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Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for your continued contributions to making Montclair State University the effective, socially aware, public-serving institution it is. It was especially affirming to hear the Middle States evaluation team reflect back what they encountered in our documents, data, and conversations with faculty, staff, and students. Based on their exit session, Montclair State meets all seven standards of accreditation. I want to extend a special thank you to all who participated in interview sessions last week.

The reviewers were impressed by the depth of our conversations and the level of commitment they witnessed across our community. They saw us as an institution deeply committed to its mission, one grounded in continuous self-reflection, vigorous debate, and forward-looking initiatives. That has certainly been my experience as well, both within CHSS and across the university. This is what makes our work together personally meaningful and collectively rewarding, and for that I am deeply grateful.

Later today, we will come together for the President’s town hall to unveil and celebrate the strategic framework developed over the past two years—work that complements our mission and commitments with a clear set of goals. I invite all of you to attend as we begin considering CHSS’s specific role and priorities in the years ahead. Our college mission has already been updated to align with the university’s mission. The university’s commitments are automatically embraced by all of us. I look forward to continuing the conversation with you about how we shape our own distinct goals.

On a related note, as the research institutes submission deadline approached last week, several of you asked for an extension and for broadening the scope to include other colleges. Thank you to those who have already submitted proposals. In response to your input, we will be issuing another announcement through Academic Affairs to ensure the institutes are truly interdisciplinary and impactful. Please stay tuned for that update.

I hope to see many of you at the town hall today at 2:00.

Best regards,

Fatma

Graça Machel

Governing Beyond Elections: Accountability, Prosperity and the American Administrative State

Date: Monday, March 23, 6 - 7:30 p.m.

Location: Presentation Hall, College of Communication and Media

The AI-Ready Campus: From Pockets of Innovation to a Coherent Institutional Strategy

Join us for a lecture with Dr. Adam Pryor exploring how colleges and universities can move beyond isolated experimentation with generative AI and develop a more strategic, institution-wide approach. Drawing on his work with the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and experience developing AI-readiness programs for institutions across the country, Dr. Pryor will introduce a three-stage framework for becoming an “AI-Ready Program.”

This lecture will provide practical insights for faculty, staff, and leaders interested in thoughtfully integrating AI while maintaining the core values of the humanities and social sciences.

Date: Wednesday, April 1, 10- 11:30 a.m.

Location: Presentation Hall, College of Communication and Media

Register to Attend

Irish Fever - A Book Talk by Dr. Meredith B. Linn

The Department of Anthropology will host Dr. Meredith B. Linn, Associate Professor, Bard Graduate Center, as she presents work related to her most recently published book, Irish Fever: An Archeology of Illness, Injury & Healing in New York City, 1845-1875. All are welcome

Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2- 3:30 p.m.

Location: Sprague Library, 1st Floor Reading Room

Beyond the Degree: Career Explorations with LBC

Several Language, Business and Culture alumni will return to campus for a panel discussion, followed by the opportunity for students to network 1-on-1 with professionals building careers where language isn't just a skill, it's their competitive edge.

Date: Wednesday, March 25, 5:30-7:40 p.m.

Location: School of Business, Room 140

Faith and Fear: Religion and Anti-Immigrant Discourse in the U.S.

Immigrant policy in the United States is increasingly shaped not only by the law, and enforcement, but by religious rhetoric which frames exclusion as moral, necessity. The Department of Religion hosts Dr. Thomas Lecaque for a lecture, examining how faith-based symbolism and Christian imagery are mobilized to, shield aggressive immigration enforcement, including the expanding justification, and visibility of ICE.

Date: Wednesday, March 25, 6 - 7:30 p.m.

Location: Zoom, Register Here

Soylent Green World: Vibrant Matter and Bare Life in End-Stage Capitalism

The violent spasms of "too-late capitalism" and nakedly destructive empire have suddenly made some of the most fundamental assumptions of socialism and environmentalism seem quaint, or even obsolete. Is a new organization of human life possible? This lecture by Adam Rzepka is part of the Green World Series.

Date: Thursday, March 26, 1- 2 p.m.

Location: Dickson Hall, Room 259

A Visit by Janet Burroway

Join the English department for a conversation with Janet Burroway, best selling author of Writing Fiction and Simone in Pieces. Burroway will visit via zoom.

Date: Monday, March 30, 3:30 -5:15 p.m.

