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Prof. Edvige Giunta, English Department, was the subject of an interview/article entitled " Edvige Giunta: Un'intellettuale siciliana in America," an conducted by Marisa Pietraperzia that appeared on 11 March 2010 on Qui Sicilia.com, an online publication of the Sicilian region.

She also was interviewed on 10 March 2010 for the radio program Taccuino Italiano heard on RAI.

Prof. Giunta is also the co-editor of a collection of essays, Teaching Italian-American Literature, Film and Popular Culture, just published from the Modern Language Association.

And finally, her memoir “The Walls of Gela” has been translated and published in an Italian edition of the series “Frammenti di Memoria” by Iacobelli. The volume, titled Padri: Racconti italoamericani (“Fathers: Italian American Stories), features, in addition to Giunta’s piece, memoirs by Ned Balbo and Carol Bonomo Albright.

Prof. Jason Tramm, an adjunct faculty member in our Music, Dance, and Theatre Department also serves the Artistic Director of New Jersey State Opera. On May 21 (8PM) and May 23 (3PM) the NJ State Opera will present the Newark Premiere of the Gershwin's great Porgy and Bess in Historic Newark Symphony Hall.

This performance will feature a world-class cast, a 55 piece orchestra, magnificent scenery and costumes, and a historic venue. Tickets are now on sale at Ticketmaster or call 800-745-3000. Students from NJCU will participate.

Prof. Donna Connolly, Music, Dance, and Theatre Department, will be one of the judges in the Newark Star-Ledger Scholarship competition for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. This is one of the most presitigous student merit scholarships in New Jersey and provides funding for college bound high school seniors.

Prof. Tan Lin, English Department, just published a new poetry collection, entitled " 7 Controlled Vocabularies and Obituary 2004. The Joy of Cooking: [AIRPORT NOVEL MUSICAL POEM PAINTING THEORY FILM PHOTO HALLUCINATION LANDSCAPE ]" (Wesleyan Press, 2010).

" 7 Controlled Vocabularies" models a generic book, a kind of field guide to the arts, wherein distinctions between various aesthetic disciplines are relaxed or dissolved and where avant-garde notions of difficulty are replaced with more relaxing and ambient formats such as yoga, disco, and meditation.

Each of the book's seven sections is devoted to a particular art form -- film, photography, painting, the novel, architecture, music, and theory -- and includes both text and found photographs as it explores the idea of what it means to be a book in an era when reading is disappearing into a diverse array of cultural products, media formats, and aesthetic practices.

Prof. Winifred McNeil and Prof. José Rodeiro, Art Department, exhibited works at the Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery in Morristown, NJ. In conjunction with the exhibition -- "New Classicism" which ran through March 3, the museum sponsored a lecture and musical performance (click here for the flier).

Prof. Ana Maria Rosado, Music, Dance and Theatre Department, Coordinator of Guitar Studies, released a solo CD on the independent site for musicians, CD Baby, entitled Salsa and other beats… with music by contemporary Latin American composers Jorge Morel, Abel Carlevaro, Leo Brouwer and Paulo Bellinati.

Prof. John Hancock, an adjunct voice instructor in our Music, Dance and Theatre Department, performed at The Bergen Performing Arts Center's "Send Our Love to Haiti" benefit concert, an event that featured leading stars from Broadway, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, and Carnegie Hall.

Prof. Mary-Ellen Campbell, Art Department, will be showing artist books and paintings created in Thailand at the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington, DC in mid-February. The exhibition is being held in conjunction with the conference “Caring Leaders Across Cultures” which celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the Fulbright Program in Thailand. Prof. Campbell was a Fulbright Scholar to Thailand for six months in 2004.

Also, beginning February 25, Prof. Campbell will be exhibiting books in Booked 7, a show at the Pierro Gallery in South Orange that runs through March 14. The opening reception was Thurs. March 4, 6-9pm.

Finally, from mid-March to mid-June, Prof. Campbell’s artist books will be displayed at the Denver International Airport in “33 Ideas,” an exhibition by artists from the Colorado Art Ranch residency program that shows how the arts are used in envisioning new solutions to issues facing the world today.

