From the Desk of John Griffin

Dean John Griffin Presents the FASC Fall 2025/Winter 2026 Newsletter

Posted in Alumni News, Faculty News, Featured News, News, Staff News, Student News.

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Department/Program Highlights
Faculty Highlights
Staff Highlights
Student Highlights
Alumni Highlights

Happy New Year! As we prepare for the Spring 2026 semester and Rutgers–Camden’s centennial year, we first look back to all the impressive accomplishments of our faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

STEM faculty, including Dr. Haydee Herrera-Guzman, Professor of Mathematics, and Dr. Julianne Griepenburg, Assistant Professor of Physics, were awarded the prestigious Clare Booth Luce Program for Women in STEM grant, one of only seven institutions to receive the award. This grant entitles Rutgers–Camden to receive $700,000 for professorships, a STEM mentoring program, and more. Incredible!

The Rutgers–Camden Writers House celebrated its tenth anniversary, with a special Writers in Camden event featuring faculty and authors Lauren Grodstein and Tom McAllister. The students and alumni of the graduate creative writing program continue to impress, with student Bronwen Everill being shortlisted for the British Academy Book Prize for her book Africonomics: A History of Western Ignorance, and alumnus Michael Deagler winning a 2025 O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction for “The Pleasure of a Working Life.”

Our faculty continue to garner awards and praise, such as Dr. Kendra Boyd, Assistant Professor of History, receiving the 2025 State History Award from the Historical Society of Michigan for her book Freedom Enterprise: Black Entrepreneurship and Racial Capitalism in Detroit, and Allan Espiritu, Professor of Art, being honored by the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), who selected his catalog cover for the exhibit “Rising Sun: Artists in an Uncertain America,” as one of the best in America. 

As we head into our momentous 100th year, I feel energized. We have reached an important milestone, and it is hardly the end of our journey. With faculty, staff, students, and alumni this talented, this passionate, this industrious, we are unstoppable. Here’s to 2026!

John D. Griffin, Ph.D.
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences–Camden

Department/Program Highlights

Community Leadership Center

  • The Community Leadership Center (CLC) continues to partner with the LEAP Academy University Charter School. Programs such as the YES Institute allow for current Rutgers–Camden students to connect with LEAP students in tutoring and mentoring relationships. LEAP students can also take advantage of the Early College/Dual Enrollment program, allowing them to take part in college-level coursework while still enrolled in high school.
  • The Early Learning Research Academy (ELRA) serves over two hundred pre-school students. The CLC has piloted a new initiative, the Rutgers Early Literacy Ambassadors Program, which places work-study students in ELRA classrooms. These ambassadors work with the pre-school students on different literacy activities.
  • LEAP Puerto Rico enrolled its first eight students at Rutgers–Camden in Fall 2025. The CLC’s fundraising efforts continue to grow, helping to provide access for LEAP and LEAP PR students to gain access to higher education.

Center for Urban Research and Education (CURE)

  • The Center for Urban Research (CURE) hosted multiple events in the Fall 2025 semester:
    • On September 18, they hosted Fall Friends of CURE, allowing the campus and local communities to learn about the organization;
    • Tre Johnson, author of Black Genius, met with campus and community members, and read from his work as part of the CURE Seminar Series on October 2;
    • CURE staff helped to lead and run the South Jersey Institute for Population Health (SJIPH) Sandbox Event at the Joint Health Sciences Center on October 10;
    • On December 5, CURE co-sponsored Richard E. Ocejo, author of Sixty Miles Upriver: Gentrification and Race in a Small American City.
  • CURE team members also participated in a series of workshops and conferences:
    • Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) Annual Conference, from October 26-29 in Baltimore, where they presented Developing your On-Ramp for Grassroots Partnerships: A Community First Approach;
    • Stephen Danley, Director of CURE, presented on the CURE partnership with the South Jersey Institute for Population Health and the development of “Partnership Development Awards” at the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA); and
    • CURE participated in the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations (PACDC) symposium on November 12.

Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH)

  • The Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) welcomed Ian Byers-Gamber as the fall 2025 Visiting Scholar. Byers-Gamber is an artist, documentarian, and recent alumni of the Mason Gross School of Arts. MARCH is hosting his exhibition entitled I Come Creeping through the spring semester. I Come Creeping is a multimedia exploration of the history and legacy of the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain, a coal miners’ uprising in West Virginia. As the MARCH Visiting Scholar, Byers-Gamber delivered a talk on the intersection of art, history, and politics, as well as a workshop on storytelling and curation using photographs he created as part of his research.
  • In October 2025, the University of Pennsylvania Press published three volumes of Greater Philadelphia: A New History for the Twenty-First Century, a project that grew out of MARCH’s digital Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. The volumes have been met with great interest by scholarly, cultural and general audiences and granted citations by the Mayor’s Office of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives that make note of the significant role of MARCH and Rutgers–Camden in preserving and sharing the diverse histories of the region. Edited by Rutgers emeriti professors of history Charlene Mires and Dr. Howard Gillette, along with others, the Greater Philadelphia volumes include contributions from many Rutgers faculty, staff, and students, including current MARCH researcher and history graduate student Elizabeth Eimer, who served as editorial assistant for two volumes in the series.

Department of Philosophy and Religion

Rutgers–Camden Center for the Arts (RCCA)

  • In Fall 2025, with support from the Office of the Chancellor, the Rutgers–Camden Center for the Arts (RCCA) renovated the Stedman Gallery. The Stedman Gallery housed the exhibit “Reynier Llanes: Pursuit of Grace,” which was part of the Rutgers–Camden Year of the Arts celebration. This exhibition featured richly symbolic, large-scale paintings that explored environmentalism and identity, with reference to Cuban life and folklore. The exhibition was part of campus’ Hispanic Heritage Month, and attracted many South Jersey school groups for field trips during this celebration of culture. In addition, RCCA coordinated two artist talks and receptions, a public art making workshop on Llanes’ coffee painting technique, and a visit with VMPA students. The artist also visited Camden’s Creative Arts High School, and spoke with 35 high school students.
    • RCCA also partnered with public schools from Camden and across South Jersey to host Gallery Visits—when kids come to the gallery for an interactive tour and art making activity—and Gallery on Tour—when RCCA brings the exhibition and art making lesson to partner sites who can’t travel to campus. They reached nearly 1,500 students in Fall 2025, their largest single semester Gallery Visit / On Tour audience in six years.
    • RCCA’s recently launched program, Art Around the Corner, continued, as well. In partnership with LEAP Academy, the program brings a consistent cohort of middle graders to each Stedman Gallery exhibition four times for a special activity every visit. The program offers in-depth arts learning and fosters confidence in university learning spaces.
    • RCCA launched Family Days. Three Sundays this fall, the Stedman Gallery welcomed families and individuals to tour the exhibition and enjoy art making activities for all ages and abilities.
  • RCCA will host “Of the People,” a national exhibition of works on paper, to spark discussion about democracy during the America’s 250th The exhibition will open on Tuesday, January 20, with its official opening reception taking place on Thursday, January 29. Artists such as Meridith McNeal and Kumas Barnett will discuss their work in events scheduled for the spring. Other free and open public programs will include opening and closing receptions, interactive gallery tours, “family days” in the gallery with art making activities, field trip visits with artmaking workshops for K-12 groups, older adults, and other groups of learners from across the region, and a published catalog with essay by artist fields harrington and twelve images from the exhibition.
  • RCCA will launch a new partnership with Vineland Prep Academy, a residential school for justice-impacted youth, to deliver therapeutic arts education for middle and high school students in residence for six months or longer.
  • RCCA will run the NEA Big Read Program. Big Read is a common book program supported by NEA and Arts Midwest that brings people together by reading the same book. For our twelfth year, our title is You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World, edited by recent poet laureate Ada Limon. Visit the Paul Robeson Library January-March to see an interactive exhibit about the book and to get involved by picking up a book and engaging with us and other Big Read projects on social media. We will host community book discussion groups, creative writing workshops for K-12 students and older adults led by literary teaching artists, and visual art making workshops inspired by the book for Camden Public Schools, Free Books Project, and other community partner groups. With Writers House, we will host a community book discussion group and poetry workshop on two Tuesdays, March 3 and 10, 6:00 – 8:00 pm in the Stedman Gallery, led by poet and teacher Alison Lubar.
  • RCCA received two major grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts—the General Programs Grant and a Creative Aging Initiative grant to support their art education program for economically vulnerable older adults.
  • RCCA received an NEA / Arts Midwest Big Read grant, and a grant from the Andrew Wyeth Foundation for American Art to support the publication for an exhibition of George Segal, taking place in Spring 2027, curated by VMPA professor Dr. Cyril Reade.

