This Week in Black History, Society, and Culture

In this second episode of season three, Dr. Hettie V. Williams is in conversation with Dr. Richard F. Veit about his work as a historical archaeologist with a focus on African American archaeological and historic sites in New Jersey. Williams is an Associate Professor of history at Monmouth University in the Department of History and Anthropology. Veit is currently interim Dean of the Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Monmouth and a Professor of Anthropology in the Department of History and Anthropology. He is also the author to Digging New Jersey’s Past: Historical Archaeology in the Garden State (Rutgers University Press, 2002), New Jersey Cemeteries and Tombstones: History in the Landscape (Rutgers University Press, 2008) and more recently and edited volume with Michael Gall Archaeologies of African American Life in the Upper Mid-Atlantic (University of Alabama Press, 2021). 

In this first episode of season three, Dr. Hettie V. Williams is in conversation with Dr. Pamela Scott-Johnson about her journey in higher education as an African American woman academic and administrator. Dr. Scott-Johnson is the first Black woman Provost of Monmouth University. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology and neuroscience from Princeton University; and her B.A. from Spelman College. Scott-Johnson has vast experience working in higher education including administrative positions at Morgan State University where she served as interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and, more recently, California State University, Los Angeles where she was Dean of the College of Natural and Social Sciences where she led the largest college. Scott-Johnson worked as a research scientist for Kraft General Foods as an expert in taste and smell before entering academia. She has published widely in academic journals and has served as principal investigator on multiple grants securing more than 5 million dollars in funding. 

In this bonus episode for season two, Hettie V. Williams is in conversation with Melissa Ziobro about African American Public history. Dr. Williams is an Assistant Professor of African American history at Monmouth University and Ziobro is a Specialist Professor in Public history at Monmouth University currently involved in several projects on African American history including the Julian Abele Public history initiative, Paradoxical Paradise on African Americans in Asbury Park, New Jersey and the Walter McAfee project to honor the legacy of McAfee’s contributions to science at Monmouth University. You can find out more about these programs here, Julian Abele Project: https://guides.monmouth.edu/c.php?g=1088816&p=8027991        Walter McAfee initiative:  https://www.monmouth.edu/university-advancement/mcafee/    and Paradoxical Paradise: https://paradoxicalparadise.com/ 

In this episode, Dr. Hettie V. Williams is in conversation with Max Adolf our Monmouth University student podcast editor. Max discusses his life at Monmouth as an advanced student and Music Industry major as well as race/diversity on campus. He also shares some tips on podcasting and provides us with some recommendations on podcast editing software. 

In this episode, Dr. Hettie V. Williams is in conversation with Rev. Dr. Danielle Hunter of Bethel A.M.E. Church located in Asbury Park, New Jersey about the African American community in Asbury Park and the impact of COVID-19 on this population in the city. Williams is an Assistant Professor of African American history at Monmouth University and Director of the digital history project on Asbury Park at Monmouth University. This episode is made possible through funding from the Urban Coast Institute of Monmouth University. 

In this episode, Dr. Katherine J. Parkin is in conversation with Dr. Brenna Wynn Greer about her latest work on Black capitalism, media culture and civil rights. Dr. Parkin is the Jules Plangere, Jr. Endowed Chair in American History and Political Studies at Monmouth University and the author of Food is Love: Advertising and Gender Roles in Modern America (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011) and Women at the Wheel: A Century of Buying, Driving and Fixing Cars (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017). Dr. Greer is an Associate Professor of History at Wellesley College and the author of Represented: The Black Imagemakers Who Reimagined African American Citizenship (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018). 

In this episode, Dr. Hettie V. Williams is in conversation with Dr. Anwar Uhuru about their experiences as African Americans in higher education. Williams is an Assistant Professor of History in the Department of History and Anthropology at Monmouth University where she teaches courses in African American history, with research interests focused on African American and Black women’s intellectual history, and Uhuru is an Assistant Professor of English specializing in Afro-Diaspora literature and culture in the Department of English at Monmouth University. This is a freestyle type of conversation where in both are unscripted about their experiences as Black identified individuals who have worked in academia for several years.  

In this episode, Dr. Hettie V. William is in conversation about the Duchess of Sussex, Harry Windsor and their recent interview with Oprah Winfrey with Drs. Zaneta Rago-Craft, Nicole Pulliam and Lacey Hunter. Rago-Craft is the inaugural Director of the Monmouth University Intercultural Center and Pulliam is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling at Monmouth University. Hunter is a Lecturer in history at Rutgers University, Newark. This conversation includes a discussion of race, gender, class and identity as well as some discussion of mixed-race identity. 

Episode 9

In this episode, Dr. Hettie V. Williams discusses African Americans in Asbury Park and the impact of COVID-19 on the Black community in the city with community activist Felicia Simmons. This is the second installment in a series on African Americans and the history of Asbury Park including some discussion of the coronavirus. Williams is an Assistant Professor of history at Monmouth University and the Director of the digital history Project “Paradoxical Paradise: An African American and Oral History Project on Asbury Park.” Simmons is a life-long resident of Asbury Park and community activist. She also has served the city in many capacities including as a member of the National Action Network (NAN) and a  former member of the Asbury Park Board of Education. This episode was made possible through funding from the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute’s Heidi Lynn-Sculthorpe Faculty Enrichment Grant on Just and Sustainable Community Recovery after COVID-19. 

In this episode, Dr. Nicole Pulliam and Dr. Vernon Smith are in conversation with Will Nicholson about white supremacy and the imposter syndrome fallacy. Dr. Pulliam is an Associate Professor in Educational Counseling at Monmouth University and Vernon Smith is Graduate Program Director and an Assistant Professor of Educational Counseling at Monmouth University. Nicholson is a graduate student in Educational Counseling at Monmouth.