Summer Magazine 2013 by Ramapo College

FACULTY NEWS

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PROFESSOR ROSETTA D’ANGELO AND TWO STUDENTS PRESENTED AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN FRANCE

PROFESSOR PAUL ELOVITZ GETS CHAPTER PUBLISHED IN MAJOR PUBLICATION

Professor of Italian Rosetta D’Angelo traveled to Strasbourg, France, with two students who graduated in May for an international conference from May 30 to June 4. Ashley Intveld ’13, a double major in literature and communications with an emphasis on journalism, and Logan Brown ’13, a literature major, received a Foundation Grant from Ramapo for the trip. They were elected to participate in the roundtable ‘Lost in Translation’ which focused on their research and interpretation of Dante’s work. Professor D’Angelo presented her co-translated and co-edited version of Umberto Piersanti’s novel Olimpio, titled Mount Olympus. The roundtable aimed to explore the teaching of contemporary, translated Italian literature by focusing on opportunities of attracting wider student audiences in courses of European or world literature, introducing current cultural, historical, and social issues in Italy and establishing links to European and world literary traditions through specific texts. Intveld and Brown were two of the four total students participating in the conference, which consisted of at least 400 individuals. They had to write a proposal, apply for a grant and apply to the chair of the conference in order to be accepted. In their Dante’s Studies class, they read the translated version of Dante’s Divine Comedy. They used their experience and research to prove that the meaning within literary texts is not lost when translated, but it is culturally misunderstood. “It was extremely prestigious for two undergrads to be able to be exposed to this,” D’Angelo said. “They learned a lot, and it was a huge honor.”

LITERATURE PROFESSOR HAS ESSAY PUBLISHED Professor Ed Shannon recently had his essay “Art and Commerce in the Classroom: Teaching an American Studies Course in Comics” published in Critical Approaches to Teaching Graphic Novels. Shannon has had multiple essays published in a variety of publications over the years, with much of his work focusing on pop culture and comics. Shannon also recently started teaching a new course on comics titled Professor of Literature Edward Shannon The Graphic Narrative. The literature course focuses on American graphics narratives for the first half of the semester and international ones during the second half. Many of Shannon’s teaching methods from class are described in his essay. “We treat comics as historical artifacts, art, and material culture in the classroom,” Shannon said. He often utilizes psychological, economic, or other perspectives in his literature courses and American studies courses. These perspectives allow students to take popular texts like comics seriously and often leads them to insights they might find surprising. Shannon is currently working on several new essays intended for publication. He received a grant from the college to work with a student to revise an essay this summer on Winsor McCay (c. 1867– 1934), an early genius of the newspaper comic strip and a pioneer of the animated film.

Ramapo College Magazine Summer 2013

Associate Professor of History, Psychohistory and Interdisciplinary Studies Paul Elovitz

Associate Professor of History, Psychohistory and Interdisciplinary Studies Paul Elovitz will have his chapter “The Successes and Obstacles to the Interdisciplinary Marriage of Psychology and History” included in Psychology and History: Interdisciplinary Explorations, a book being published by the Cambridge University Press and scheduled for release in early 2014.

“The article focuses on an exciting new field, which uses psychology, especially depth psychology, to better understand humans historically and individuals in groups,” Elovitz explained. He was chosen to give the keynote address, “The History of Modern Psychohistory and the 21st Century Prospects for the Field,” at the International Psychohistorical Conference. The event took place at New York University on June 5 and was host to approximately 120 people. “Giving the keynote address is a quite an honor since there have been so many distinguished people who have addressed the conference in the past,” he reported. At NYU, he was honored at a luncheon celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Psychohistory Forum, which he established and directs. Elovitz is the editor of Clio’s Psyche, one of the leading quarterly journals in the field. Recently, Elovitz also published the article, “Varieties of Empathy,” introducing fourteen other articles on the subject, to provide greater insight on the topic. The article was featured in the June issue of Clio’s Psyche.

PROFESSOR MITCH KAHN WINS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Professor of Social Work Mitch Kahn

Professor of Social Work Mitch Kahn, recently retired from Ramapo College on June 30, was presented with the NJ National Association of Social Workers 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award on May 6 at the NASW Annual Convention. The event took place at the Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. Hundreds of people attended the workshops, awards ceremony, and awards banquet.

Kahn was one of the founding faculty members of the College and the social work program, which was implemented in the 1970s. Since its inclusion in the school’s curriculum, the social work major has been re-accredited four times. “We have one of the best programs in the region, if not the country,” Kahn said. “Close to 1,000 students have graduated from the program, with more than three quarters of them going on to graduate school. Many ended up becoming agency directors.” In addition to his teaching work, Kahn was one of the founding board members of NJ Citizen Action, the largest consumer advocacy group in New Jersey. He is also the vice president and director of organizing for the NJ Tenants Association. Kahn has helped organize over 500 local tenant organizations in the state affiliated with the NJTO. In addition, he is the executive director of the Bergen County Housing Association, which has provided housing counseling to more than 61,000 households since 1979. Kahn is also known as one of the key experts on rent control laws in New Jersey.