Writers House

  • The Writers House celebrated its tenth anniversary in September 2025 with a special Writers in Camden event by authors and creative writing program faculty, Lauren Grodstein and Tom McAllister. Professor Grodstein read from her new novel, A Dog in Georgia, and Professor McAllister read from his new essay collection, It All Felt Impossible.

 

Faculty Highlights

Appointments

Department of Philosophy and Religion

  • Nathan C. Walker, Lecturer for Philosophy and Principal Investigator for the AI Ethics Lab, was appointed a non-resident research fellow at Handshake AI to serve as an AI trainer, evaluating model outputs by assessing accuracy, fairness, and domain-specific reasoning.

Albums

Department of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts

  • Mark Zaki, Professor of Music, will release his new record, The Turning Frame, on February 6, 2026, on all major platforms. A composer and violinist, Dr. Zaki performs with Mara Zaki, soprano, on the album.

Awards and Honors

Department of History

Department of Political Science

Department of Psychology

Department of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts

  • Allan Espiritu, Professor of Art, was recognized by the American Institute for Graphic Arts (AIGA) for his book cover for the Rising Sun: Artists in an Uncertain America This prestigious award honors the most compelling book and cover designs, with only 50 covers being selected for the honor. The cover was for an exhibition hosted by the African American Musuem in Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, asking the question, “Is the sun rising or setting on the experiment of American democracy?”
  • Shamus McCarty, Lecturer in Musical Theatre, received the 2025 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Outdoor Production, for his work on Shakespeare in Clark Park, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, on which he served as Producing Artist Director.
  • Anabelle Rodriguez Gonzalez, Lecturer of Art History, received an Open and Affordable Textbook Award to design the first half of the global art history survey with readings from Rutgers University Libraries.

Department of World Languages and Cultures

  • James Rushing, Associate Professor of German, received an Open and Affordable Textbook Award to create a fully textbook-free version of Intermediate German. 

Committees

Department of History

  • In November 2025, Emily Marker, Associate Professor of History, served on the national screening committee for the Fulbright Program in France. 

Documentaries

Department of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts

  • In November 2025, Robert Emmons, Associate Teaching Professor of Film, showed his interactive documentary, Palimpsest, at the Maryland Film Festival as part of its Cinetech exhibition.

Exhibits

Department of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts

Fellowships

Department of Mathematical Sciences

Department of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts

  • Raul Romero, Lecturer of Art, received a PEW Artist Fellowship, and is part of a PEW-funded project with the Monument Lab. Three new environmental sound works create a living monument to Philadelphia’s birds, inviting audiences to gather for deep listening: to birds, to one another, and to the places we cohabitate. Curator Yolanda Wisherworks with vocalists and sound artists Mendi & Keith Obadike, Raúl Romero, and Hanna Tuulikki, as well as ornithologists and wildlife biologists, exploring the intersections of public memory, environmental stewardship, and ecology through sound. 

Grants

Center for Urban Research and Education (CURE)

  • Stephen Danley, Director of CURE, was awarded $9,750.00 in faculty seed funding to support projects by doctoral candidates CJ Fleck, Oguz Ozalp, and Nelson Zhong in the Department of Public Policy and Administration.

