Undergraduate Programs

AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES PROGRAM
Wayne Glasker, Director

The African American Studies Program had six majors as of fall 2002. Two of the six are dual majors in both African American Studies and psychology. There are twelve students with a minor in African American Studies. In May 2003 three of the majors and five of the minors are graduating. This academic year the program inaugurated a course on The Era of the Harlem Renaissance. It was taught in Winterim, with an enrollment of twenty-two students. In the Honors Convocation Sandra Foster will receive an award for academic excellence (by a major) and Traymanesha Moore will receive an award for academic excellence (by a minor). Dr. Wayne Glasker, director of the program, received an award as an EOF Champion from the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education. This academic year the program also inaugurated a course in service learning. Marco Morcos and Camillo Evans performed community service at the Leap Academy. Shallah Hart served as a teacher's assistant at the Rafael Molina School. Arnold Davis, Melissa Charles, and Nikia Taylor performed community service at Dooley House, which is a facility for fragile children with medical problems, including HIV-AIDS. Graduate student Patricia Vignola conducted research on Effa Manley and the Newark Monarchs, a baseball team that was part of the "Negro Leagues." And graduate student Roger Young conducted research on Hubert Harrison, an African American socialist in the 1920s. The research was directed by Dr. Glasker. Ewuare Osayande served as the poet-in-residence for the program in 2002-2003. Enrollments in the courses taught as part of the program remain high, and the number of majors and minors is growing.

WALT WHITMAN PROGRAM in AMERICAN STUDIES
Tyler Hoffman, Carol Singley, Alan Tarr, Directors

The number of minors in the American Studies Program remains steady, at about 4-6 per year. Within the past year, the Program instituted a new course, Introduction to American Studies, which is cross-listed with a course from another department. In Fall, 2002, the course attracted seven students. The American Studies Program supplemented its course offerings with a lecture by Professor Imani Perry of Rutgers Law School on "American Studies: Beyond Literature and History."

A student in American Studies, Tanisha Bezue, was selected as the sole student in Rutgers University to speak at the inauguration of President Richard McCormick.

Billy Foster, an American Studies minor, conducted major research on Walt Whitman in Camden, under the direction of Professor Carol Singley, and he is authoring an article based on his research in Conversations, the newsletter of the Walt Whitman Association. (For faculty research, see departmental accounts.)

Billy Foster served as an intern at the Walt Whitman House in Camden during the Spring semester. The Program continues to support the publication of the on-line Whitman Studies/American Studies journal, the Mickle Street Review.

In the coming year the American Studies Program will seek to expand its student base and create new opportunities for internships and student research.

FILM STUDIES
Allen Woll, Director

Former Rutgers Camden student Robert Pulcini began the year with a triumph at the Sundance Film Festival, winning the 2003 Jury Award for American Splendor, a docu-drama about a Cleveland based comic strip artist. Our heartiest congratulations to him.

During the past year, the Film Studies program has offered twenty-five courses in a variety of majors. The Fine Arts Department has led the way with several new courses in filmmaking, computer graphics, and animation. The boundaries between film, art, animation, and computer graphics have been erased in recent years with the advent of digital filmmaking. As a result of these innovations, students in a variety of disciplines have been experimenting with filmmaking. Three current Rutgers Camden students have submitted their animation and documentary work to a WNET/Channel 13 Program in student film in New York City. Students also began a Film Studies Club, and attended showings of the latest Hollywood films.

Additional film courses were offered or will be offered by the following departments: English, History, Foreign Languages, and Religion. New courses in screenwriting (Zeidner) and Modern French Film (Hippolyte) are currently among those planned for the next academic year.

THE HONORS COLLEGE
Allen Woll, Director

The Honors College began its sixth year of operation with a class of sixty-five new students who were recipients of Provost, Outstanding Scholar’s Recruitment Program, Bloustein and Carr Scholarships. Students came to Rutgers from South Jersey as well as from Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. They joined a total of 300 students already enrolled in the Honors College.

