas worked on drawings and digitally sculpting a series of life-size figurative polychromed sculptures and reliefs for a project called “Ocean Bodies,” which she began as an AiR with Monmouth’s Urban Coast Institute. This socially engaged art project and exhibit is designed to raise awareness of the importance of the ocean in climate regulation and stability, and its vital role as habitat, while exploring ways in which the ocean shapes our symbolic consciousness as a symbol of the cosmos and the deep unconscious. An exhibit of the completed work will be shown at Monmouth’s Rotary Ice House Gallery in January 2025.
Music Industry Student Earns Coveted Live Nation Scholarship
usic industry graduate Asad Whitehead ’24 was awarded a $10,000 Live Nation Scholarship from the entertainment company and its partner, the Music Forward Foundation. The award supports students pursuing careers in the five core areas of Live Nation’s business: concert promotion, venue operation, sponsorship, ticketing, and artist management.
A music intern at “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in Spring 2024, Whitehead was also selected as the New Jersey representative for the United Justice Coalition (UJC) Summit Student State Ambassador program in New York City. Held at the Javits Center in December 2023, the 10-week internship with UJC and entertainment agency Roc Nation aims to support and challenge students from across the country to develop state-specific strategies and create action plans to generate greater awareness about the UJC Summit, a social justice convention.
At Monmouth, Whitehead was also involved with multiple student-run media outlets and worked toward developing a live entertainment brand, Versatile Arts & Entertainment, which aims to embrace the culture of various art forms to create a diverse and inclusive platform for artistic expression.
Team Publishes Study on Use of Infrared Thermography in Treating Dogs
ichard Bastian, Ph.D., senior lecturer in the Department of Mathematics, and alumnae Veronica Marquez ’22, Hollyn Probasco ’23, and Emma Desantis ’23 co-published an article in the Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research.
Marquez, Probasco, and Desantis were students while working on the study, “Infrared Thermography as a Diagnostic Tool to Detect Cranial Cruciate Ligament Deficiency in Dogs,” and, along with Bastian, co-wrote the article with members of the Red Bank Veterinary Hospital Department of Surgery.
The article questions the utility of infrared thermography to diagnose Cranial Cruciate Ligament (CCL) disease, which is the leading cause of canine lameness. Over an eight-month period, the authors focused on a large population of Red Bank Veterinary Hospital client-owned dogs that were investigated for correlations between the ability of thermography to diagnose CCL deficiency and recorded explanatory factors.
As a first-generation Mexican American and college graduate, Marquez participated in the University’s First to Fly program. She is currently employed by Wells Fargo Bank as a control management specialist and pursuing her master’s degree in data science at Stevens Institute of Technology.
Probasco is currently working for Cumberland Mutual Insurance Group in the product and pricing department, while Desantis is employed by the Red Bank Veterinary Hospital as a veterinary assistant.
Graduate Student’s Work Published by the UN
ocial work graduate student Sophia Caporusso ’23, ’24M co-authored two statements that were accepted and published by the United Nations, alongside associate professors in the School of Social Work, Anne Deepak, Ph.D., and Michael Cronin, Ph.D.
The statements were submitted by the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) UN North America team to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and to the Commission for Social Development (CsocD).
Each statement was accepted by the respective commission in advance of the scheduled meetings in February and March and are now part of the public submissions of all UN-accredited, non-governmental organizations (NGO) that were also accepted.
Caporusso co-wrote both statements as an intern with the IFSW UN team. Deepak, an IFSW UN team member, served as the lead on the CsocD statement, and Cronin, Monmouth’s graduate social work program director and IFSW UN commissioner of North America, provided feedback and support throughout the process.
Additionally, Caporusso and Deepak joined the NGO, Committee for Financing for Development, and participated in two of the committee’s work groups: Social Protection and Climate Finance. Deepak co-led the Social Protection group, while both Caporusso and Deepak presented on the IFSW and the People’s Charter.
Professors Earn Excellence in Equity Awards
icole Pulliam, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Educational Counseling and Leadership and outgoing director of the Social Justice Academy, received an Excellence in Equity Award from American Consortium for Equity in Education.
Pulliam was presented with the Champion of Equity–Higher Education award in the Schools and Educators category for her work preparing new educators and promoting enhanced equity and access. In addition to her responsibilities at Monmouth, Pulliam serves on the board of the Grunin Foundation, is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of First-Generation Student Success, and served as chair of NJ American Council on Education Women’s Network through June 30, 2024.
Angello Villarreal ’19M, ’22Ed.D., who teaches Spanish at Freehold Township High School and is an adjunct professor in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, was also recognized by the American Consortium for Equity in Education with the Champion of Equity–General Education Teacher award in the K–12 category for his steadfast commitment to equity and making a difference for all students.
The Excellence in Equity awards program acknowledges and celebrates high-impact work at all levels in education. The award recipients were selected based on outstanding achievement in supporting equitable access, opportunity, and outcomes for all learners.
Keynote at National LEAD Summit Covers Impact of Marijuana Use on Youths
ouglas Collier, DEA (Ret.), adjunct professor and director of professional outreach and engagement in the Department of Criminal Justice, presented as a keynote speaker at the Law Enforcement Against Drugs and Violence (LEAD) National Leadership and Community Solutions Summit in Atlantic City.
His presentation, “The Reality of Marijuana Use During Adolescent Years … ‘It’s Just Marijuana’,” included Collier’s research on states in which marijuana has been legalized and the increase in its use among youths.
Collier also discussed the increase in health concerns for minors, the sales of edibles often targeting youths, and the increase in poisoning in children and in emergency department and hospital visits.