Department of Mathematical Sciences and Department of Physics

Department of Philosophy and Religion

  • Nathan C. Walker, Lecturer for Philosophy and Principal Investigator for the AI Ethics Lab, received a research grant from the Rutgers–Camden Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement to advance his research on how artificial intelligence can violate and advance the human rights of vulnerable populations.

Department of World Languages and Cultures

  • Carla Giaudrone, Associate Professor of Spanish, continued developing Voces de la Comunidad, a project funded by the Rutgers–Camden Urban Innovation Fund, which expanded its community-engaged environmental humanities work through workshops, outreach events, and collaborative research. Over the summer and fall, the Voces team strengthened partnerships with MARCH, Healthy Families and Communities, and LUCY Outreach, and continued integrating Rutgers’ Community Heat Assessment and Monitoring Program (CHAMP) data into the project to connect environmental information with community narratives. 

Invitations

Department of Mathematical Sciences

  • Siqi Fu, Distinguished Professor of Mathematical Sciences, received an invitation to visit Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHES) in France from January 5 to February 6 in 2026. This visit is funded in part by a grant from IHES thanks to a donation from Claire-Lise and Philippe Tondeur. 

Department of Philosophy and Religion

  • Nicole Karapanagiotios, Associate Professor of Religion, was selected to participate in the 2026 Council of American Overseas Research Centers-American Institute of Indian Studies Overseas Faculty Development Seminar in India in January 2026. Faculty participants in the two-week seminar will explore how India has promoted small businesses, focusing on handicrafts and self-sustaining industries as well as advanced manufacturing and technology. Participation in this program will support Dr. Karapanagiotis’ new class, “Religion, Biodiversity, and Conservation.”

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice

  • Kimberlee Moran, Associate Teaching Professor of Forensic Science, was invited to serve as a speaker at the following events in October 2025:

Media Appearances and Mentions

Center for Urban Research and Education (CURE)

Department of Health Sciences/Prevention Science Program

Memberships

Department of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts

  • Anabelle Rodriguez Gonzalez, Lecturer of Art History, became a member of the Ethical Uses of AI in Academic Report Committee. She is investigating “Research in R2 and R1 Institutions” to compare initiatives across the board.

Newsletters

Department of Health Sciences/Prevention Science Program

Presentations

Department of English

  • Ophelia Eryn Hostetter, Associate Professor of English, gave a workshop on her ongoing research project in translation theory and Old English poetry for the Princeton Program for Medieval Studies in November 2025.
  • Jillian Sayre, Associate Professor of English, delivered a keynote address, “Media Ecology and The Book of Mormon, to the Book of Mormon Studies Association in October 2025.

Department of Health Sciences/Prevention Science Program

  • Kristin August, Professor of Psychology, along with doctoral prevention science student Megan Mason, co-presented “Navigating heart disease: Care partner involvement in managing health behaviors among female patients,” at the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity,” in Auckland, New Zealand; and
    • Along with prevention science graduate student Samantha Vega, August co-presented “Examining the impact of heat stress on mental and physical health in southern New Jersey: A cross-sector analysis of health and climate resilience,” at the annual meeting of the American Association of Public Health. 
  • Lauren Daniel, Associate Professor of Psychology, co-presented the following papers:
    • “Survey of Sleep Practices in Pediatric Oncology Clinicians,” at the Congress of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology in Amsterdam. Graduate psychology alumna Thembile Gola co-presented.
    • “Rethinking Progress: Leveraging CANS to Rethink Outcome Measurement in Youth Behavioral Health,” at the 2025 TCOM Conference in Chicago, co-presented with Antoinette Guden, a doctoral prevention science student.
  • Michelle Livings, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences, presented “Technology-facilitated intimate partner violence and young adult mental health,” at the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Sciences Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh.
  • Charlotte Markey, Professor of Psychology, presented the keynote “Body Image, Eating Disorders, and Gender: How the Context of Gender Shapes Symptoms,” at the Meeting for the International Academy of Body Image, Eating Problems, and Health, in Quebec City, Canada.
    • Markey co-presented “Perfectionism, Self-Esteem, and Social Anxiety Predict Body Image Dissatisfaction Across Eight Countries” with doctoral prevention science students Violett Springate and Alexis Richeson at the Perspectives in Body Image International Conference.
  • Richard Stansfield, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, along with doctoral prevention science student Catherine Heitz, co-presented “Youth Perspectives on Firearm Safety in Education in Schools,” at the American Society of Criminology Conference in Washington, DC.

