Department Award Winners

Kyle Battaglia won the Gary A. Carskaddan Prize (Spring 2008).  He received a Rider Bookstore gift certificate. The Carskaddan Prize is awarded to the History or Education/History major who, with 12-21 credits in history courses at the end of the previous semester, had the highest cumulative grade point average in history courses.

Jaclyn Becker won the Levine Research Prize (Spring 2008) for her paper "The Berkeley Syndrome: Free Speech and Protest, September-December 1964". Jaclyn is a History/Elementary Education major graduating this spring. Jaclyn discussed her paper before an attentive crowd at the History Department's Annual Spring Picnic on April 24 (At Right: Department Chair Anne Osborne congratulates Jaclyn). For more about Jaclyn's "The Berkeley Syndrome", read the Student Spotlight interview.  

Mandi Magnuson-Hung received the Levine Phi Alpha Theta Prize (2008) awarded to the graduating History major or Education/History major with the highest cumulative grade point average in history.

Kim van Heygen received the Levine Post-Graduate Award (2008). She is entering Franklin Pierce Law School in Concord, New Hampshire this fall.

History Prize Winners Mandi Magnuson-Hung, Jaclyn Becker and Kim van Heygen posed with Harriet Levine at the Spring 2008 Picnic (below). History faculty and students are so grateful to Harriet and the entire Levine family for their generosity and support.

Nine History Majors Among Honor Key Inductees

On April 17, 2008 History and History/Education majors Josh Asson, Alicia Audette, Brandon Copeland, Will Coughlin, Christie DeCarolis, Patrick Gaston, Chris Mazur, Tom McKool, and Kim van Heygen were inducted into the Honor Key Society, the highest scholarly recognition bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts, Education and Sciences. History professors Nikki Shepardson and Brooke Hunter were recognized as mentors.

Three History Majors Named Andrew J. Rider Scholars

The 57 Andrew J. Rider Scholars (2007-08) honored at Founder's Day in early November included three History majors. Junior History/Secondary Education majors William Coughlin and Patrick Gaston were named Andrew J. Rider Scholars for the School of Education for the second time both having earned the distinction in 2006-07 as sophomores. Senior History major Mandi Magnuson-Hung was named Andrew J. Rider Scholar for the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

History Major Helps to Reinvigorate David Library Internship Program

An article in the Summer 2007 Newsletter of the David Library of the American Revolution praised Rider History Alum, Omar Vazquez (’07), for reviving their “dormant” internship program. Professor Gowaskie, Internship advisor for the History Department, used his powers of persuasion to convince the David Library staff to take on Omar, then a Junior History major, as an intern for the Spring Semester 2006. The David Library of the American Revolution, located in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, is a nonprofit foundation devoted to the study of American history circa 1750 to 1800 and founded by businessman and philanthropist Sol Feinstone in 1959. The David Library holdings include over 40,000 printed materials and 10,000 reels of microfilm and its collection draws scholars from around the world. According to the staff, “Omar promptly became an asset to the Library. He was quickly trained in basic librarianship to assist in the smooth running of reading room operations, but it was not long before his research skills and familiarity with our collections were strong enough for him to assist clientele, including Fellows, with research, and to create innovative reading room displays to showcase certain holdings.” Omar enjoyed his time at the David Library so much that he returned for an independent study in the Spring of 2007 during his final semester at Rider. Omar’s experience at the David Library not only “fanned the flames of [his] passion for history,” but also helped him gain acceptance into graduate study in History at Rutgers University-Camden. Omar started at Rutgers-Camden in Fall 2007, after completing Basic Training for the New Jersey National Guard over the summer. The David Library credits Omar with breathing “new life" into their intern program. Since his initial internship in 2006, the David Library has welcomed several interns from Rutgers.

Alumni News

Where are they now? A number of our graduates are pursuing postgraduate degrees including Kim van Heygen ('07) who is entering law school at Franklin Pierce in Concord, New Hampshire this fall. Lada Pastushak ('07) who is earning a Master's degree in Eastern European Studies from Lehigh University. Joshua Meredith ('07) and Omar Vasquez ('07) are both pursuing M.A. degrees in History at Rutgers-Camden. Richard Griffin ('06) is in his second year of graduate work in his pursuit of a M.A. degree in Education at Rider. We were pleased to welcome Rikki Ghadia ('05) back to campus for Career Night last spring to tell us about his joint-degree program  in law and business (JD/MBA) at the University of Pennsylvania/Wharton School of Business. This past summer Rikki clerked at a prestigious NYC law firm. Erica Dellabonta ('04) is a Master's degree candidate in History at St. John's University in New York. Matt Thornton ('04), made famous on the Rider stage and as graduation speaker in 2004, is a MA. degree candidate in History at Rutgers University-Newark where he continues to explore his interest in U.S. urban history. Matt shared some of his research on fright night at last spring's Career Night to the enjoyment of all in the audience. Charles Evans ('05), former Phi Alpha Theta/History Club president and Rider Archives intern, is preparing for a career in public history by earning a Master's degree in Applied History at Shippensburg University. Timothy Kozlowski ('05), one of the few Rider History grads to sweep the department awards, is finishing a law degree at William & Mary.

Annual Events

Levine Lecture

Each year the Department of History invites an eminent historian to campus to present the Emanuel Levine History Lecture. The Levine Lecture offers students the chance to meet some of today's leading scholars. The lecture is generously funded by Harriet Levine in honor of her husband Dr. Emanuel Levine, a history professor at Rider for nearly 40 years. The Levine Lecture is free and open to the public. For more information please call (609) 896-5151.

THE LEVINE LECTURE SERIES

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