Mauro Altamuro, Art Department, was featured in a recent article in "Inside Jersey," the newsmonthly published by the Newark Star-Ledger, discussing some of his recent photographic exhibitions, his career, and his art.

Midori Yoshimoto, Art Department, guest curated an exhibition for the Arts Council of the Morris Area in Morristown, NJ. She was part of the jury panel that chose work from 37 artists from over 100 candidates. Among the artists selected were two our MFA students (one alumnus) -- Lisa Halpern and Richard Buntzen. The opening was on 19 February and was part of the Morristown Gallery Walk.

Prof. Herb Rosenberg, Art Department, exhibited his“Dialogue with an Ancient Forest,” a large-scale, multi-media installation at the University of Akron in the Emily Davis Gallery of the Myers School of Art through Saturday, February 27.

“Dialogue with an Ancient Forest” features 12 nine-foot aluminum columns, each burnished and painted to achieve the appearance of three-dimensional surfaces that reflect and refract light to create an ever-changing surface throughout the gallery. Each column is paired with music, composed by Andrew Rosenberg, son of the NJCU professor. The installation provides a meditative experience akin to being in a stand of majestic trees.

Best known as a visual innovator who creates three-dimensional illusory imagery on flat metal surfaces, Professor Rosenberg has exhibited extensively throughout the United States, England, France, Italy, Australia, Cuba, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and China. He has twice been invited to serve as juror of the Hong Kong Biennial.

“Dialogue with an Ancient Forest” has been shown on Cape Breton Island, Canada; Havana, Cuba, and Seton Hall University.

Prof. Cristina Pato, Music, Dance, and Theatre Department, won a Grammy (Best Classical Crossover Album) for her performance on Yo-Yo Ma's "Yo-Yo Ma and Friends: Songs of Joy and Peace." Congratulations! (see below for more)

Prof. Jason D. Martinek, History Department, has been awarded the Joseph R. Dunlap Fellowship from the William Morris Society to support his research on the trans-Atlantic influence of Morris's ideas on the nascent socialist movement in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. Prof. Martinek will be using the fellowship to do research this summer at The University of Connecticut's Homer Babbidge Library.

Prof. Ellen Garvey, English Department, presented a talk on Thursday, January 28, 2009 as part of Columbia University's American Studies Seminar. The talk, "New York Scissors: Abolitionists, Suffragists, and African American Activists Repurpose the City's Media" addressed the ways in which New York's growing importance as a media hub in the mid-nineteenth century prompted readers to understand and

use newspapers in new ways. New York's sizable printing industry, abundance of newspapers and easy access to them made for particularly rich source material to reuse and reinterpret.The talk was held at Columbia's Faculty House, 64 Morningside Drive (at 116th Street; click here for map).

Prof. Ana Marie Rosado, Music, Dance, and Theatre Department, performed at the Montclair Art Museum on Saturday, 30 January, as part of "La Coumbite pour Haiti," a benefit concert for Haitian Earthquake Relief sponsored by the museum and From Bach to Broadway Concert Management. The program featured performances from musicians across the area as well as a talk explaining the underlying geological reasons for the diaster.

Prof. Thomas Carlo Bo, Vocal Coach, Conductor and Composer in the Music, Dance, and Theatre Department participated in Composers Concordance this January.

The Composers Concordance presented a marathon concert entitled 'Composers Play Composers' on Sunday January 31, 2010, 6:00 PM doors, 7:00-10:00PM performance time at DROM in New York, 85 Avenue A (between 5th & 6th down in the East Village), New York, NY. 212-777-1157. Live visuals by Astrid Steiner (of luma.launisch) and media by Carmen Kordas.

This concert, in collaboration with VisionIntoArt, consisted of a 3 hour performance with 23 composers playing their own works. The marathon will have 3 sets with 2 short 10 minute breaks.

The 23 composers were: Roger Blanc, Thomas Bo, Luis Andrei Cobo, Charles Coleman, Dan Cooper, Larry Goldman, David Gotay, Patrick Grant, Franz Hackl, Don Hagar, Arthur Kampela, Alon Nechushtan, Daniel Palkowski, Milica Paranosic, Akmal Parwez, Joseph Pehrson, Gene Pritsker, Paola Prestini, Jody Redhage, Kamala Sankaram, William Schimmel, Andrew Violette, and Theodore Wiprud.