Department of History

  • Jesse Bayker, Assistant Teaching Professor of History, served on the roundtable discussion in public memory and America’s 250th anniversary at the 2025 New Jersey History Conference.
  • Emily Marker, Associate Professor of History, presented at the following symposiums:
    • “The Viennese Ball Season of 1938 at the Crossroads of Hope and Despair, Escape and Exile” at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna in October 2025; and at the
    • “French Concentration Camps (1939 – 2007): New Perspectives,” co-hosted by the Institute for French Studies and the Center for Antisemitism at New York University in November 2025.

Department of Mathematical Sciences

  • Howard Jacobowitz, Distinguished Professor of Mathematical Sciences, presented at the Cauchy-Riemann Geometry and Subelliptic Theory Conference in Matera, Italy, on September 26, 2025.
    • Jacobowitz also lectured at the Wolfgang Pauli Institute in Vienna in October 2025.
  • Haisheng Li, Professor of Mathematical Sciences, presented:
    • “Vertex Algebras and Integrable Systems” at Cardiff University in Wales;
    • “Algebras and Applications on Mathematical Physics” at the Chern Institute of Mathematics in Tianjin, China; and
    • “Representation of Lie Algebras” at the Shenzhen International Center for Mathematics in Shenzhen, China.

Department of Philosophy and Religion

Department of Psychology

  • Robrecht van der Wel, Associate Professor of Psychology, gave the following presentations:
    • “Sense of agency: Improving our understanding of its measurements,” at the European Society for Cognitive Psychology Symposium in Sheffield, England, in September 2025; and
    • “Testing Temporal Binding and Memory Accounts: A Comparison of Interval and Line Length Judgments,” at the Psychonomic Society Meeting in Denver, Colorado, in November 2025. Sean Duffy, Associate Professor of Psychology, co-presented.

Department of Public Policy and Administration

  • Michael Hayes, Angie McGuire, Patrice Mareschal, and Nathaniel Wright all served on the panel presentation “How small, intentional approaches prepare students for real-world public service leadership” at the 2025 NASPAA Global Conference “Making a Difference Globally Through Quality Public Service Education” in October 2025 in Flagstaff, Arizona.
  • Michael Hayes, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Administration, and DPPA doctoral student Prakash Kandel, co-authored and presented “Local Fiscal Effects of Cannabis Legalization: Evidence from New Jersey,” at the Annual Conference of the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management in Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Angie McGuire, Associate Teaching Professor of Public Policy and Administration, served on the panel presentation “From Chalkboard to Cloud” at the New Jersey League of Municipalities Conference in Atlantic City in November 2025.
  • Paul Jargowsky, Professor of Public Policy and Administration, along with Hilary Silver from George Washington University, proposed a session called “Intersectional Segregation” for the RC21 Conference on Urban and Regional Development in Vienna on July 20-22, 2026. The session has been accepted.

Department of World Languages and Cultures

  • Carla Giaudrone, Associate Professor of Spanish, made the following presentations:
    • “Territorios afectivos en la música uruguaya de principios de siglo XXI” at the  XL Congreso Internacionales de Literatura y Estudios Hispánicos in October 2025;
    • “Voces de la Comunidad: Bridging Climate Scholarship and Community Voices,” at the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers–New Brunswick in November 2025; and
    • “Community Heat Assessment and Monitoring Program (CHAMP)” at the American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting in Houston in January 2026. Carmen Benito-Asomoza (CCAS ’27), an economics, Spanish, and global studies triple major, participated in the project.

