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Dear Colleagues,

Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed deep connections, restorative conversations, and some quiet time. I look forward to seeing all of you at Commencement tomorrow, and through the semester as we embark on our important work together, reimagining CHSS of the future and building it together.

I want to reiterate a vital point of our previous conversations: We are not undertaking this work from a place of deficiency or an urgency born out of panic. Rather, we lead from a sense of unique agency. We recognize that the humanities and social sciences are core to education. When we evolve, the changes reverberate in every facet of the university.

During our CHSS leadership meeting on December 15th 2025, we invited everyone to share three successes and accomplishments from their unit in the Fall 2025. The exercise was informative, uplifting, and reminded us all of the passion of our faculty and staff, their commitment and creativity, and the joy that the impact they make everyday brings them.

We decided to share with all of you highlights of what was shared over the next few weeks. 

Congratulations to all. I look forward to sharing more next week.

Fatma

Political Science and Law

Contributed by the Chair, Professor Brigid Harrison

• Political Science and Law welcomed our largest incoming class of Political Science, Jurisprudence, Law and Society, and Policy Studies majors numbering more than 100 students, including, for the first time a small majority of whom are Jurisprudence majors.

• Zsolt Nyiri is "team teaching" a course on Transatlantic Relations that is being taught simultaneously at Ludovika University of Public Service in Budapest, Hungary, where President Koppell visited over the summer. Using Zoom technology in the ADP Center, Zsolt’s class at Montclair and a class in Budapest learn and work together. Recently, the students from both countries performed a NATO Simulation, in which students worked in groups to represent one of five countries and their represented their position on Ukraine joining NATO.

• Members of the faculty of Political Science and Law, including chair Brigid Callahan Harrison, are part of a team led by co-PIs Mark Allman (Office of the President) and Danielle Insalaco-Egan (Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies and Acting Dean of University College), were awarded a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to Advance Civic Education, which will allow Montclair to fund NJ 250: Civics and History for the Next Generation. Montclair is the only New Jersey-based institution to receive an award from the $153 million National Activities Grant program..

Student Success Center

Contributed to by the Associate Dean for Student Success, Courtney Cunningham

• Academic Advising and Coaching:
• 3,440 appointments held with 3,229 distinct students (August-December)
• 13% appointment increase from prior year (3,055 appointments, 2,958 students)

• Career Development:
• 53 class visits promoting career services and resources
• 787 individual career appointments
• 21% increase from last year in reviewed and approved resumes  

• Pre-Law Programming:
• NJ Law Admissions Day: 126 attendees, 45+ law schools represented

Anthropology

Contributed to by the Chair, Christopher Matthews

• We successfully proposed a new interdisciplinary program in Sustainable Urban Communities to be housed in the Interdisciplinary School. The program is a revision of Urban Humanities and reflects both a student-driven desire and an employer-driven imperative that the URHS program articulate a more interdisciplinary approach to crucial community issues and dynamics. Sustainability has become a critical issue in urban and public planning, and it demands a holistic understanding of the factors involved in the overall health of our communities: socially, economically, politically, culturally, and environmentally.   

• The New Jersey Center for Indigenous Justice celebrated its grand welcoming in October 2025. The NJCIJ is funded by a $1 million Higher Learning program grant from the Mellon Foundation awarded in 2024. The Center establishes a new voice, and the first at a New Jersey university, in support of tribal recognition and sovereignty in New Jersey. The center also brings new faces to the college in the inaugural Center Director, Precious Benally (Diné), and the Digital Repository Specialist, Will Williams '22 (BA, Anthropology).

Linguistics

Contributed to by the Chair, Professor Anna Feldman

• The new LNGN 470: Research in Linguistics course has been approved for Fall 2026. This is a course-based undergraduate research experience ("CURE") where upper-level students get hands-on training on linguistics research projects, mentored in small groups by a faculty member. This is a collaborative course co-supervised by 3+ faculty in the department in any given semester. We're very excited about the chance to expand and formalize undergraduate research mentorship in the department.

