First-Year Writing Exemplary Essay Awards went to Marcel Camargo for their WRIT105 essay “Bathroom Bills Don’t Promote Safety, They Encourage Fear,” to Breanna Fabi for her WRIT106 essay, “Chic, Sharp, and Shifting: Exploring Gender Fluidity in A Simple Favor,” and to Xavier Lighten for his WRIT106 ethnographic study, “A Study of American Cuisine: Ethnography Through the Lens of a New American Steakhouse.” Honorable Mentions were given in WRIT105 to Monica Morales for her essay, “In the Motion There’s Meaning,” to Jaylene Espinoza for her WRIT106 essay “Unverified, Unchecked: The Digital Panic of the Blue Whale Challenge,” and to Sophia Chernyshova for her WRIT106 ethnographic study, “Peanuts, Tree Nuts, and Dualism.”

The Outstanding Multimodal Composition award was given to First-Year Writing student Aixa Zavaleta for her video PSA project, “Importas,” while an Honorable Mention was given to Aaron Abitbol for his YouTube video, “Road to Recovery.”

Awards were also given for outstanding work in the Professional and Public Writing major courses. The Award for Excellence in Social Media Writing went to Emily Santos for her Social Media Content for Micro Internship with One Square Mile: Early College Program in Paterson, NJ. Awards for Excellence in Professional Writing went to Ana Alvarado and Alexia Rosario for their Recipe Cards & Social Media Content, created for their Micro Internship with CUMAC, in Paterson, NJ. Last but not least, the Award for Excellence in Public Writing went to PPW intern Kira Paul for her Op-Ed: The STEM Teacher Pipeline is Waning. We Can Rebuild It.

This milestone event, the first IMLD celebration at this scale on campus, was led by and and brought together more than a dozen units across campus and beyond, reflecting an extraordinary level of collaboration and shared commitment to multilingualism.

Participating departments, centers, and offices included: CLaSE (Center for Latino Heritage and Spanish Language Excellence), Anthropology, Linguistics, Spanish & Latino Studies, World Languages & Cultures, NJCIJ (New Jersey Center for Indigenous Justice), Writing Studies, the Office of Global Engagement, the Office of Inclusive Excellence, the Office for Hispanic Initiatives, and Sprague Library.

The event also featured strong participation from international students and student organizations, including MASA, PASO, LASO, ESA, and NAIS, whose engagement contributed to the dynamic and inclusive atmosphere of the day.

With over 300 attendees, including students, staff, faculty, and members of Indigenous groups from Latin America and Native American communities, this event became a vibrant testament to the linguistic and cultural richness that defines our campus and surrounding areas.

The First Floor Reading Room of Sprague Library was transformed into an immersive, global experience where participants “traveled” across languages. Each attendee received a “language passport”, guiding them through a journey across more than twenty interactive tables, each representing a different language and cultural context or perspective. As they moved from table to table, they collected stamps or stickers while engaging in activities that celebrated language as a living, dynamic force.

Students explored language through creativity, play, and reflection. They became “Vocabulary Detectives,” shared regional expressions at the “Teach Us Your Dialect” table, and connected through challenges like “Language Mapping” and “Translation Challenges”. At other tables, they mapped their linguistic identities, contributed to a “Word Wall”, and responded to prompts such as “Tell Us in Your Language” and “Where in the World Is Your Language?”

Hands-on cultural experiences added depth and beauty to the event. Participants practiced Chinese calligraphy, learned to write their names in Korean, and explored basic expressions in French and Mazahua. They also engaged with global Indigenous cultures through interactive Kichwa language guessing activities and the Navajo String Game.

Other stations invited deeper reflection on language as identity and future. Through activities including “Language Futures Survey”, “Words of Wisdom”, and the “Latin American Slang Wall -¿Cómo se dice?”,  we celebrated the emotional and cultural connections embedded in language.

A highlight of the event was the series of four lightning panels, which brought powerful voices and perspectives into the room. These included presentations by Dr. Jesse Ha (Teaching & Learning), Librarian Catherine Oliver, Verónica Muenala, Próspero Martinez and Elías Hilario Guzmán (members of the Concejo de Pueblos Originarios), Precious Benally (Director of NJCIJ), and three outstanding students, Alondra Molina, Sofia Andersen Garreffa and Kaung Hla Zan. Presenters provided deeply moving personal reflections and scholarly insights, reminding us of the individual, cultural, and political significance of language in people’s lives.

The event also created meaningful bridges across time and tradition. Participants read graffiti from the ancient world and engaged with Indigenous languages and knowledge systems, reminding us that language is not only communication, but memory, resistance, and continuity.

Throughout the room, there was laughter, curiosity, and a powerful sense of belonging. Languages were spoken and celebrated, not as barriers, but as bridges. The presence of President Koppell, who joined the celebration and expressed appreciation for the energy and vibrant participation of attendees further underscored the importance of this collective moment.

This celebration was more than an event. It was a living expression of what it means to be part of a multilingual, multicultural campus space where every language is recognized as a source of strength.

See you next year!

Dr. Maisa Taha and Dr. Antonella Calarota-Ninman

Congratulations to this year’s Dean’s Recognition Award winners!

Research

The Research Award recognizes faculty members for their significant contributions to advancing knowledge within their field. Criteria typically includes quality, impact, and originality of research findings, as well as notable publications, grants, and collaborations.

2024 Winner: Daniela Peterka Benton, Associate Professor in Justice Studies

Service

The Service Award recognizes staff members for their outstanding commitment to service within CHSS and the broader community. Criteria includes leadership in academic governance, professional service, community engagement, and contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

2024 Winner: , Director of Operations and Administrative Affairs, College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Teaching

The Teaching Award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated excellence in pedagogy and educational impact. Criteria includes innovative teaching methods, student engagement, mentorship, and contributions to curriculum development.

