Since 2008-2009, Rowan University's Psi Iota branch of Phi Alpha Theta (PAT), the national history honors society, has sponsored a fellow-in-residence program. The program is designed for an A.B.D. candidate finishing doctoral work but is also available to recent Ph.D.'s. Fellows have received an office with a computer, access to the University's libraries and databases, secretarial support, a modest fund for research or travel related expenses, and a combination of salary and honorarium. Fellows are typically required deliver a lecture and an overview of their research for an audience of advanced undergraduates in history. Fellows also have the opportunity to share a chapter or other in-progress research with faculty members in the History Department's works-in-progress seminar. Fellows teach two upper division courses in their general area of specialty, one in each semester of their fellowship.

 

The applicants for this part-time fellowship have been extremely impressive, with candidates applying from universities all over the United States and abroad, including:

Many of our Psi Iota Fellows have been successful in finding employment upon completion of their fellowships, which are usually renewable for up to two years.  Some of these past fellows (and their subsequent place of employment) are:  Lauren Pearlman (Visiting Professor, U.S. Military Academy, West Point; Stephanie Opperman (Assistant Professor, Georgia College; Laurie Lahey (Assistant Professor, University of South Florida); Matthew Karp (Assistant Professor, Princeton University); Gill Frank (Visiting Assistant Professor and ACLS New Faculty Fellow, SUNY Stonybrook); Isabelle Rohr (Frances Patai Lectureship in Holocaust Studies, City University of New York).

 

We are so pleased to welcome Dr. Hernandez-Matos to the Rowan History Department. He is currrently engaged in several community and on campus events for Fall 2025.

• Offered a critical presentation and discussion of the book by José Blanco F. and Raúl J. Vázquez-López, Dress, Fashion, and National Identity in Puerto Rico: Taínos to Beauty Queens (London & New York: Bloomsbury, 2025) at the Center for Iberian-American Studies at the University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo.
• Gave a presentation to Rowan's student groups, Phi Alpha Theta and the Student History Association, "Meet the Professor" where he presented part of his research on fashion, gender, and modernity in Puerto Rico, discussed his academic journey, and presented some initial thoughts on his research on Latinos and consumption in the U.S.
• Organized two guest lectures for the Rowan community Fall 2025: 
  • One by Dr. Salvador Vidal Ortíz titled "Sexuality, Gender, and Migration: A History of (Non) Belonging" on Nov. 24, 2025 which was co-Sponsored by the Women's and Gender Studies Program. The lecture examined the role of gender and sexuality in contemporary immigration debates, focusing on how those elements have been used to limit access to citizenship claims by migrants. 

• • A second by Alejandro San Miguel: The War Against Immigration: Politicizing a Humanitarian Crisis on Dec. 8, 2025 which was co-sponsored by the Office of the Associate Provost for International Education and the International Studies Program. The talk examined how the politicization of the immigration debate has overshadowed the purpose and nature of immigration policies.