Prof. Cristina Pato, an adjunct faculty coach and accompanist in the Voice area of our Music, Dance, & Theatre Department, collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma on his album "Yo-Yo Ma and Friends: Songs of Joy and Peace," which has just been nominated for a Grammy Award (in the "Best Classical Crossover Album" category). *Update* the release won the Grammy, see above.

She can also be heard performing on "Off the Map," the new release from The Silk Road Ensemble. Prof. Pato performed with the group at the 50th Anniversary of Lincoln Center (broadcast as part of PBS' "Live from Lincoln Center" series) and at The New Republic's 2009 Barack Obama pre-inauguration celebration (here's a YouTube link of their performance of the "Star Spangled Banner").

Also, coming in February 2010, nine years after her last solo album, will be "The Galician Connection," an intimate, mature and introspective album that reaffirms her successful career as a global artist and includes collaborations with singer Rosa Cedron (ex-Luar na Lubre, Mike Oldfield), accordion player Victor Prieto and his trio, Canadian mezzo soprano Patrice Jegou, Javier Cedron’s string quartet, Carlos Beceiro’s bouzouki, and her band members Laura Amado (voice), David G. Outumuro (percussions), Xan Padron and Raquel Pato. "The Galician Connection" was recorded in New York, Madrid, Galicia and Lisbon; produced by Cristina Pato for Zouma Records the cd includes 12 works composed by Cristina Pato, Victor Prieto, Xan Padrón, Rosa Cedrón and Raquel Pato among others.

Prof. Dennis Raverty, Art Department, has published "The Self as Other: A Search for Identity in the Painting of Archibald Motley Jr.," International Review of African American Art 18 (Spring 2002):25-35.

The Mathematics Department will hold its annual Mathematics Awareness Month lecture series on April 22, 2009.

The theme of this years’ seminar is “Mathematics and Sports.” The organizing committee welcomes contributed papers from faculty and students. Members of the organizing committee are: Professors Sandra Caravella, Zhixiong Chen, Yi Ding (co-chair), Karen Ivy, Theresa C. Michnowicz (co-chair), and Beimnet Teclezghi.

Prof. Freda Robbins, Mathematics Department, has a paper entitled "A Mathematical Model of HIV Infection: Simulating established T4, T8, antibody, and RNA via specific anti-HIV responses in the presence of adaptation and tropism" forthcoming in the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology.

Professors Mark Sherman and Tim Horner, Music, Dance, and Theatre Department, and NJCU Jazz Faculty have been selected by the U.S. State Department World Tour/Jazz at Lincoln Center and the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to perform as part of the Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad Program in 2010.
Sherman and Horner's quartet was one of ten combos selected to represent the U.S. They are the second NJCU faculty-led group chosen in the past few years. In 2008/2009, NJCU jazz instructors Roseanna Vitro (voice) and Allen Farnham (piano) toured under the auspices of the State Department.
Music groups from across the United States specializing in jazz, urban/hip hop and other American roots music (blues, bluegrass, Cajun, country, gospel and zydeco) applied for the opportunity to share their music with the world to promote cross-cultural understanding, with special emphasis on countries not often visited by American musicians. International tour activities will include public concerts, master classes, lecture-demonstrations, workshops, jam sessions, and collaborations with local musicians and media outreach. During the past four seasons, 118 musicians from 31 ensembles have toured with the program, visiting 97 countries on five continents.

Professor Fran Moran, Political Science Department, presented a paper entitled "Popular Democracy and Citizen Engagement: Lessons from Springfield" at the 2009 meetings of the Northeastern Political Science Association, held in Philadelphia November 19-21.

Professors Donna Connolly, Edward Joffe, Andy Euleau, Allen Farnham, Tim Horner, Jeanne Wilson and Katherine Fink, Music Dance and Theatre Department, presented clinics at the New Jersey Music Educators Association Conference, held on 18-20 February at the Hilton East in New Brunswick. Professor Connolly's clinic, "Adolescent and High School Voice Care" addressed the observation of those factors affecting a decision to seek voice care and recommendations for prevention. Professors Andy Eulau, Allen Farnham, and Tim Horner presented clinic on "How to Build a Successful Rhythm Section"; Professors Jeanne Wilson and Katherine Fink presented one entitled "From Stress to Success: How to Succeed in College Auditions"), and Professor Ed Joffe presented on "Developing the Total Saxophone Schedule."