RAMAPO PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR AND BROTHER HOST ART HEIST SCREENING AND LECTURE Last semester in February, Professor of Psychology Robert Becklen hosted an event in which “The Big Sting” documentary was screened to a crowd of about 50 Ramapo students, faculty members and community members. His brother, Rickard, led a discussion and Q&A session. Rickard works as the chief Rickard Becklen and Professor of conservator of paintings at the National Psychology Robert Becklen museum in Stockholm, Sweden and personally participated as the authenticator for the museum where the famous artwork was stolen. The documentary focused on one of the biggest and most dramatic art heists in recent history, which featured the theft of a Rembrandt gold-on-copper self-portrait dating back to 1630 and worth $40 million from Stockholm’s National museum. “My job was to authenticate the paintings to make sure we got the right ones back especially since they were retrieved without their original frames,” explained Rickard. Luckily, the paintings proved to be the originals and were brought back to the museum just in time for the opening of a new gallery. Its surprise unveiling resulted in celebration and applause. “It was a well-attended event that was both educational and a lot of fun,” said Robert. “I was very encouraged by the interest level of the audience and the great questions they all had.”

PROFESSOR JULIE FITZGERALD NAMED 2012 NJ MARCH OF DIMES PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE OF THE YEAR Professor of Nursing Julie Fitzgerald was presented with the 2012 NJ March of Dimes Public Health Nurse of the Year award on January 31 in Eatontown, NJ. Her work has primarily focused on maternal child health and pediatrics. Eleven years ago, she started Professor of Nursing Julie Fitzgerald working at the Hudson Perinatal Consortium in Jersey City as an educator /consultant. The organization merged with two other child health care organizations to create the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey.

(Center-standing): Assistant Professor of Teacher Education (Special Education) Julie Norflus-Good with Ramapo students at the Exceptional Children’s Conference in March

PROFESSOR JULIE NORFLUS-GOOD RECEIVES MULTIPLE HONORS Assistant Professor of Teacher Education and Special Education Julie Norflus-Good was recently elected as the Vice President for New Jersey Council for Exceptional Children. Earlier in the year, she was also asked to remain as the Special Education Liaison for the Association of Math Teachers for New Jersey. Dr. Norflus-Good has also had the honor of attending many prestigious, select meetings and conferences, including being an invited member to the New Jersey Department of Education Special Education Stakeholders meeting. She also chaired the New Jersey Council for Exceptional Children’s Spring 2013 Conference, “Using Literature to Reduce Bullying in Your Inclusion Classroom,” which was held at Ramapo College on March 30. She also presented at several other Ramapo College conferences, including “Creating a Climate of Acceptance in the Classroom,” which was hosted by Ramapo College’s School of Social Science and Human Services Child Development Institute Conference on Stopping Violence with Assistant Professor of Teacher Education Anne DeGroot. In addition, Julie Norflus-Good presented “The Nuances of Special Education” at Ramapo.

NIZA FABRE WINS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD FOR SCHOLARLY CONTRIBUTION

“I’m currently working on a program for the March of Dimes called ‘Taking Care of Moms,’” said Fitzgerald. The majority of Fitzgerald’s work and time is dedicated to performing risk assessments, educating mothers regarding healthy lifestyles, reducing stress, and providing education related to the impact of smoking, nutrition, and drug and alcohol use during pregnancy. Many of the women have underlying medical conditions during pregnancy including diabetes and hypertension. She educates these women about how to improve outcomes for both themselves and their infants through nutrition, exercise, and stress reduction. In addition, the importance of preconception care and pregnancy spacing is discussed. Previous to this program, Dr. Fitzgerald worked on other health initiatives and grants, such as newborn hearing screenings, postpartum depression education, and screenings and breast cancer support programs. “Preterm birth continues to be a major problem in the U.S., often for women without medical care who are unaware of the many health risks or the signs of preterm labor,” Fitzgerald added. “Our main goal is to have better outcomes with nutrition, reduction of risk factors, and patient education.”

Associate Professor of Spanish Niza Fabre received the Henry Shaw Award for Outstanding Scholarly Contributions form the African American Culture section of the Popular Culture Association Conference, which was held from March 27–30 in Washington, D.C. The African American Culture section is one of the oldest areas with both a national reputation and national recognition. The award is given annually to the recipient who has made significant and noteworthy scholarly and service contributions to the African American Culture Area of the Popular Culture Association.

Associate Professor of Spanish Niza Fabre

Professor Fabre’s most recent work was on African traditional religion in the new world, which opened up new doors for the way that cross-cultural models are analyzed. Her work has inspired countless, important intellectual exchanges. Her service to the association was exemplified through her leadership in the numerous panels that she acted as chair for.