Publications

Department for Chemistry

  • Jinglin Fu, Professor of Chemistry, authored “Incorporation of NUPACK-Based Simulation into Classroom and Laboratory Teaching of Nucleic Acids Hybridization for Undergraduate Biochemistry,” accepted for publication by the Journal of Chemical Education.

Center for Computational and Integrative Biology

Center for Urban Research and Education (CURE) and the Department of Public Policy and Administration

  • Stephen Danley, Director of CURE and Associate Professor of Public Policy and Administration, along with Ojobo Agbo Eje and John Paul Rosewater, released the second Hidden Hands report. Dr. Danley and John Paul Rosewater also published “’No permanent allies, no permanent enemies’ contrasting team-based activism and eco-system activism” in Administrative Theory & Praxis.
    • Danley also published a review of Political Activist Ethnography: Studies in the Social Relations of Struggle through Sage Journals.

Department of English/Creative Writing Program

  • Christopher Fitter, Professor of English, published his fifth book, The Routledge Companion to Shakespeare and Politics.
  • Lauren Grodstein, Professor of English, published her novel A Dog in Georgia (Algonquin) in Fall 2025.
  • In January 2026, Ophelia Eryn Hostetter, Associate Professor of English, published “Reading Exeter Book Riddle 18 Against Hetero-Obscura” in Exemplaria: Medieval, Early Modern, Theory.
  • Patrick Rosal, Distinguished Professor of English, published his poem “Raucous Prayer” in the September 2025 issue of Poetry

Department of Health Sciences/Prevention Science Program

  • Andrew Abeyta, Associate Professor of Psychology, co-authored “What Makes College Meaningful for First-Generation Students? A Quantitative Content Analysis of First-Generation and Continuing-Generation Student Writings on Why College Is Purposeful and Important,” published in Journal of First-generation Student Succes. Prevention science doctoral student Xuanzhou Du co-authored the article.
  • Kristin August, Professor of Psychology, and Dr. Charlotte Markey, Professor of Psychology, co-authored “Diet-related undermining in older couples managing type 2 diabetes: Gender differences, reciprocity, and links to diet quality,” published in Journal of Health Psychology. Prevention science doctoral student Megan Mason co-authored the article.
    • August and Megan Mason also co-authored the following:
      • “Women managing heart disease: Involvement of spouse and non-spouse care partners,” published in American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine; and
      • “Individuals’ Experiences of Care Partner Involvement in Heart Disease Management,” published in Families, Systems, & Health.
    • Lauren Daniel, Associate Professor of Psychology, co-authored the following articles:
      • “Increasing Participation in the National Marrow Donor Program: A Randomized Trial,” in the Journal of Health Psychology. Rutgers-Camden students Gabriel Elias, Priyal Shah, and Niki Kokolis contributed to the article; and
      • “Frailty and Sleep in Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer: A Childhood Cancer Survivor Study Report,” published in Psycho-Oncology.
    • Jamie Dunaev, Associate Teaching Professor of Health Sciences; Dr. Nathan Fried, Associate Teaching Professor of Biology; and Ms. Kimberlee Moran, Associate Teaching Professor of Forensic Science co-authored “Research as teaching: Using your research as a vehicle for teaching,” published in Supporting teaching-focused faculty at research-intensive institutions.
    • Jamie Dunaev, Associate Teaching Professor of Health Sciences, and Dr. Charlotte Markey, Professor of Psychology, co-authored “Dieting among adults with chronic pain,” published in Journal of Health Psychology.
    • Michelle Livings, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences, co-authored the following articles:
      • “Exploring variation in welfare attitudes among low-income parents,” in Journal of Poverty;
      • “Development and validation of a brief Nutrition Security Screener (NSS) for clinical and public health settings,” in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition;
      • “Adolescents’ mental health: Disparities, prevention strategies, and future directions,” in American Journal of Public Health; and
      • “Post-pandemic benefits cliff: Negative impacts, positive steps, and lessons learned,” in American Journal of Public Health;
      • “The biological consequences of grandparental death for children: An analysis of telomere length,” in SSM-Population Health; and
      • “Falling further over the US safety net benefits cliff after COVID-19,” in American Journal of Public Health.
    • Charlotte Markey, Professor of Psychology, co-authored the following articles:
      • “Sexuality and body image among postpartum women,” in Body Image;
      • “Elective procedures – Cosmetic procedures, modification, and surgery,” in Handbook of Body Image;
      • “Body image during pregnancy and postpartum,” in Oxford Handbook of the Psychology of Appearance;
      • “Body image during adolescence and young adulthood,” in Oxford Handbook of the Psychology of Appearance, on which doctoral prevention science student Violett Springate contributed;
      • “Explicit, implicit, and internalized weight bias: Relations with self-perceptions of weight and current dieting,” in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; and
      • “Body image in the context of relationships,” in Oxford Handbook of the Psychology of Appearance, on which doctoral prevention science student Alexis Richeson contributed.
    • Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Administration, along with prevention science doctoral student Joseph Abbas, co-authored “Socioeconomic determinants of diabetes-related disability: Unveiling the intersections through quantitative analysis and integrating technology for sustainable health solutions,” published in International Journal of Science, Engineering and Management.