Professor Catherine Raissiguier, Women's and Gender Studies Department, presented a paper entitled "Blood Matters: Sarkozy's Immigration Policies and Their Gendered Impact" at the 34th Annual Meeting of the Social Science History Association, on 12-15 November in Long Beach, California

Professor Ben Jones, Art Department, is the subject of the documentary "Deliverance: The Art of Ben Jones," that was shown on Sunday 29 November at 5:30 pm as part of the African Diaspora Film Festival at the Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space (Broadway and 95th Street in NYC). The film chronicles Prof. Jones's successful show of the same name that ran at the Jersey City Museum from 18 September 2008 to 21 February 2009.

Professor Anthony Laciura, Music Dance and Theatre Department, will be featured in HBO's new series, "Boardwalk Empire." The show, set in 1920s-era Atlantic City, is produced by Martin Scorcese and co-stars Michael Pitt, Shea Whigham, Dabney Coleman, and Stephen Graham.
Here's a teaser trailer, Prof. Laciura can be seen pinning a flower on Steve Buscemi.

Professor Frederick Frey, Music Dance and Theatre Department, was a featured soloist on a new recording of the musicial "America: Land of Opportunity," the story of Alexander Graham Bell.

Professor Bruce Chadwick, English Department, has just published Lincoln for President, his third book this year (Sourcebooks, 2009).
Professor Chadwick also appeared in the documentary film, Moving Midway, the story of the relocation of a southern plantation house and an exploration of slavery. Trailer available here.

Professor Dennis Raverty, Art Department, delivered two lectures on the history of religious icons in Eastern Orthodox Christianity at St. Mary the Virgin Church in Times Square on Sunday 25 October and Sunday 8 November.

Session 1 (October 25): Origin of the Icons -- An examination of the early development of the icon within the context of late antiquity, early Christian art, and the veneration of relics and martyrs.

Session 2 (November 8): Iconoclasm and the Triumph of Tradition -- Iconocalsts ("image smashers") during the eighth and ninth centurie threatened the very existence of icons, and in response to this crisis an orthodox theology was formulated. A later stylistic crisis resulted in the decline of the tradition in the seventeenth century, but the second half of the twentieth century witnessed a veritable renaissance of the tradition.

Robert Thurston, Coordinator of Supplemental Instruction for the Opportunity Scholarship Program had a short story published in Classic Battletech: 25 Years of Art and Fiction (Catalyst Game Labs, 2009). The challenge of the book was to write a short story appropriate to an illustration assigned by the editors.
Another story, "Zeroing In," which was originally published on the Battlecorps website, has been included in an anthology, The Corps (InMediaRes Pubishing, 2008).

Professor Bruce Chadwick, English Department, has published Triumvirate, the story behind the story of the ratification of the US Constitution (Sourcebooks) and I am Murdered, a true murder mystery (Wiley and Sons). His Abraham Lincoln for President will be available in December 2009.
Professor Chadwick also appeared as a guest scholar on the National Geographic Channel's "The Real George Washington" and was guest on C-Span's "Q & A."

NJCU has officially become one of three statewide language proficiency centers approved by ACTFL, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. This allows us to facilitate the Oral Proficiency Exam (OPI) and the Written Proficiency Test (WPT) in English, Spanish, and other languages for students in the northern part of New Jersey. Both exams are required by the state for teacher certification.

Professor Ellen Garvey, English Department, has been on leave for the past two years. She was on a National Humanities Center fellowship in North Carolina, and on a National Endowment for the Humanities grant finishing her book on 19th century American newspaper readers and the scrapbooks they made.

Professor Ed Joffe, Music Dance and Theatre Department, compiled and edited flutist Thomas Nyfender's Beyond the Notes: Musical Thoughts and Analyses. The book was presented at the August 2009 meetings of the National Flute Association Convention in NYC.

In May 2009, Professor Joffe was the saxophone soloist in the New York City Ballet's performance of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet broadcast on PBS's "Live from Lincoln Center."

