Arts.  These individuals, members of the class of 2012, have achieved extraordinary success both in the classroom and in the community.

Dr. He Len Chung, Psychology Department, TCNJ

Dr. He Len Chung, Associate Professor of Psychology, has won the 2012 Jane S. Halonen Teaching Excellence Award (first 5 years of teaching at any level) given by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (Division 2 of the American Psychological Association).

Dr. Chung’s success as a teacher derives from her use of a range of teaching and curricular strategies, including the use of experiential learning activities, diagnostic workshops, and well-designed research projects with scaffolded learning tasks appropriate for the level. Indeed, Dr. Chung’s students and peers praise her lavishly for her excellence as a teacher and mentor.

In his letter of nomination of Dr. Chung for this award, Dean Rifkin wrote:

One of the most impressive pieces of evidence of Dr. Chung’s excellence as a classroom teacher is the list of students whom she has mentored who have gone on to graduate or professional programs.  Her students have won numerous honors, including admission to Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Psi Chi, Order of the Omega, and have won numerous scholarships and awards, including, most recently, a Council on Undergraduate Research Travel Grant to present research at the annual conference of the Eastern Psychological Association.  Since 2007, 20 different students have worked with her as a co-author (16 students) or first author (4 students) on 3 publications and 10 presentations at peer-reviewed conferences; a fourth publication is currently being revised (the manuscript was invited for resubmission).  She has served chair or a committee member of 9 senior thesis projects, and all three projects that she chaired were presented at peer-reviewed research conferences by the thesis student.

Congratulations to Dr. Chung; her award will be presented at a conference this summer in Florida.

Students on study abroad in Tanzania with Dr. Marla Jaksch

Five HSS students have won Roebling or Laurenti Scholarships to help defray expenses for study abroad in the summer 2012 or fall 2012 semester.  We are very proud of all our students and grateful to the donors who have made these scholarships possible.  Recipients of these scholarships this year are:

Shannon Grooms and Matthew Ritsko are going to Tanzania this summer.  Matthew Knoth is going to Argentina in Fall 2012 and Germany in Spring 2013.  Emily Fung is going to Hong Kong in Fall 2012.  Monika Drozd is going to South Africa in the Fall 2012 and the UK in Spring 2013.

Where will you go?  The competition for Roebling and Laurenti Scholarships will be opened again in Fall 2012 for HSS students going on study abroad in Spring 2013 and/or Summer 2013.  For more information, see the Center for Global Engagement.

Hannah Pawlak – the Harold W. Eickhoff Outstanding First-Year Student Award

Randolph Portugal – the Dorothy Taylor Haas ’32 Award

Grace Moran – the William Klepper Scholarship

Adam Preim – the Bessie Cutter Perlman ’25 Scholarship

Bryana Bonfanti – the Annie F. Stout and Kate Stout Scholarship

Rachel Fleisher – the John Wandishin ’79 Scholarship

David Karas – award for the Outstanding Student Employee of the Year at TCNJ and the Outstanding Student Employee of the Year for the entire state of New Jersey

Kathleen Powell – Emerging Leader of the Year Award

Olaniyi Solebo – Student Organization President of the Year and Outstanding Student Leader of the Year

Professor Teresa San Pedro (World Languages and Cultures) recently had an article, entitled “Puerto Rico y la defense de su identidad linguistica,” published through the prestigious Instito de la Lengua Castellano y Leones in a volume honoring the Royal Academy of Spanish Language.  

Dr. San Pedro’s study of the century-long struggle to protect Spanish language in Puerto Rico was informed by collaborative research with her undergraduate assistant, Casey Eriksen (BA Spanish, TCNJ 2010).  Casey’s name is acknowledged below Dr. San Pedro’s in the article.

Casey writes, “As a mentor, Dr. San Pedro provided valuable feedback and suggestions for additional research.  The experience was engaging, challenging, and exciting … I am grateful and fortunate to have been extended such an opportunity, and recommend that future students seek to engage in undergraduate research opportunities whenever possible.  Our investigation helped me grow as a thinker, student, and researcher.” 

Dr. San Pedro writes, “I would not have been able to write my paper without the great research that Casey did.” 

Casey Eriksen is currently pursuing a PhD in Spanish at the University of Virginia.