Department of History

Department of Mathematical Sciences

Department of Philosophy and Religion

Department of Psychology

  • Robrecht van der Wel, Associate Professor of Psychology, published the following articles:
    • “Submovements in manual tracking: People with Parkinson’s disease produce more submovements than age-matched controls,” in the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation; and
    • “Regulation of automatic imitation: Domain-specific versus domain-general control processes,” in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. Sean Duffy, Associate Professor of Psychology, was a co-author on this paper.

Department of Public Policy and Administration

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice

  • Julio Alicea, Assistant Professor of Sociology, had the article “Anti-Blackness in ‘Brown’ Space: Absence, Rejection, and Qualified Coexistence in a Latinizing Community,” accepted for publication in Social Currents.
  • Nathan Link, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, co-authored the following:

Department of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts

Department of World Languages and Cultures

  • Carla Giaudrone, Associate Professor of Spanish, published “La fraternización con los árboles: la ecología queer de Alberto Nin Frías,” in Revista de Estudios Hispánicos.
    • Giaudrone also co-authored an article under review with Yessica Ivet Cienfuegos Martínez, “Movilidad virtual México–Estados Unidos. Habitar las diferencias, reconocer las coincidencias,” submitted to Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, which analyzes the COIL collaboration between Rutgers–Camden and the Universidad Autónoma de México.

Residencies

Department of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts

  • Lavett Ballard, CCAS alumna and Lecturer of Art, was selected as the Global Artist in Residence for the Brandywine Workshop and Archives Print Workshop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This residency is funded by the Pew Foundation.

 

Staff Highlights

Grants

  • Julie Roncinske, Assistant Dean for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences–Office of the Dean, received the Chancellor’s Staff Development Grant to participate in a conference hosted by the Higher Education Resource Services (HERS).

Presentations

  • Kate Blair, Web Designer for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences–Office of the Dean, presented “Portrait Photography for Web and Print Publication” at the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations District 1 Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in November 2025.

 

Student Highlights

Awards and Honors

Department of Chemistry/Forensic Science Graduate Program

  • Hailey Cassidy, a graduate student in the forensic sciences program, received the Rutgers-Camden Chancellor’s Student Research Grant.

Center for Computational and Integrative Biology

Creative Writing Program

Internships/Experiential Learning

Center for Computational and Integrative Biology

Department of Philosophy and Religion

  • Cosmo Luizza served as a Teaching Assistant for the Fall 2025 course AI & Society with Dr. Nathan C. Walker and will continue as a research assistant at the AI Ethics Lab in the Spring 2025 term, developing teaching materials on AI ethics and AI literacy.

