Fall 2009

Welcome to the Department
Last updated March 12, 2010

• Course news and updates
• Conference and Seminar info
• Department operations

Breaking News!

Check out the new History Teacher Training page for news, articles, and other materials designed to help forge more successful teachers.

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OH FREEDOM! New Liberty Hall Exhibition

February and March -- "Oh Freedom! Blacks on the Battlefront and in the Aftermath of the American Revolutionary War in New Jersey" at Liberty Hall Carriage House.  Just across Morris Avenue from the main Kean entrance.

February 25 -- Panel Discussion "African Americans in New Jersey in the Era of the American Revolution" Carriage House 2pm

March 4 -- David Hackett Fischer (Fischer is author of Washington's Crossing which won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize) Lecture on New Jersey in the American Revolution -- Carriage House 2pm.

Contact Dr. Jonathan Mercantini, jmercant@kean.edu

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Congratulations to Dr. Jay Spaulding on the publication his latest book

See the Faculty and Faculty Highlights page at left for a list of the extensive publications of the Department of History Faculty!

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Dr. Brian Regal has been
elected a Fellow of the prestigious
Linnean Society of London.

The Linnean Society of London is the world’s oldest active biological society. Founded in 1788, the Society takes its name from the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) whose botanical, zoological and library collections have been in its keeping since 1829.

visit the society's web page  http://linnean.org/

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Fall 2009 - The Department welcomes its newest resident faculty member

Dr. Xurong Kong.  A China scholar, Dr. Kong comes over from the Kean Foreign Languages Department.

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NOTE: Revised and updated BA History and BA History/Teacher Certification and Occupational Therapy  guide sheets are now available on the
BA Guide Sheet page:  See the links at the left.

There are a number of changes and new requirements that take effect Fall 2009  so
IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT ALL STUDENTS CONSULT THESE GUIDE SHEETS IMMEDIATELY!

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Department Chair Dr. Sue Gronewold and her husband, Latin America scholar Peter Winn meeting with new Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in August at her White House swearing in reception. Dr. Winn was Judge Sotomayor's mentor at Princeton.

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Congratulations to Frank Wyman who was awarded the doctorate in Modern History and Literature from Drew University in May, 2009! Dr. Wyman is currently an Adjunct Professor with the department--his specialty is disability studies.  His dissertation was awarded the Neal Riemer Prize for excellence in research and writing in the fields of political and philosophical ethics.

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Congratulations to Cynthia M. Fragale,  winner of the First Dr. Martin J. Siegel Prize for Excellence in Researching and Writing.

The award ceremony was held in the beautiful carriage house of Liberty Hall, just before the university Honors Convocation.

The award is for an original work of historical scholarship and will be awarded annually--See Professor Jonathan Mercantini for details.

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Kean History Department witnesses History at the Obama Election!

Faculty members and students  of the Department of History travelled by bus to Washington DC to be a part of the historic election of Barack Obama on January 20th.  Despite the cold temperatures and slightly chaotic nature of the  event everyone involved said it was moving experience they would not trade for the world!

See the Department News Archive for past announcements

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Course News:

New History Course Offerings!
For all other listings see the main course bulletins

Fall 2010

NOW AVAILABLE AS A GE COURSE ALONG WITH HIST1000
HIST1062 World Civilization

HIST3854 History of Pseudoscience in America, Dr. Brian Regal

HIST4323 The New Nation, Dr. Jonathan Mercantini

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Upcoming department conferences and seminars:
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See the web page: http://www.kean.edu/~evoconf/ for registration and details

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Check back for details on our next event.

Special Guest Lecture Series

Kean Jewish Studies Program/Kean Concert Artists/Department of Music
25th Anniversary Homage to the Life and Work of Paul Ben-Haim

Thursday March 26, 2009, 7pm East Campus Recital Hall
See the flyer for details
For reservations call 866-737-4438 and contact Dr. Dennis Klein at dklein@kean.edu

Check this page for upcoming events!

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Also see the new Kean-Ocean
History degree program!

Get a Kean University history degree by attending classes at the conveniently located Ocean County College campus

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Department Operations
The Department of History is located in Willis Hall Room 205

DR. SUE GRONEWOLD, Department Chair
Phone: 908-737-4254
E-mail: sgronewo@kean.edu

DR. CHRISTOPHER  BELLITTO, Assistant Chair
Phone: 908-737-4261
E-mail:  cbellitt@kean.edu


MARY WOUBNEH, Department Secretary
Phone: 908-737-4250
E-mail: mwoubneh@kean.edu

The Department of History is one of Kean University's oldest programs of study and has been a part of the instructional component of the institution since its inception in 1855.

It is the belief of the faculty of the Department that every student should meet basic standards of historical literacy before they graduate. This includes insights into cultures and problems of civilizations, the whole as well as the interaction of the parts, an understanding of human groupings countries, religions, civilizations-which have generated the emotions, symbols, and values of contemporary life, and an appreciation of complex causes of the rise and fall of societies, and the underlying realities of leadership, social class and power.

History can and should encourage a sense of proportion about life and provide us all with the relative scale of our own rather brief moment here and how incredibly valuable that really is. If done properly, history can encourage and inspire tolerance and mutual understanding and help to bring about a more just place in which to live. History can show us how to behave, or at the very least, how not to behave. It can teach us what to believe in and what to stand for. At its core, the lessons of history are lessons of appreciation. Everything we have, all of our great institutions, universities, libraries, cities, our laws, music, poetry, our technology, our freedoms and opportunities, everything is because someone went before us and did the very hard work which was needed, provided the creative genius, gave us a civic belief structure. No one can afford to ignore that.

Critical thinking, communications across cultures and gender, writing and reasoning all need historical literacy to provide them with an important societal context.

The Department of History believes that the study of history is at the heart of the interactive mission of the University and is one of its most important and vital academic assets.

 

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