(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)November 5, 2010

(MAHWAH, NJ) – Ramapo College Professors Stephen Rice and Meredith Davis received a $167,282 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support two week-long workshops at Ramapo College in July 2011.

The grant was received as part of the Landmarks of American History and Culture program, which offers residential workshops for K-12 educators nationwide. The workshops that will be held at Ramapo College next summer will be called “The Hudson River in the Nineteenth Century and the Modernization of America” and will focus on the history of the Hudson River Valley in the 19th century. Each workshop will host up to 40 teachers from all over the country who will study works of art, literature, architecture, and non-fiction writing in order to understand some of the commercial and technological developments that dramatically transformed the river and its surroundings during the 19th century. 

The program treats the Hudson River as a historical site of interest through which a central humanistic question can be examined: how do material and imaginative relationships to the natural world change as the world transforms through development and use? 

 “The subject area for [the] workshop, the Hudson River Valley, offers a wide array of learning opportunities in an area that is historically and culturally significant,” said Ramapo College President Dr. Peter P. Mercer. “Ramapo College is uniquely qualified to host this workshop, located adjacent to the Hudson River Valley where participants may see the same topography in many places that was observed by Henry Hudson when he explored the river.”

Stephen Rice is a Professor of American Studies in the School of American and International Studies and author of “Minding the Machine:  Languages of Class in Early Industrial America” (University of California Press, 2004).  He has a Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University and has been teaching at Ramapo since 1996.  Meredith Davis is an Assistant Professor of Art History in the School of Contemporary Arts and is an expert in 19th century American art and visual culture.  She has a Ph.D. in Art History from Columbia University and began teaching at Ramapo in 2004. 

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency created in 1965 which provides grants for high-quality projects dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation and public programs in the humanities, which includes the study of language, literature, history, philosophy, ethics and social sciences. The goals of the NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture workshops are to increase knowledge and appreciation of subjects, ideas and places significant to American History and culture, provide teachers with expertise in the use and interpretation of historical sites and material resources, and encourage historical and cultural sites to develop greater capacity and scale for professional development programs.

For media inquiries, please contact Anna Farneski at 201.684.6844.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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