Presentations

Department of Childhood Studies

  • Sebastian Barajas, a doctoral student, presented “Beyond panopticism: The power of gaze at a self-directed education center” at the Stockton University Childhood Application Seminar Series in November 2025.
  • Josiah Carolina, a doctoral student, presented “The Afro-Native Child and Where to Find Them” at the Stockton University Childhood Application Seminar Series in November 2025.
  • Courtney Cook, a doctoral student, presented “A Genre of Their Own – Black Girlhood and Cinema” at the Stockton University Childhood Application Seminar Series in November 2025.
  • Marcus Kissoon, a doctoral student, presented “Safe for Whom? Gender, Childhood, and the Quiet Violence of Public Safety Laws,” at the Stockton University Childhood Application Seminar Series in November 2025.

Digital Studies Center

Department of Philosophy and Religion

Prevention Science Program

  • Violett Springate, prevention science doctoral student, presented “Causal Inference and Youth Suicide Prevention: Policy Impacts and Research Gaps,” at the New Jersey Statewide Student Mental Health Summit in Union, NJ, in October 2025.
  • Penny Telesford and Yachun Wen, prevention science doctoral students, presented “Perinatal Mental Health and Postpartum Experiences: Insights from the Listening to Mothers III” at the 38th Annual Postpartum Support International Conference in New Orleans.

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice

  • Kristina Cagle, a graduate student in criminal justice, has been accepted to present “Cannabis Sales in Your Backyard? Dispensary Location Preferences Among a Representative Sample of NJ Residents” at the 83rdMidwest Political Science Association (MPSA) Conference.

Promotions

Prevention Science Program

  • Lindsay Peck, a doctoral prevention science student, was promoted to Director of Retention & Student Success Initiatives for the Division of Student Academic Success at Rutgers University-Camden.

Publications

Department of Philosophy and Religion

  • The following students, as part of the Honors research seminar on AI & Vulnerable Humans, served as contributing authors to the AI & Human Rights Index: Alexis A. Andricola, Wandys M. Aquino, Aysha Fnu, Ishinpreet Kaur, Adriana L. Kirwin, Sophia E. LaPorta, Faith E. Mitchell, Leyna N. Nguyen, Amisha Rastogi, Abby M. Santiago, and Sandra S. Tawadrous.

Prevention Science Program

  • Mariah Scott, a doctoral student in the prevention science program, contributed to the anthology Writers for Rare, which contains thirty-two stories told from different perspectives in the disease space. Ms. Scott wrote “The sickle cell warrior” for the anthology and read from her work at the October 2025 “In Conversation” event at the Writers House.

 

Alumni Highlights

Awards and Honors

Creative Writing Program

  • sterling-elizabeth arcadia (MFA ’24)’s novella manuscript, PSYCHO-SEXUAL, was a finalist for the Clay Reynolds Novella Prize at Texas Review Press.
  • Michael Deagler (GSC ’14)’s story “The Pleasure of a Working Life” won a 2025 O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction and was selected for publication by Edward P. Jones in The Best Short Stories 2025.
  • Tim Lynch (GSC ’19) had two poems named semifinalists in the Tupelo Quarterly Poetry prize.
  • Yusuf Poladin (GSC ’23) had a story nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
  • Amy Beth Sisson (MFA ’23) won the 2025 Samuel Prize for Emerging Writers over 50, presented by Lambda Literary. She was also named a finalist in Cleaver Magazine’s visual poetics contest.
  • Ray Wise (GSC ’24) had a story nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

Publications

Creative Writing Program

  • Katie Bennett (GSC ’17)’s hybrid memoir She Was Wild Grass will be published by Brink Books in Fall 2026.
  • Deena ElGenaidi (GSC ’16)’s debut novel Dust Settles North was published by Bindery Books in Fall 2025.
  • Marie Scarles (GSC ’21)’ debut chapbook The Catastrophes was published by Finishing Line Press in Fall 2025.
  • Adam Straus’ (GSC ’23) debut novel Remedial Action will be published by the University of Nevada Press in Fall 2027.

Reading Series

Creative Writing Program

  • Yusuf Poladin (GSC ’23) and Adam Straus (GSC ’23) started a new prose reading series in Philadelphia called Flashbang.

 

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