According to Anagnostis P. Agelarakis, PhD, a professor in the Adelphi University Department of History, “These are not ancient questions. They are human questions.”

When director Christopher Nolan set his lens on Homer’s The Odyssey, he both created a spectacle around a story about the human condition and reignited a conversation about epic storytelling.

“What Nolan accomplishes is extraordinary,” says Dr. Agelarakis, who teaches in Adelphi’s College of Arts and Sciences. “He returned Homer’s voice to the center of the public conversation. Millions of people who may have never opened The Odyssey are suddenly engaging with questions that have endured for nearly 3,000 years. In my opinion, that is the greatest success of the film.”

Professor Agelarakis and his team’s facial reconstruction of the High Priestess of Dorian Eleutherna. The Dorian Greeks settled Crete following the destruction of the Minoan-Mycenaean palaces by the Sea Peoples, an upheaval referenced by Odysseus in the film.

A More Human Perspective on The Odyssey

As a bioarchaeologist and physical anthropologist who has led field research across the Mediterranean for more than three decades, Dr. Agelarakis has a distinct point of view when it comes to the film. Where others might focus on the mythic heroism, he’s zoned in on the reality of the ancient time period.

“For decades I have studied the skeletal remains of ancient men and women, soldiers and civilians, priests and children. I have examined the evidence left by warfare, disease, healing, ritual and everyday life in the ancient Mediterranean.

“When I watch Odysseus returning from Troy, I do not simply see a legendary hero. I see a man burdened by war. I see someone struggling with loss, responsibility, memory, leadership and the consequences of victory.”

In his research examining human skeletal remains from the Bronze and Iron Ages, Dr. Agelarakis analyzes evidence of traumatic injury, field surgery and physical stress. He notes that Nolan’s depiction captures the raw impact of war on both body and psyche.

“The film grounds Odysseus as a thinking human being dealing with the trauma, guilt and real consequences of war.”

Lessons of War in The Odyssey

He also notes about the film, “I was reminded that the ancient Greeks understood victory in a remarkably sophisticated way. The fall of Troy represents military success. Yet it also unleashes suffering. Odysseus spends years wandering before finally reaching home. The victorious warrior discovers that winning a war does not necessarily restore peace.”

“That insight is profoundly modern,” he explains.

“One of the film’s most important messages is its implicit warning about war itself. Odysseus comes to recognize that violence rarely ends where it begins. The destruction of Troy does not conclude the story. It begins another one. Every generation should remember that lesson.”

An Epic Story, Told Through Cinema

Beyond the history, Dr. Agelarakis highlights the unique power of film as a visual and immersive medium. Nolan’s narrative choices—such as explicitly showing the claustrophobia inside the Trojan Horse or jumping across time periods—help bring to life the epic storytelling for modern viewers.

“Cinematography provides a kinesiology—a sense of motion and physical reality—that isn’t always fully captured when simply reading the text,” says Dr. Agelarakis. “It provides a visual hook that invites viewers to ask deeper historical questions: How did these people actually live? How did they move, fight and survive?”

Professor Agelarakis (left) and colleague Dr. Nicholas Stampolidis, Director of the Acropolis Museum, examining artifacts from the Homeric era at the Museum of Ancient Eleutherna, Greece.

The Film’s Role in Classroom Discussions

At Adelphi, Dr. Agelarakis plans on using the film’s momentum as an educational tool. In his course Theogony, Myth and Ritual, which he will teach this upcoming fall in an Honors College seminar, the movie will act as a springboard for students to critically think by debating primary source texts and cross-examining interpretations.

Rather than viewing cinematic adaptation as a replacement for reading, Dr. Agelarakis sees film as an entry point that prompts students to seek out original sources. The broader impact is clear; sales of Homer’s Odyssey surged by 76 percent in the United States, year over year.

Ultimately, the discourse surrounding Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey proves that classical studies remain valuable in understanding modern life. By confronting timeless questions of power, responsibility, ethics and human mortality, students can use the film to learn how to evaluate media critically.

“When you have multiple voices from students discussing this, we gain deeper understanding,” says Dr. Agelarakis. “It encourages students to open the book, read the primary source and use their own minds as independent thinkers.”