The honors students enjoyed a wide variety of challenging new honors seminars taught by professors of the schools of Business, Law, and Arts and Sciences. The seminars for the fall, 2002, semester included: The Native American Legacy: What happened to the people? (Omaha Boy); Love, Sex, and Relationships, (Rosen Spector); One Billion Americans? Emerging Political, Economic, and Social Trends (Shienbaum); Geometry and Numbers, (Karel).

Spring 2003 Honors Seminars included: Rome: A City and its Monuments, (Verbrugghe); Psychology and Consciousness, (Whitlow) Religion and Contemporary Culture, (Wall); Great Criminal Trials, (Hull); The Sociology of W.E.B. DuBois, (Hazzard-Donald); Investments & Capital Markets, (Worrall); Americans in Paris, (Hoffman); From Martha Ballard to Martha Stewart: Domestic Advice and Experience in the United States, (Rosoff); The Politics of Culture, (Coe); Growing Civil Society in a Time of Crisis, (Van Til).

Honors students enjoyed internships in a variety of settings, from Sony Music Corporation in New York City, to NFL Films, Cooper Hospital, accounting and business firms, Commerce Bank, and the Project LEAP Charter School Program. Many students participated in the Arts and Sciences internship program run by The Career Center. Others participated in the Business Internship Program through the School of Business. For many students, internship experience will introduce them to the workplace of the 21st century.

The Honors students created a number of community service programs that included volunteer tutoring for the LEAP students, a monthly meal preparation for the children at the Ronald McDonald House, and one student created an SAT Preparation Program for the Camden City School District.

The Honors College sponsored a variety of on and off-campus activities throughout the 2002-2003 academic year:

August–Honors College Orientation. Incoming freshmen met with upperclassmen, and Dean Margaret Marsh welcomed the new students. The students attended a luncheon and toured the campus.

September – Students enjoyed workshops designed to help them succeed in college and beyond. Robert Russo of Campus Health Services presented a Stress Management Workshop designed to help students balance their work. Cheryl Hallman of the Career Center presented a workshop on applying to graduate school.

October – Brett Fauver of the Holly City Reparatory Company in Millville spoke to students about the challenges of starting a new cultural institution as part of urban revival, and also spoke on how to interpret and critique a theatrical performance.

November – Our CEO Lecture series continued as students met Lyn Kremer, Publisher, Philadelphia Business Journal, who discussed her career path and how to succeed.

The Honors College co-sponsored an “International Studies Luncheon” in conjunction with the New Brunswick Study Abroad Office and the Rutgers-Camden office of International Studies, designed to provide honors students with information about the opportunities for study throughout the world. Melanie Andrich and Tim Martin explained the programs, distributed information, and answered student questions.

Students also traveled to the Arden Theater in Philadelphia to enjoy a production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons.

February – The month was very busy for the Honors College. Students enjoyed a tour of the Art Museum of Philadelphia. We hosted several workshops including an Academic Skills and Stress Workshop presented by Robert Russo of Campus Health Services; Tom Pignone of the Learning Resource Center presented a workshop entitled “How to College: Learning Strategies for Successful Students”.

The CEO Lecture Series continued with Dean Pappas from Clement Pappas Company.

March – Students enjoyed the Oscar nominated film The Pianist. Cheryl Hallman of the Career Center hosted a workshop on obtaining internships.

April – Students viewed Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at the Arden Theater. The annual final dinners were a success; the senior class enjoyed a wonderful dinner held at Lamberti’s Restaurant in Cherry Hill.

The Honors College also co-hosted a luncheon with the Office of Admissions for Carr Scholars to celebrate their achievements.

