Welcome to the Department

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

Breaking News!
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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!

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Course News:

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

Spring 2009

HIST3329 History of Religion in America, C. Brid Nicholson, PhD.

HIST3845 Witchcraft and the Western Tradition, Elizabeth Hyde, PhD.

HIST 4876 Human Evolution and Modern Society, Brian Regal, PhD.

Summer Session I 2009

HIST 2304 US II, Brian Regal, PhD.

HIST 3110 Greek Civilization, Prof. Zahler (Kean@Ocean)

HIST 4234 Revolutionary and Soviet Russia, Staff (Kean@Ocean)

HIST 4320 Pirates in the Atlantic World, Jonathan Mercantini, PhD.

Summer Session II 2009

HIST 4237 Europe since 1870, Prof. Siracusa (Kean@Ocean)

HIST 4368 Civil War/Reconstruction, Dr. Frank Wetta (Kean@Ocean)

For the first time during the summer!
HIST 4990 Senior Seminar, Dr. Sue Gronewold (11am tentative)

HIST 4990 Senior Seminar, Dr. Frank Esposito (8:30 am tentative)

Fall 2009

HIST 2050 Social and Cultural History of Health and Disease: Introduction to the History of Medicine, Brian Regal, PhD.

HIST xxxx The American People in Depression and War: 1929-1945, (tentative) Dr. Robert Mayer

HIST 4140 The Trojan War, Christopher Bellitto, PhD.

HIST 4236 The History of Alchemy and the Origins of Modern Science, Brian Regal, PhD.

HIST 4320 Pirates in the Atlantic World, Jonathan Mercantini, PhD.

Check back for more details or see the listed instructor

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Upcoming department conferences and seminars:
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Historical Perspectives and Public Policy:

Are History Lessons Useful?

This one-day conference, scheduled for Friday, April 3, 2009, will explore major policy decisions which, for good or for ill, were informed by historical precedence, including policies influencing the course of the American revolution; U.S. reactions to genocide; the resurgence of the Pacific rim; and U.S. debates over immigration, terrorism, and Middle East geopolitics.

The conference, which will take place on the Liberty Hall campus of Kean University, will feature keynoters, breakout sessions led my university history faculty, and a student panel organized by the Kean University Historical Society.

Conference papers will be considered for publication on the university Ebook web site.

This conference is made possible in part by a university QFI award with additional support provided by the Department of History and the Jewish Studies Program.

For more information contact Dr. Dennis B. Klein, dklein@kean.edu.

The Conditions and Conceptions of Peace

2008-09 Faculty Seminar on Comparative Cultures/Kean University

On the occasion of the Seminar’s 10^th year and the university’s Human Rights Institute’s 1^st year

During the first year of Kean University’s Human Rights Institute, the Faculty Seminar is launching a year-long study of the conditions and conceptions of peace.

For details see the History Department Seminar Page.

For more information contact Dr. Dennis B. Klein, dklein@kean.edu.

Special Guest Lecture Series

Historical Perspectives and Public Policy:
How Old Rules Fare in a New World Order

April 2-3, 2009

Policymakers often consult the past to inform or justify their political decisions. This conference will bring together historians and shapers of public policy to illuminate the historical lessons that have influenced great political decisions and perhaps the most important lesson of all – when it is prudent to avoid them.

For details see the flyer and department special guest lecture series page and contact
Dr. Dennis Klein, dklein@kean.edu

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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
Website: http://www.kean.edu/~cbellitt

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.