Save the Date for the Upcoming Atlantic Cape Teaching Revolutionary New Jersey Symposium; Keynote and Presenters Announced

MAYS LANDING — Atlantic Cape Community College’s Arts & Humanities Department will present the Teaching Revolutionary New Jersey symposium on Friday, May 23 in Walter E. Edge Theater (C-Building) on the College’s Mays Landing campus with keynote speaker Dr. Jennifer Janofsky and nearly a dozen revolutionary scholars, history educators and independent historians.

Each presenter will give presentations that will focus on Revolutionary-era relevant content, pedagogical strategies and approaches needed in advance of the 250th anniversary (the Semiquincentennial) of the American Declaration of Independence in 2026.

Dr. Janofsky is the Giordano Fellow in Public History at Rowan University, Director of Red Bank Battlefield Park and co-director of the Red Bank Archaeology Project. Janofsky earned her Ph.D. from Temple University in Early American History and Public History. She is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

At Red Bank Battlefield Park, Janofsky is responsible for all aspects of park interpretation including public programs, tours, preservation, exhibition, and grants management. At Rowan University she teaches classes in Public History, American Material Culture, Early American History and directs the History Department Internship Program. She has worked in the field of public history for over twenty years prioritizing community engagement and the production of accessible history.

In 2022, Janofsky was recognized with the Award for Excellence in Community Service by the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 2023, the Sons of the American Revolution awarded her the Silver Good Citizenship Medal. In 2024, Rowan University awarded Janofsky the 2024 Rowan University Engagement Award.

The current list of confirmed presenters includes:

• Melissa Ziobro, curator, Bruce Springsteen Archive and Center for American Music
• Adam Zielinski, independent historian
• Dr. Richard Veit, provost & senior vice president for academic affairs and professor of anthropology, Monmouth University
• Chris Slaby, Ph.D. candidate, William & Mary University
• Dr. Lucia McMahon, professor and chair of history, William Paterson University
• Dr. Jonathan Mercantini, associate professor of history and acting dean for College of Liberal Arts, Kean University
• Sue Kozel, public historian, educator and former Fellow with the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello
• Dr. Elizabeth Hyde, professor of history and acting associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Kean University
• Gary Berton, president, Thomas Paine National Historical Society
• Zach Baer, history teacher, Shawnee High School

The Teaching Revolutionary New Jersey symposium is designed to bring the area’s preeminent American Revolutionary scholars together as we prepare to celebrate a pivotal moment in this nation’s history. Following the symposium, the submitted papers and presentations will be compiled into a publication that will be available to all high school and college educators to assist in their teaching students of New Jersey’s importance in American Revolutionary history.

For more information, please visit atlanticcape.edu/revolutionarysymposium or email TeachRevNJ@atlanticcape.edu.

About Atlantic Cape Community College

Atlantic Cape Community College is a Middle States accredited, 2022 Achieving the Dream Leader College and Hispanic Serving Institution proudly serving the residents of Atlantic and Cape May counties. As a comprehensive, two-year community college, Atlantic Cape offers 47 undergraduate degree programs, and 33 certificate and professional series programs at its Mays Landing, Atlantic City and Cape May campuses. Atlantic Cape is home to the renowned Academy of Culinary Arts, rated the top culinary school in New Jersey, and for more than 50 years, our highly-acclaimed Nursing program. Atlantic Cape also partners with more than 30 colleges and four-year universities to offer students the opportunity to seamlessly earn a bachelor’s degree upon graduation.