The Honors Student Organization (HSO) had a busy year as well. President Amy Sampson led the group to expand their efforts, concentrating on new trips and community service. The HSO led trips to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Penn River Rink at Penn’s Landing, and charity work at the Ronald McDonald House in Camden. They maintained an active campus presence by once again holding the annual Costume Ball in October, and they organized a banquet in March to celebrate Women’s History Month. Guest speakers included: Dean Margaret Marsh, Professor Laurie Bernstein, Professor Charlotte Markey, Dr. Deborah Bowles of Admissions, and Dean Nancy Rosoff. Former Honors Student Organization President Jennie Murabito presented her paper on “Managing Student Honors Organizations” at the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference in October.

The Honors Advisory Board was also busy this year. Under the leadership of John Clancy, they sponsored created an essay contest for the seventh grade classes at the LEAP Academy, offering the winners prizes including Rutgers merchandise. The Advisory Board invited Professor William Tucker to speak about his new publication The Funding of Scientific Racism: Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund. In addition, the group hosted an advising luncheon each semester to provide freshmen and sophomores with insights about majors, courses, and minors.

As the semester ended, planning began for the new freshman class of honors students. Seventy new students have been admitted to the program, and will be arriving when school opens in the fall.

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
Timothy Martin, Director

Timothy Martin, Director

This year the International Studies program sponsored nine study tours in association with the Departments of Criminal Justice, English, Fine Arts, Mathematics, Nursing, Urban Studies, and Liberal Studies (in the College of Arts and Sciences) and with the Departments of Management and Marketing (in the School of Business). The study tours were as follows:

Literary Ireland (English, Liberal Studies)
England: Town and Country (English, Liberal Studies)
Germany and Amsterdam through the Lens (Fine Arts)
South Africa and Namibia (Management, Marketing, Criminal Justice)
Mathematics in Ancient Greece (Mathematics, Liberal Studies)
Saint Petersburg and Moscow: History, Culture, Society (Urban Studies,
Liberal Studies)
Health and Wellness in Sweden (Nursing)
Havana: Its People, Culture, and History (Urban Studies, Liberal Studies)
Youth as Resources in Northern Ireland (Urban Studies)

Of these nine study tours, only the Nursing course failed to draw sufficient enrollment and had to be cancelled. 102 students were formally enrolled for credit in the remaining eight study tours, and numerous friends, parents, significant others, and alumni joined these students for the actual travel experience.

In 2002-03, the program was able to provide increased financial aid to students participating in these trips, especially because the Associate Provost, Felix James, earmarked funds for multicultural initiatives on campus available to our students. With the resources provided through the Associate Provost, the Honors College, the supplemental budget provided by the Office of the Dean, and contributions by alumni and those non-students who are invited to join our tours, some twenty-five students received financial aid ranging from $200-600. Additionally, five faculty members who took the study tour above their regular teaching load qualified for stipends from the program's supplemental budget (Drs. Bonilla-Santiago, Meyer, Martin, Cornelia, and Hohing).

While this past year must be regarded as a highly successful one, with eight tours to diverse and historically rich venues, there are some signs of inertia. Alumni giving has certainly peaked, with the same names appearing on the donor lists each year (and some attrition in those names). Somewhat more urgently, the same stalwart departments (English, Fine Arts, Business, and Urban Studies) and faculty members (Drs. Cornelia, Van Til, Lang, and Martin) continue to provide the backbone of the program.

However, there are many reasons to feel encouraged about the future of International Studies on campus. First, the program continues to provide an important element in the curriculum of Honors College students on campus. Second, the increasing emphasis on global awareness in our new college curriculum and at Rutgers generally should make our program increasingly attractive to both students and faculty. Third, the program is developing a new recommended course structure (it will be one of three) that, with the approval of the dean, will enable faculty members to count the International Studies course as part of their regular teaching load. And fourth, the movement toward greater independence for our Development Office in Arts and Sciences offers the prospect of more dedicated fundraising for our campus and our program.