Professor Dick Lownethal, Music, Dance and Theatre Department conducted the Glenn Miller Orchestra on a Trans Atlantic Cruise.

Professor Ann Wallace, English Department, is a school Founder, as well as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the recently chartered Ethical Community Charter School of Jersey City. The school officially opened on September 1 with 120 students (60 kindergarteners and 60 first graders) and will add a grade each year, keeping pace with its oldest children.

Professor Yvette Louis, English Department, was selected to participate in the first Ms. Magazine Writers Workshop for Feminist Scholars. As an initiative of the Ms. Academic Project, the workshop brought together fourteen feminist scholars from across the country to learn the nuts-and-bolts of activist magazine writing and publishing. The objective of the workshop was to develop a cadre of feminist scholars capable of translating scholarly research into articles written for the general public. The workshop consisted of five webinars spanning January through March of 2009 and culminating in a workshop held in Washington, DC in April 2009.

Professor John Grew, Biology Department, Professor Ken Yamaguchi, Chemistry Department, Professor Bill Montgomery, Geoscience and Geography Department, and Professor Alberto Pinkás, Physics Department, received a 2 year CCRAA Individual Grant for Hispanic Serving Institutions from the US Department of Education. A CCRAA Cooperative Grant, written in the University's Office of Grants and Sponsored Programs, was also funded. These two grants will allow for the renovation of three teaching laboratories in the Science Building and equipment purchases.

NJCU Geoscience faculty assisted the NJCU Office of Grants and Sponsored Programs in the procurement of almost $2.2 million in external funding for the University from the US Department of Agriculture and the National Science Foundation.

Professor Cindy Arrigo, Biology Department, received a second year of research support from the American Society for Cell Biology for a collaborative research study with Princeton University focused on the exceptional transfer of DNA among cells.

Professor Louise Stanton, Political Science Department, published her first book, The Civilian-Military Divide: Obstacles to the Integration of Intelligence in the United States (Praeger Security International).

Professor Ana Maria Rosado, Music Dance and Theatre Department, had two articles published this spring in major international guitar magazines. "Latin American Rhythms and Modern Guitar Music: An Historical View" appeared in Soundboard (vol. XXXV, no. 2), the quarterly of the Guitar Foundation of America, and an interview with French composer and guitarist Roland Dyens was printed in June in Classical Guitar, a monthly review published in the United Kingdom.

Professor Charles Lynch, English Department, DeLana Dameron, and Nehassaiu deGannes (Cave Canem Fellows) read their poetry at the Word for Word Series, Bryant Park Reading Room (Sixth Avenue, between 40th and 42nd Streets, Manhattan) on Friday, 11 September 2009.

Professors Annette LeSiege (music), Music, Dance and Theatre Department, and John Debrizzi (poems), Sociology Department, published Fleeting Moments. The first public performance of the piece was April 2009 as part of the University's "Concert of Music by Women Composers" program.
Prof. Debrizzi also published a novel, America (Outskirts Press, July 2009) that he completed during his recent sabbatical leave.

Marcin Ramocki, Media Arts Department, produced and directed About Brooklyn DIY (trailer available here). The film examines the creative renaissance in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Significant screenings include:

World Premiere - MoMA, NYC, 25 February 2009

Latin American Premiere - El Parqueadero, Bogota 30 May 2009

European Premiere - Art Boom Fesival, Krakow, 12 June 2009.

Professor Audrey Fisch, English Department, authored Frankenstein, the fifth title so far in Helm Information's Icons of Modern Culture series (Helm Information, 2009). More information is available here.

Professor Thomas Liu, Computer Science Department, was selected to serve as a Computer Science AP reader and participate in the annual Reading and Scoring of the College Board's AP Examinations. Dr. Liu was also one of the NSF-sponsored attendees to attend the TeachScheme Workshop in August at the University of Utah at Salt Lake City, Utah.

Professor Hugo Bastidas, Art Department, was elected a member of the National Academy, one of the highest honors in American Arts and Letters. This year nine American artists and architects were honored with membership.	Prof. Bastidas and Prof. Sara Gil-Ramos
Professor Bastidas has representative work on view at the National Academy's Museum, located on Fifth Avenue in NYC and home to one of the largest and most prestigious collections of American art in the world.

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