• In Fall 2025, we launched the Linguistics Book Club as a space to bring together professors, undergraduate students, and graduate students who share an interest in language. The club reads and discusses popular books connected to linguistics. For our first meeting, we read AlgoSpeak, which examines how internet language evolves under platform constraints. For our second meeting, we read Cultish, which analyzes the language of cults. The book club meetings create learning opportunities for everyone, for example, during our conversation about AlgoSpeak, linguistics faculty were delighted to learn about “6–7” from undergraduate students.

• Linguistics and the School of Computing are jointly developing a B.S. in Computational Linguistics, which has been endorsed by the Board of Trustees and will move to State review shortly. The program combines linguistics, programming, mathematics, and data analysis, with an emphasis on hands-on projects in NLP, AI, and language technology. It prepares students for careers in natural language processing, language-focused AI, and speech and text technologies, while strengthening ties to New Jersey industry and research partners, directly supporting Montclair’s priorities around student success, academic excellence, and workforce relevance.

News and Announcements

Community & Social Services Career Expo

Presidential Excellence Awards - 2026 Nominations Are Open

The Presidential Excellence Awards honor individuals and teams who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to Montclair's mission, excellence in their work and service to our community. These awards are intended to highlight achievements from all members of our Red Hawk community, including faculty and staff, full-time and part-time, long standing and newly arrived. Together, we will continue our mission to make Montclair an inclusive and accessible University that creates transformative educational opportunities for students across the globe.

If you have any questions, please contact Mark Allman, Senior Advisor to the President, at allmanm@montclair.edu. Nominations close Friday, January 23 at 5:00 p.m.

To submit a nomination, please use the form linked here.

University Authors Recognition Program 2026 - Call for Submissions

Faculty and staff who have published, edited, or translated monographs, textbooks, or exhibit catalogs, or who have produced creative works are invited to submit your publications to be recognized in the Montclair State University Authors Recognition program. Books and media must have been published or produced between 2024 and 2026 to qualify. Publications will be listed in Digital Commons. A University Authors Reception will be held in the spring in the Sprague Library.

Please submit your work using the submission form by January 31, 2026. If you have any questions about how to submit your work(s) or about the University Authors program, please contact universityauthors@montclair.edu. 

4th Annual Legislative Breakfast Addressing Human Trafficking in New Jersey: Law, Policy, and Practice

Hosted by the Global Center on Human Trafficking, the Legislative Breakfast unites policymakers, advocates, survivor leaders, and community stakeholders to drive meaningful dialogue and action on human trafficking law, policy and practice. This year’s theme, “Human Trafficking at the Intersection of Sports” highlights the urgent issues hidden behind the spectacle of global sporting events like the FIFA World Cup. From labor exploitation in stadium construction and hospitality to increased sex trafficking during major tournaments, the convergence of sports and trafficking demands both urgent attention and policy-driven solutions.

Friday, February 20, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., University Hall

Register to Attend

• Francesca Laguardia (Justice Studies) is quoted in an article published by The Guardian about the Department of Justice’s controversial prosecution of a Texas “antifa cell” charged with terrorism.
• Jason Williams (Justice Studies) is quoted in this NJ Spotlight News article about the push for a bill that would require the New Jersey attorney general to review, and potentially revise, the policy that dictates when police officers can use deadly force. 
• Gabriel Rubin (Justice Studies) was interviewed by CBS News in Los Angeles about Gen Z’s growing fears about the world. 
• Patricia Matthew (English) is quoted in this Smithsonian Magazine article about the legacy of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. 
• Cortni Borgerson (Anthropology) is quoted in this New York Times article about how lemurs are facing a previously unrecognized and growing threat in their native Madagascar: city-dwellers with cash to spare who love to eat the endangered primates.

At Your Service

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