LIBERAL STUDIES
Carol J. Singley, Director

The program enrolls approximately 25 students and enjoys modest growth. Students pursue their studies part time and full time, as day and as evening students. The core curriculum, which consists of two courses, Mastering the Liberal Arts I and Mastering the Liberal Arts II, is ably served by Maryann Lovelace, who teaches one course per semester. Ms. Lovelace’s teaching strengths are widely known; she was nominated this year for a PTL teaching award. Students complete the major with courses from CAS, although finding enough upper-level science courses in the evening continues to be a challenge.

Several programs complement the curriculum, including a fall orientation and “Liberal Studies Suppers,” where faculty present their research and hold discussions with students. These programs create a sense of community and provide opportunities for students to meet and collaborate with one another. Student highlights include the selection of Frank Mahoney as representative to the dean’s student advisory council.

Recruiting and advertising continue to be a priority for the program director. The program sustains its level of growth through the director’s visits to community colleges; calls to coordinators of A.A.S. degree programs; ads in local papers and newsletters; and frequent contacts with the admissions office. (For faculty research, see departmental account.) Students reporting satisfaction with the program also help to recruit students by word of mouth.

In the next year, the Undergraduate Liberal Studies program will continue to seek growth.

TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM
Donald Rainey, Director

As of this date, there are 320 students actively enrolled in the Program. Of these, 24% are males and 76% are females. With reference to the certification being sought, 164 students are seeking elementary certification and 156 are seeking N-12 subject matter certification, which is also commonly referred to as secondary certification. A breakdown of the majors in which the larger numbers of our students are enrolled is as follows: English-58; History-41; Psychology 71; Sociology-17. There are 76 post-baccalaureate students in the program.

The number of students involved with student teaching has increased dramatically in recent semesters. During the Fall 2002 semester we had thirty-one student teachers. For the current semester we have forty-seven students completing student teaching. For the fall semester there are fifty-nine student teachers, and sixty students have applied for the Spring 2004 semester.

The availability of cooperating teachers is of lingering concern regarding the placements of student teachers. Non-tenured teachers should not serve as cooperating teachers, nor should a cooperating teacher have a student teacher in successive academic years. This limits the pool of available teachers and this situation is being further exacerbated by the increasing number of teachers who are reaching retirement. By expanding our reach into new districts and by sending placement requests early we have, however, currently been able to address the problem.

We have worked closely with the Camden Board of Education Central Office to place 25 students in various elementary schools in Camden under the auspices of the America Reads Practicum. Two student teachers are currently teaching in Camden Schools. A similar number of placements in Camden are anticipated for the fall, 2003 semester.

Ms. Monica D'Antonio, (GPA 4.00, English), was nominated for the Nancy Higginson Door Award as the outstanding secondary certification student. Ms. Heather Partridge, (GPA 3.933, Psychology), was nominated as the recipient of the "Distinguished Elementary School Candidate." The induction of 63 new members of Kappa Delta Pi, National Honor Society in Education was held on February 26, 2003, under the guidance of Dr. Thomas J. Venables, the counselor of our local chapter. Students must have a GPA of 3.2 to qualify for membership. Mr. James Bathurst, Superintendent of the Collingswood School District, was the keynote speaker for the induction ceremony.

WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM
Laurie Bernstein, Director

Ongoing activities
To facilitate communication with Women’s Studies faculty, Women’s Studies sent out weekly email messages that solicited participation in various activities; notified Women’s Studies faculty associates of grant, conference and publication opportunities; and kept Women’s Studies
faculty abreast of all campus activities of possible interest. The Women’s Studies web page was kept current, with ongoing postings of course offerings, events, and faculty advisers.
The URL is: http://www.camden.rutgers.edu/Camden/WS/index.html

Student accomplishments
Three students of four graduating minors completed senior theses for their Women’s Studies minor during the academic year. During the fall, Kathleen Ashton in Nursing and the Women’s Studies program director met regularly with the one student who was completing her minor in time for December graduation. During the spring, three students met with the Women’s Studies program director on a regular basis and periodically with their outside advisors (Charlotte Markey, Sheila Cosminsky, Michelle Meloy, Jon’a Meyer, and Wayne Glasker) All of the students who finished their senior theses presented the results of their work to faculty and students at a special event at the end of each semester.

