Semester End Celebration 5/1/2026

Please join the History Department for our year end student and faculty gathering!

Friday, May 1st

11:30am to 1:30pm

Robinson Hall 224

Population History and Archaeogenetics Lecture with Dr. Pohl

Negotiating Childhood Book Signing with Dr. Kelly Duke Bryant

Staple to Superfood Book Signing with Dr. Edward Wang

Operation Uganda Renewed Research-a-thon

Douglass Day Transcribe-a-thon

Mark your calendar for the fourth annual Douglass Day Transcribe-a-thon @ Rowan hosted by the Center for Digital Humanities Research on February 13, 2026! 

Douglass Day is a hands-on digital humanities event that marks the birthday of Frederick Douglass, the renowned African American abolitionist, writer, reformer, and statesman. Each year, thousands of participants come together to transcribe documents related to Black History and make those materials more accessible and searchable online. This year we will transcribe documents from the Colored Conventions Collection in the Library of Congress.

Friday, February 13, 2026
11am-3pm
Bunce Hall 252

Click to Register Here!

Presidents' Day Lecture and Student Research Poster Sessions

Please join the History Department and RCHGHR for this year's Presidents' Day Lecture and Student Research Poster Sessions with Special Guest speaker Steven Hahn!

Thursday, February 12, 2026
5pm-7pm
Rowan Welcome Center

21st Annual Rosa Parks Luncheon

Africana Studies will host the 21st Annual Rosa Parks Scholarship Luncheon. This year, the luncheon will be on Tuesday, February 24, 2026 in the Eynon Ballroom, Chamberlain Student Center from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm, and will address the theme "Policies That Impact Black Economics" and celebrate a century of Black history. Lt. Governor, Dr. Dale Caldwell will serve as our distinguished guest speaker.

The national theme for Black History Month 2026, designated by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is "A Century of Black History Commemorations", marking 100 years of celebrating Black contributions and highlighting the movement's impact on identity, pride, equality, and policies. The 2026 Black History Month theme, "A Century of Black History Commemorations, marks 100 years since Dr. Carter G. Woodson initiated Negro History Week in 1926.  This milestone theme explores the impact of these celebrations on shaping  identity, fostering pride, and advancing equality, highlighting the evolution from a week to a month-long, global recognition. The 21st Annual Rosa Parks Scholarship Luncheon, sponsored by the Department of Africana Studies, Rowan University, will address the theme "Policies That Impact Black Economics." This theme highlights how historical systemic barriers like redlining and Jim Crow continue to influence current debates over minimum wage, housing, education funding, and social safety nets (SNAP, Medicaid). Understanding these connections encourages attendees to reflect on ongoing efforts for economic justice and policy change.

The luncheon has become Africana Studies' most highly anticipated and well-attended event. Each year, hundreds from our community gather to honor Rosa Parks' legacy and support deserving students through the Dr. Gary Hunter Scholarships, fostering a shared sense of pride, purpose, and belonging. He was active with various committees on campus, including numerous search committees and ones on strategic planning.  In 1989, after many years of effort, he founded and became the first Coordinator of the African American Studies program.  That program began as a minor but expanded under the leadership of colleague Corann Okorodudu and became a major in Africana Studies.

He was the chairperson of the Department of History during the time of the Henry Rowan's gift and oversaw the hiring of tenure-track faculty members Joy Wiltenburg, Q. Edward Wang, Corinne Blake, and Janet Lindman.  He also hired future tenure-track faculty member Scott Morschauser as an adjunct faculty member.  He was also chair during a major revision of the Department’s curriculum, a revision that made the College one of the nation’s leaders in requiring the study of global history.

He was highly regarded as an advisor and established a male mentoring program at the College.  In 2000, when asked what could be done to help Black communities, he responded that “we need mentoring, one person at a time.”  He received the African American Studies Award from the New Jersey Association of Black Educators, the Delta Sigma Theta Naomi Richardson Award for Service to Students, and a Certificate of Service from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

REGISTER HERE:  https://go.rowan.edu/rosaregistration26

Gender, Sexuality, and Migration

Please join Psi Iota Fellow, Dr. Hernandez-Matos and Guest Speaker, Dr. Salvador Vidal-Ortiz for a Lecture on Gender, Sexuality, and Migration - a history of non-belonging. 

November 24th

6:30pm

Zoom only, Scan for link.

Fall Events from RCHGHR

The Rowan Center for the Study of The Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights has a packed Fall schedule with many educational events for you to attend. 

CDHR Research Lunches

Please join the CDHR faculty, staff, and students for the monthly Digital Humanities Research Lunch presentations. Register here or contact rowandhadmins@rowan.edu for more details!

Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon

Rowan University Libraries is partnering with History, English, Center for Digital Humanities Research, and Women’s and Gender Studies faculty to host a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon. Facilitators will introduce the basics of Wikipedia editing, followed by hands-on editing. During that time the facilitators will also be available to help. Participants can also continue editing online throughout the month, and the facilitators will continue to be available throughout the month to help. There will be three sessions, and an introduction will be provided at the beginning of each. Lunch will also be provided. Feel free to attend any or all sessions!

Please register at go.rowan.edu/editathon before attending and bring a laptop. For questions, contact rowandhadmins@rowan.edu.

2nd Annual Betty Bowe Castor '63 Lecture

Please join the History Department for a free lecture with Dr. Kalumbu noted African musicologist and Grammy-nominated artist! Registration is required so please be sure to sign up! Tickets for a pre-lecture event at 5pm will also be available for purchase with all proceeds going toward Operation Uganda Renewed Initiatives. 

Read more about Operation Uganda Renewed here and how you can take part!

The American Revolution, Preview Event

Rowan University Previews Ken Burns's The American Revolution! Please join acclaimed television critic David Bianculli, beloved professor of public history Jennifer Janofsky, and moderator of ceremonies William Carrigan as they preview the first part of Ken Burns’s new six-part, twelve-hour series The American Revolution. After introductory comments and clips that set the stage, we will watch the first hour of the documentary more than a month before it premieres on November 16^th. During this intermission, we will hear reactions from the panelists and check in with the audience. The evening will conclude with the second hour of the film. This is the first of a series of events that the Department of History plans to host in honor of the coming 250^th anniversary of the American Revolution.

Time: 5pm

Date: October 7, 2025

Location:  Rowan University Welcome Center, 131 Rowan Blvd, Glassboro, NJ

From PBS:  THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION examines how America’s founding turned the world upside-down.  Thirteen British colonies on the Atlantic Coast rose in rebellion, won their independence, and established a new form of government that radically reshaped the continent and inspired centuries of democratic movements around the globe. An expansive look at the virtues and contradictions of the war and the birth of the United States of America, the film follows dozens of figures from a wide variety of backgrounds. Through their individual stories, viewers experience the war through the memories of the men and women who experienced it: the rank-and-file Continental soldiers and American militiamen (some of them teenagers), Patriot political and military leaders, British Army officers, American Loyalists, Native soldiers and civilians, enslaved and free African Americans, German soldiers in the British service, French and Spanish allies, and various civilians living in North America, Loyalist as well as Patriot, including many made refugees by the war.