“Many students today encounter Greek civilization only through fragments. They know isolated myths or famous quotations, but rarely experience the epic narratives that shaped Western civilization. Nolan’s film may encourage many of them to discover Homer for themselves.”

“This is an incredible advertisement for classical education, and also for the real protagonist of this film—Homer.”

The post Adelphi Professor Weighs in—From Greece—on This Summer’s Blockbuster, “The Odyssey” appeared first on Adelphi University.

A 75-Year Legacy on Campus

Hitting a 75th anniversary isn’t just a fun milestone—it’s a testament to student grit.

Launching right after World War II, The Delphian quickly became the heart of campus conversation. Whenever history unfolded, Adelphi communications, history and political science majors were on the front lines, documenting everything from cafeteria menus to major national turning points like the Vietnam War protests, the Civil Rights Movement, Watergate and the COVID-19 pandemic.

While earlier publications existed—like the Adelphi College Fortnightly (1921–1946) and the Adelphi Guidon (1946–1951)—it was The Delphian that truly took root, growing from a scrappy four-page weekly paper into an award-winning newsroom.

In its very first issue, the inaugural student editors issued a bold call to action that still drives the team today:

“Take notice, Adelphi, and give your representative voice all your backing. The Delphian is new, but most of all, the year is new. What better time is there to get those dingy scowls off our faces and ‘do something’?”

Today, The Delphian is winning recognition—including three awards in 2025 from the Press Club of Long Island, and many others over the years, including Best College Newspaper and Best College Reporter.

Time Travel in the Campus Archives

How did past generations handle absolute chaos? In the spring of 2026, Professor Maria Cristina Zaccarini, PhD, took students from her sophomore history deep into the archives at Swirbul Library to find out.

Heading down the stairs and into the stacks, students cracked open old issues of The Delphian from the 1960s and 1970s, analyzing how past Panthers reacted to the Vietnam War, the political earthquake of Watergate and the fight for gender equality.

“Adelphi was ahead of the curve in many ways with the free speech movement and protesting the Vietnam War,” Dr. Zaccarini explained. “There were incredible insights that made you understand the mindset of the entire community, just like our newspaper today helps us understand who we are right now.”

Launching Real Careers (and Bestselling Authors)

Joining the Delphian team isn’t just an extracurricular—it’s a hands-on career accelerator. You learn how to ask tough questions, connect with people of all kinds, meet real deadlines and lead teams.

Consider Alice Hoffman ’73, ’02 (Hon.). Before she became the New York Times bestselling author of the hit novel Practical Magic, she was sitting in the Delphian newsroom developing her writing voice.

Liza Burby, senior adjunct at Adelphi and faculty adviser for The Delphian from 2013 to 2025, emphasizes that student journalism pushes people out of their comfort zones in the best way possible, preparing them for their careers.

“Having to come up with article ideas, figure out how to get the information you need to tell the story, and then being able to either interview someone on the phone or across a table—those are skills that a lot of people are really hesitant to pursue,” she said.

Professor of communications Paul Thaler, PhD, who preceded Burby as advisor to the paper, sees work on the paper as a powerful rite of passage for students.

“As a student-journalist, you are an active witness to events and also a commentator to ongoing matters of importance on campus, with the power to heighten the collective consciousness of the University,” he said. “In short, a student writing for The Delphian now wears the badge of a journalist—a�Ի� that is an empowering feeling.”

That culture of mentorship creates a chain reaction where experienced editors help train the newest writers on campus.

“I’ve grown so much as a writer,” said Arpan Josan, a recent editor-in-chief who will graduate in December 2026. “It has challenged me to create meaningful articles and engage with different topics. As an editor, I’ve been able to help younger writers develop their skills while sharpening my own.

The Next Page

The Delphian is not standing still. Current faculty adviser Suzanne Valenza and the student staff are focused on leveling up their digital footprint.

“Our goal is to make the absolute go-to spot for campus news,” Valenza said. “We are building a strong staff with regular meetings in our redesigned office—a space where students can hang out, swap story ideas, debate current events or just kick back with friends.”

Alumni and current students are also invited to celebrate 75 years of student voices at a special anniversary event on October 17 as part of Spirit Weekend.

It’s a homecoming for generations of writers, photographers and designers who left their mark on campus—a�Ի� proof that student voices at Adelphi continue to shape the future.