Student theses:

1. April Andrews completed a thesis on the images of African-American women in Ebony magazine;
   
2. Melanie Boggi wrote about the FDA decision to remove the contraceptive Norplant from the market;
   
3. Lisa Guarneri’s senior thesis analyzed changing standards of heterosexual male desire as exemplified in Playboy magazine since its introduction of “Playmates of the Year”

Faculty participation
At present, there are 43 faculty advisers for the Women’s Studies program representing the following
departments and programs: Psychology; Chemistry; Nursing; Fine Arts; History; English; Philosophy
and Religion; Economics; Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice; Political Science; Nursing;
Mathematics; Foreign Languages; Business; Teacher Preparation and Education; Computer Science;
Biology; and Urban Studies. There are also advisers from the Law School and the Paul Robeson
Library.

Special events
November 13, 2002: On behalf of Women’s Studies, Program Director Laurie Bernstein spoke during the free hour to the Philosophy Society on “The Gendered Citizen”

November 24, 2002: With the Women Students Organization, the Women’s Studies program participated in a well-attended dramatic reading of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues” in the Black Box of the Walter Gordon Theatre

December 4, 2002: Charlotte Markey, a new member of the Department of Psychology, delivered a brown-bag lunchtime talk entitled “Do Romantic Relationships Influence Health? Links between Women’s Marital Quality and Dieting Behaviors”

December 5, 2002: Women’s Studies co-sponsored a lunch buffet and lecture by Professor Sally Roesch-Wagner on the suffragist Matilda Gage.

March 30, 2003: The Women Students Organization reprised “The Vagina Monologues,” this time in the Walter Gordon Theatre itself

Women’s History Month 2003
A committee formed early in the academic year, comprising Nancy Rosoff, Allison Emery, Charlotte Markey, and Laurie Bernstein, planned this year’s Women’s History Month. Events included female singer-songwriters at Starbucks Café, a Health Fair for female students sponsored by the Black Student Union, a women’s comedy show, a night of women’s bands, a visit from Dr. Monica McGoldrick of the Multicultural Family Institute in New Jersey, and a poetry reading by Nikki Giovanni. The Women’s Studies Program organized and sponsored (or co-sponsored) the following special activities and talks:

March 4 and 5: Charlotte Markey of the Department of Psychology and Robert Russo of Health Services put together an exhibition in the Octagon Room on women’s self-images, entitled “From Barbie Dolls to Britney Spears: Women’s Experience of Media Images”

March 10: Professor Julia Ericksen of the Department of Sociology at Temple University visited campus to talk about her book, Kiss and Tell: Surveying Sex in the Twentieth Century

March 11: Carol Singley of the Department of English gave a lunchtime talk entitled “The Gendered Face of Adoption”

March 12: The Honors College held a banquet called “Women of Today/History of Tomorrow” in honor of female faculty members

March 25: Laurie Bernstein, Director of Women’s Studies, spoke during the free hour on “An American Jew in Stalinist Russia: Mary Leder’s Journey”

March 27: Stuart Charmé of the Department of Philosophy and Religion screened and discussed his documentary film, “Kotel: Jewish Teens on Gender and Tradition”

Courses taught
In Fall 2002 Introduction to Women’s Studies was taught by the program director, as was the Senior Seminar in Women’s Studies. In addition, some eleven courses were offered that fulfilled
requirements for the minor in Women’s Studies. The following departments included courses for the minor: Fine Arts, Biology, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, and Sociology.

In Spring 2003 the program director again offered the Senior Seminar in Women’s Studies, and fifteen courses fulfilled requirements for the minor. The following departments participated: Biology, Criminal Justice, English, History, The Honors College, Political Science, Philosophy, Psychology,Sociology, and Foreign Languages.

In summer 2003 Diana Reinhard, a graduate student in the Department of History of Temple
University, is offering Introduction to Women’s Studies.