Week of December 18th  

Greetings, everyone, and welcome to the final CHDCM Dean’s newsletter of the Fall semester. This message comes at a difficult time, as our campus continues to mourn the loss of our community member, Joseph DeBari. The awful tragedy of his loss, as President Passerini emphasized, “affects all of us immensely and personally.” Even as we grieve, it is also critical that we come together, to mourn as well as share stories and memories, and, most importantly, to take care of one another in the face of this tragedy. Please also remember the many resources available to help those struggling with the loss of Mr. DeBari, including the priest community, UWill telehealth platform, Counseling and Psychological Services for students and Employee Assistance Program. And for those of you wishing to honor Mr. DeBari’s life and legacy, his family has requested that donations be made in his name to a wonderful organization, Aaliyah in Action. Now is the time to be safe, to be well, and to remember that Seton Hall is a place where all of us belong, and where all of us matter—our strength is in our community.

As we come to the end of the semester, I also want to use this as a space to help recognize some great members of our CHDCM community who are in transition as we head into the Spring semester. Three of our great folks are retiring at the end of this month after years of amazing service to our College, our University, and our community: Mayra Colón, Peggy Farrelly, and Frank Scafidi. Moreover, we also say goodbye to Amanda Carcione, who is moving on to a new position at Montclair State University. All of you have given so much, and I’m especially grateful that I’ve been able to work with you all for the last few months. Though you are leaving Seton Hall, you will always be in our hearts. Thank you again, for all that you’ve given during your years of service here.

With that, I encourage you to read on, to see the news and notes from our amazing College and its people. I wish you all wonderful holidays and a warm, happy start to the New Year. See you in 2024, when our newsletter will return. And—speaking of the Spring semester—if you are a CHDCM student and you haven’t registered yet for your classes, now is a great time to do so! As we finish up the finals for fall, don’t miss the chance to add the classes you want and need for next semester!

Dr. Bryan Crable
Founding Dean

Brownson Speech and Debate Team 

A special CHDCM Shout to the Brownson Speech and Debate Team, who recently competed in a large open invitational tournament hosted by Hofstra University. With 22 schools and breaking events to semis final rounds, our team earned First Place Debate speaker, 3rd place Individual Events Team and with only two debate entries - 2nd place Debate School!

Seton Hall was able to champion over teams such as Arizona State, Ohio University, Cornell. Emerson, Denison, University of Florida and others.

On the Saturday portion of this swing event, freshman, Karissa Kromminga won first place speaker in IPDA Debate. This was an open event; for a novice to win this award was profound. Freshman, Joshua Yue earned 5th place Debate Speaker and with only two debate students our team earned second place overall.

Moreover, the team also earned twelve additional awards including 2nd in Communication Analysis (Amos Wiley); 2nd in Informative Speaking (Catherine Jones); 3rd in Extemporaneous Speaking (Tristan Radcliffe). The award count totaled 14. 

Special thanks to staff, who include head coach Brian Sumereau '21, dramaturge Dr. Jessica Rauchberg, and assistant coach, Abigail Thow '19.

Dr. Taylor Henry 

We'd like to give a CHDCM Shout to Dr. Taylor Henry, whose paper "They've Never Played the Game": "Cool Sports Girls," Gender Inequality, and Garbage Time in Sports Punditry was recently published by the Sociology of Sport Journal. 

Dr. Henry also recently wrote "Review of Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist (2022) dir. by Ryan Duffy and Ryan and Tony Vainuku," that was published in Journal of Sport History. Congratulations, Dr. Henry! 

To read Dr. Henry's paper, click HERE. 

Dr. Edmund Adjapong 

Another CHDCM Shout is underway for Dr. Edmund Adjapong! Dr. Adjapong has been working collaboratively with Educators in CS4All’s Exploring Equity in Computer Science (EECS) Leadership Program to offer professional development sessions on the intersections between hip-hop history, culture, and computer science.

With Dr. Adjapong’s support, EECS educators and students have leveraged the energy of hip-hop programming throughout New York City. Great work, Dr. Adjapong! 

Dr. James Daly 

Our last CHDCM Shout goes to Dr. James Daly, who recently presented at the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference. His session, "Teaching the 'Truth' in History," explored conflicts surrounding the teaching of history. 

Dr. Daly joined a second session at the conference that included a conversation about teaching in small colleges and departments: "Story Circle: Collectively Disrupting the Image of a Professor: The Stories of Small College and University Faculty." Congrats, Dr. Daly! 

Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education 

Kappa Delta Pi (KDP) International Honor Society in Education advances quality education by inspiring teachers to prepare all learners for future challenges. It encourages quality learning by giving educators the means to implement research-based strategies, continue professional growth, assume leadership, and become master teachers.

Most recently, KDP partnered with SPLASH and Nassan's Place to collect unwrapped toys and games for children, teenagers, and young adults with autism ages 3-21. On December 4th, they held a small event to wrap the toys in preparation for delivery via Nassan's Place.

Undergraduate students (from sophomore year on) with a 3.4 CUM GPA average and graduate students with a 3.8 CUM GPA enrolled in the Departments of Education Studies; Education Leadership, Management, and Policy; or Professional Psychology and Family Therapy automatically receive automatically receive an invitation to join KDP in the Spring semester.

Please note that KDP Xi Gamma Chapter programs are open to all education majors/Seton Hall students regardless of membership. To learn more, check out KDP's blog and their Instagram. 

Abigail Walker 

Abigail Walker '24 is a double major in Elementary Education and Theatre. Walker serves as an ambassador for the College of Human Development, Culture, and Media and as a member of Theatre Council. 

Also, Walker currently student teaches at Jefferson Elementary in Summit, NJ for two days a week; next semester she will be teaching every day. 

Walker has plans of spending a year in the United Kingdom to earn her Masters in Childhood Studies before coming back to the U.S. for a teaching job. 

WSOU Career: Frank Scafidi 

Chief Engineer Frank Scafidi '74 has hung up his headphones for the last time as he announced his retirement after 26 years at WSOU.

Scafidi worked as a radio reporter for 15 years at several stations. He then started an audio/video production company for 20 years. He was asked to return to Seton Hall as Chief Engineer for WSOU in 1998.

"Being part of WSOU has meant the world to me."

WSOU Involvement Class this Winter Break!

Interested in music? Sports media? Sound production? Want to see the inside of a radio station? Join WSOU!

Take the virtual Assistant Producer class this winter break, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30pm from 12/19 to 12/28.

Email wsoustationmanager@shu.edu to sign up!

Center Alumni and Founder Featured!

Seton Hall alum and founder of Center for Sports Media Bob Ley '76 was recently featured in Slate's article discussing the role of ESPN commentators.

To check out the article "It Was Never About Sticking to Sports," click HERE. 

On October 23, Jess Rauchberg, Ph.D., a new faculty member for the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts, presented at "The Promises and Perils of Generative AI in the Creator Economy" hosted by Microsoft Research New England. 

As one of over thirty participants from around the world, Dr. Rauchberg "was invited to co-facilitate with a Microsoft colleague a demonstration that showed the availability of generative AI tools." 

To read more about Dr. Rauchberg's presentation and work, click HERE. 

Seton Hall alum and former ROTC instructor, Charles Stokes 81' recently released his newest book, Vietnam Blood Brothers: 1-0 and 1-1  The Beginning, that details a daring rescue attempt during the Vietnam War Tet Offensive. 

Stokes' previous work includes his 2018 book, Soldier's Reverie: Vietnam. 

To check out Mr. Stokes' books, click HERE and HERE.

The Department of Professional Psychology and Family Therapy (PPFT) had five grad students and two faculty members present their research at the Greater New York Behavioral Research Conference in Brooklyn. 

BluJean Casey, MA, George Perron MA, Gianna Scimemi, BA, Analisa Tafro, BA, and Jayda S. Yizar, MA all presented their respective research with support from Dr. Peggy Brady-Amoon and Dr. Sandra Lee. 

The Office of Graduate Affairs is looking for graduate students who want to represent their programs and have a desire to help prospective and newly admitted students. 

Want to get involved? Click here to learn more about the Graduate Student Ambassador Program! 

The Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts is offering two NEW courses this spring semester!  

COMM 2700 AA - Health Communication and Social Responsibility
Tuesday/Thursday, 2 - 3:15pm
This course introduces students to issues concerning health disparities, medical dissensus, public understanding of science, and the racialization of epidemics and other issues related to health communication.

COMM 3202 EXP - Communication Technologies and Society
Wednesdays, 2 - 4:30pm
This course examines the growing ubiquity of emerging communication technologies as arbiters of digital economies, governance, and cultural production.

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