Location: Schmitt Hall, Room 327

The Epic of Ancient Ireland

Dr. Matthieu Boyd (Fairleigh Dickinson University) will be discussing his new translation of the Irish epic Táin Bó Cúailnge, an important development in ancient and medieval Celtic Studies and the study of myth and epic. Once touted as "a window on the Iron Age," the Táin is considered an invaluable source of information on Pagan and early Christian Irish society and its literature.

Date: Wednesday, April 1 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Location: Cohen Lounge, Dickson Hall 178

Spring Interdisciplinary Showcase

Join us to celebrate innovative scholarship, creative projects, and student collaborations that exemplify the theme of Interdisciplinary Work in Action. The showcase explores how interdisciplinarity can enact meaningful changes in our social landscapes through our work, ideas, and actions, from the individual and community level to the societal and global scale.

Date: Thursday, April 2, 11- 1 p.m.

Location: School of Business, Room 140

Register to Attend

Jeffrey Gonzalez Publishes Article on 9/11 Representations in Fiction

His essay, Falling Women and Empty Skies: Returning to 9/11 in Fiction by Daniel Alarcon, Claire Vaye Watkins, and Ottessa Moshfegh, analyzes the unusual decision made by each author to feature 9/11 content on their very last page while otherwise not addressing the tragedy. The essay was published in the peer-reviewed Studies in American Fiction journal.

Teresa Fiore Co-Translates Italian Novel about Abandonment and Adoption

The book, Farewell to Russia: Memories of When I Was Kola, written by Nikolai Prestia, is part of a collaboration between the author and a mother-daughter translator duo, Teresa Fiore and Daniela Chaudhary Fiore.

Gabriel Rubin (Justice Studies) is quoted in this NorthJersey.com article about why Gen Z is consuming less alcohol than previous generations. 

Teresa Fiore (World Languages and Cultures) was interviewed on Radio In 102 about the ArcGIS project on the iconic site of Scala dei Turchi in Sicily. 

Announcements

Student-Led Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities (SL-RSCA) Program

The Office of Research is pleased to announce the launch of the FY27 Student-Led Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities (SL-RSCA) Program. Please help us distribute this information to your students and please encourage your students to apply!

Overview

The SL-RSCA program supports undergraduate and graduate student-led activities such as theses, dissertations, culminating applied projects and capstone projects in which the student has been, and will continue to be intellectually involved in the project design, execution, and dissemination of results. This program also develops RSCA leadership skills through a student committee that reviews the proposals and makes funding recommendations. Information concerning this committee will be distributed separately.

Application Deadline: April 30, 2026

Information Session: Thursday, March 19, 11:00 a.m. Register Here

Find More Information on the Program

Coursera Career Academy Sessions

Faculty are invited to join an upcoming virtual Coursera Career Academy Enablement Sessions, held online via Zoom. These sessions are designed for faculty interested in integrating Coursera content into their courses and curriculum. Registration is required for attendance.

The session will introduce Coursera Career Academy and demonstrate how you can leverage its career‑aligned learning pathways and professional certificates to enhance your courses, enrich programs, and help students build the skills needed for today’s workforce. We will also share several use‑case scenarios, followed by time for Q&A.

Please register below:

• April 20, 2:00–3:00 p.m. (Zoom - registration required)
• May 4, 2:00–3:00 p.m. (Zoom - registration required)

If you have attended a Coursera Enablement Session in the past, there is no need to attend again, but you are welcome to join if you’d like a refresher or have additional questions.

Nominate a Student for the Future Student Affairs Professionals Program

The Future Student Affairs Professionals aims to educate, mentor and engage with undergraduate students who have the potential to pursue a future career in Student Affairs. Through an application process, 20 juniors and seniors will be selected to learn more about the field of Student Affairs. Participants will have the opportunity to shadow different departments, attend conferences, join committees and meet and build relationships with current professionals in different functional areas of Student Affairs. Submit a Nomination

At Your Service

Join an AI Reading List

AJ Kelton is curating a living document of articles on AI in the humanities, social sciences, and/or pedagogy. The document is searchable and each entry includes a citation and a 150-word AI-generated synopsis, organized by topic headings.

If you’d like access to view the document, please complete this form.

Those with access receive a brief update on Fridays listing new articles added that week, including the citation and a 50-word summary.

CHSS Resource Guide

This guide is designed to support our faculty, instructors, and staff by providing quick access to the tools, policies, and information you need to carry out your work effectively. Inside, you’ll find resources on office operations, administrative processes, technology support, and campus services all in one place. Whether you’re new or a tenured colleague, this guide will help you throughout the academic year. If you have a question and cannot find the answer in this guide, or don’t know who to contact, start with the Administrative Services Team.

Stay Connected with CHSS