2024 Winners

, Professor, English

, Associate Professor, Sociology

, Assistant Professor, Psychology

, English, Special Teaching Category

, Instructional Specialist, Writing Studies

, Adjunct, Linguistics

Sidney Berger (German and Linguistics), Maya Niemsyk (Professional and Public Writing), Alli Kodila (German and Linguistics), Cameron Mackay (Philosophy), and Siegfrid Schaefer (German) presented five excellent research papers, professionally fielded audience questions and answers, and met 70 other rising scholars from the Northeast.

Students presented timely innovative presentations on such topics as HIV/AIDS in East Germany, the role of “Gendersprache” and “Denglish” from a historical linguistic perspective, the use of Kietzdeutsch in online German content, transgender identities in multiple film variants of The Little Mermaid, and analysis of the “Slept Agenda of Popular Culture” from a philosophical perspective.

Faculty from other institutions noted how well-researched these Montclair presentations were.

The Fellowships are competitive awards to New Jersey artists in 12 rotating disciplines granted solely on independent peer panel assessment of work samples. The anonymous process is focused on artistic quality, and awards may be used to help artists produce new work and advance their careers. New Jersey artists applied for awards this year in the categories of digital/electronic, film/video, interdisciplinary, painting, printmaking/drawing/book arts, and prose. This program is carried out in partnership with .

On Tuesday, November 1, students gathered for a special Q&A event with Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) to discuss her public service and leadership. In a discussion moderated by Parashar and Kelkar and then opened up to students, Sherrill encouraged students to think about what they love to do and find a way to use that passion to make life better for someone else.

The course, “Polity, Policy, and Process: A Problem-Based Approach,” was born out of an idea pitched to faculty by Dean Peter Kingstone to create a space that brings students from across different disciplines together and gives them the support needed to explore the world of policy, giving them opportunities to engage with actual policy makers, government agencies, or organizations. Students in the course identified local, community and state issues to explore, including gun violence, food insecurity, plastic pollution and homelessness.

The course, an extension of the CHSS Disruption Lab initiative, is intended to support innovation and entrepreneurial thinking and skills among majors in the humanities and social sciences.

Program Benefits

• High-achieving Montclair State students are able to complete a Bachelor’s and MBA degree in five years
• Students from a variety of undergraduate disciplines gain valuable business and professional knowledge, skills and experiences that enhance their employability and career options post graduation.
• Students are able to take advantage of a more time- and cost-effective option for getting an MBA degree by taking “swing” graduate courses that satisfy both their undergraduate and graduate degrees at the undergraduate tuition rate.

The following CHSS undergraduate programs are approved for participation in the 4 +1 program:

• BA Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies
• (with concentrations in Arabic, French, German, and Italian). NOTE: the combined BA/MBA program option is not applicable to the BA in Language Business and Culture with a concentration in Spanish.
• BA Philosophy

Interested in Pursuing the 4+1 Bachelor’s / MBA Program? Follow these simple steps:

Contact Us

April Sime
MBA Office
973-655-4306
gradbusiness@montclair.edu

As a faculty member who has taught online and hybrid courses through the years, I’ve learned a bit about the demands and rewards of online learning. I  want you to be successful as we take our classes online, so I am sharing some tips I’ve picked up along the way from my experience as a teacher and what my students have told me helped them.

Set aside more time to complete tasks online than you would in a face-to-face class.

Online learning means that the simple tasks you do habitually in a classroom will now require a bit more time and planning. Most likely, you will need to search through a learning management system such as Canvas for class directions, handouts, and discussion board prompts. In some cases, you will need to write your responses instead of speaking them. You may need to watch a video from your professor. If you want clarification about the technology being used, you may need to to search the Internet for answers. Chances are, you will find these activities more time-consuming than you expected. Know that this is normal, and that you should schedule your time accordingly. Also, you will become more used to these practices over time.

You probably will be writing more.

As a professor of Writing Studies, I think this is a good thing. Writing is a way to make meaning, so it will help you synthesize the information in your classes, no matter what the subject. Your professor may choose to ask you questions and receive your answers through a discussion board, which may take some getting used to because you are more accustomed to talking through your ideas in class. Know that writing-to-learn is a valuable way to develop your ideas. Thinking about a subject through writing will help you grasp the course material (or figure out where you need to ask your professor for clarification). If you’re not used to writing a lot in your major, this is another reason why class work may take you longer than it did in a face-to-face format. And if you’re looking to improve your writing, the tutors at the Department of Writing Studies’ Center for Writing Excellence�����Ի���Writing Studio are happy to help.

Communicate your learning needs to your professors.

Your needs might include everything from extended time on an assignment, to wanting clarification on instructions, to adjusting learning accommodations that you already have in place. It’s not always easy to tell your professor when something is not working for you, but it’s especially important to do this in an online environment. When teachers and students are in the same room, teachers can gauge a lot by looking for cues in students’ facial expressions or body language. It’s harder to get this kind of visual feedback online. Take advantage of opportunities to give feedback, and reach out individually as needed. Most professors will hold online office hours–drop in when you can. We understand that class schedules will need to be more flexible during this unprecedented situation.

Take care of yourself.

The shift to exclusive online learning will be stressful for most of us and especially for those who have not taken an online class before. That makes getting enough rest, exercise, and down time even more important than usual. Stay connected with your friends and family. Unplug at various times during the day. If you experience depression or other mental health challenges, reach out right away to the appropriate office at school, or to someone you trust (such as a professor).

Know that your professors are dedicated to helping you finish the semester successfully. We’re in this with you. Now, let’s keep the conversation going online.

Professor Caroline Dadas, Director of First Year Writing
Department of Writing Studies
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