Prior to Monmouth, Collier worked with the Central Intelligence Agency; the Drug Enforcement Administration in its New York City, Atlantic City, Paterson, and Newark offices; and the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General in the Department of Law and Public Safety.
He additionally assisted in developing the statewide initiative Community–Law Enforcement Affirmative Relations Continuing Education Institute.
NEH Stipend Supports Professor’s Work on Forthcoming Book
ssistant Professor of History Melissa Brzycki, Ph.D., was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Stipend to support revisions on her forthcoming book, “New Children for New China, 1949–1966,” which demonstrates how the newly founded People’s Republic of China (PRC) relied on children—particularly those ages 7 to 14—as a tool of its post-war stabilization and nation-building efforts from 1949–1966. Brzycki outlines how state actors employed multiple and sometimes contradictory pedagogical tools to promote their utopian visions of childhood and youth, and explores how these ideas changed to fit the domestic and international context, as well as how children and their families interacted with these initiatives in pursuit of their own sometimes divergent interests. The NEH program aims to stimulate new research in the humanities and its publication by supporting the continuous full-time work on a humanities project by providing funds to support recipients’ compensation, travel, and other costs related to the proposed scholarly research.
Computer Science Celebrates Double Win in UPE Awards
oseph T. Furmanowski ’24, a computer science graduate, was awarded the 2023 Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE) Executive Council Award, while Kiran Ramjisingh ’23, current graduate computer science student, won the UPE Academic Achievement Award for the second time.
Furmanowski is one of four students across the country to receive the 2023 UPE Executive Council Award and is the first Monmouth University student to do so. As an Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) student member, he previously won the UPE/ACM Student Scholarship Award in November 2023.
Ramjisingh, currently enrolled in the five-year computer science program, is one of the nine worldwide UPE members to win the UPE Academic Achievement Award in 2023. This marks the second time that Ramjisingh has won this award; he was the first Monmouth student to apply for the UPE scholarship, initially winning in December 2022 as a senior undergraduate student.
UPE is the first and only existing international honor society in the computing and information disciplines, with chapters in more than 300 colleges and universities in North America and overseas.
Paper at Paris Conference Explores ‘Collectfiction’ Concept
oined by Monmouth Professor Priscilla Gac-Artigas, Ph.D., professor in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, delivered her paper, “Collectfiction and Poetry,” at the 21st Conference on New Directions in the Humanities that took place at the Sorbonne Université in Paris, France, in June. Her paper was part of the panel, “Collectfiction: Transcending the Borders of the ‘Self’ in Creation: Collective Artivism as a Transgressive Approach to Literary Creation.” In her paper, she applied the theory of collectfiction, a concept that she developed, to contemporary poetry using examples of a varied geographical pool of poets. Collectfiction refers to a term Gac-Artigas coined in 2017 to describe literary texts in which the authors propose to the readers a work of fiction that unfolds recognizable (auto)biographical, cultural, historical, and socio-political references either within the text and/or the paratexts, and, through experimentation with specific narrative, dialogic, or structural resources, the authors invite readers to engage in a proactive reading and participate creatively in the reconfiguration of the story proposed. Gac-Artigas is a Fulbright Scholar, a full member of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (ANLE), a correspondent member of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), and was was recently named cultural ambassador by the Fondation Européenne Mihai Eminescu and the Académie Internationale Mihai Eminescu after participating in the XIII Mihai Eminescu World Poetry Festival in Craiova, Romania, from June 10-15.
Appointments & Elections
- Tjeerd Boonman, Ph.D., was appointed McMullen Family Professor of Economics at Monmouth University in January. Boonman, who earned his doctorate in finance from the University of Groningen, joined Monmouth in 2019. His research focuses on international economics and finance, with collaborations involving the Kislak Real Estate Institute and the Urban Coast Institute.
- Jacky Bruno, a political science student and current chair of the Monmouth University College Republicans, was elected to be the next chairman of the New Jersey Federation of College Republicans.
- Danielle Frith, Ph.D., specialist professor in the Department of Special Education, was appointed to the National Certification for Educational Diagnosticians Board of Directors, where she will serve a three-year term.
- Nicole Pulliam, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Educational Counseling and Leadership and director of the Social Justice Academy, was elected as chair of the New Jersey American Council on Education Women’s Network. Prior to this role, Pulliam served as vice chair/chair-elect during the 2022–2023 academic year, previously serving as programming chair and secretary.
- Richard Veit, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and professor in the Department of History and Anthropology, has been selected to serve on an advisory board established by the MonmouthNJ 250 Committee. The board will provide historical insight and direction in educating the public about Monmouth County’s rich Revolutionary history. This effort is part of the county’s commemoration of America’s Semiquincentennial (250th birthday), which will take place in 2026.
Study Finds Women Disproportionately Shouldered Burdens Imposed by COVID-19 Pandemic
isa Dinella, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Psychology, Kiameesha Evans, Dr.PH, specialist professor in the Department of Health and Physical Education, and alumnae Jordan A. Levinson ’15, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Samantha Gagnon ’23, an undergraduate psychology student at the time, co-authored a study published in the Journal of Social Issues.
The study, “Women Disproportionately Shoulder Burdens Imposed by the Global COVID-19 Pandemic,” was conducted in collaboration with the Monmouth University Polling Institute.
“Monmouth University set the stage for collaboration with scholars from all across campus, with the end goal of using science to make the world a better place … The results can be used by policy makers to support community members during times of disaster,” Dinella said.
Dinella additionally served as the primary editor of the issue and co-edited with Megan Fulcher, Ph.D., Washington and Lee University, and Erica S. Weisgram, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point.