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Michael LaCombe, PhD, Associate Professor of History

In this Q&A, we sit down with Michael Lacombe, PhD, associate professor in the Adelphi University Department of History—a�Ի� superfan—to leaf through the series’ folklore. From the base’s original purpose to the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s, Dr. Lacombe offers his thoughts on how the era’s paranoia mixed with the eastward explosion of suburban Long Island created an ideal breeding ground for Stranger Things.

He also offers a historian’s-eye critique of the show’s evolution, the “mindset” of the 1980s and why the series finale might have played it a little too safe—spoiler alert!

Camp Hero has been called the “Hawkins Lab” of the East End. What can you tell us about the original purpose of this base during WWII and the Cold War and why it became such a fixation of conspiracy theories?

I have no idea what the base was built for and what it may have been used for while it was active. I think that even today and especially during the Cold War, secrecy is kind of a reflex reaction for most of the military: They didn’t and don’t really need a good reason to keep things classified, beyond the fact that it makes it harder for us taxpayers to know where our money is going.

Some of the Cold War espionage stories I do know about seem either banal or just bizarre, like planting a booby-trapped seashell for Fidel Castro to find while snorkeling. If someone smuggled news of that plan out of a place like Camp Hero, or got drunk at a local bar on the East End and talked too much, no one would believe that was the real plan. A booby-trapped seashell? There would be all sorts of speculation about what the “seashell” is, and the military would encourage the weird stuff to make it even harder to know what was really going on.

is the best example: I’ve read recent articles that claim the military has fostered and even spread weird stories about aliens there to cover up the more unsavory aspects of what they do everywhere. And they may also think it’s fun, trolling the civilians.

A structure that is one of the many support buildings located at Camp Hero State Park in Montauk, NY, the real-life inspiration for “Hawkins Lab” featured in Netflix’s Stranger Things.

Do you have any thoughts on how Camp Hero influenced the mythology featured in the series?

I’m sure the base was built when there was nothing much out there and Long Island grew to meet it, so it was surrounded by ordinary people doing ordinary things by the time of the Cold War. That was also (of course) the time of the automobile and the highway and the explosion of population on Long Island, so all of a sudden suburban neighborhoods found themselves next to “secret” bases. I think this is an important part of how this mythology grew, as the American population exploded and expanded in the years after World War II.

You could say the same thing about wolves or mountain lions: They’ve always been there, of course, but now people have moved into their territory and surrounded them and they’re a thing, a problem—military bases haven’t been there that long, but I think it’s likely that in the 70s and 80s people just started to notice them.

Hawkins’s status as a kind of Everytown USA, with a mall and a Blockbuster, is very important to the show, and I imagine that 75 years ago Montauk could have thought of itself in the same way (like Amity Island was in the movies). It’s hard to imagine anyone envisioning the East End as Everytown USA today.

Are there any elements of the Camp Hero project that still remain in Montauk?

I’ve never been out there, but I understand there are some beautiful, rusting relics still standing: a radar tower and gun emplacements (there are lots of these, it turns out—I’m familiar with a series of bunkers and gun batteries in Casco Bay, Maine). I think responsibility is now New York state’s and not the Army or the federal government, and that some areas are closed off because they’re dangerous and/or contaminated. And (as we know from the Hudson River) it takes a lot of time and money to remedy some kinds of environmental contamination. But all this feeds back into the reason why we’re interested in such places and why being forbidden to go there makes us even more interested and curious—a�Ի� dubious—about the boring official explanations (you are likely to be seriously injured and the Army doesn’t want to get sued).

Think about this comparison: The Army gave Governor’s Island to New York City and the state, but there are no stories about that: It’s a beautiful place, largely intact, that’s now a park with great old brick buildings and astonishing views. But the barbed wire, rusting tower, gloomy bunkers and “Danger–Keep Out” signs just lend to Camp Hero’s eerie 80s aura. And there are lots and lots of photo-essays of dead malls with weeds growing in the food court—it’s the same vibe of mysterious and evocative places.

And anyway, we’re still talking about it!

Eleven’s story is said to be grounded in the CIA project MKUltra. The Hellfire Club is a nod to the “Satanic Panic” of the 80s. And so much of the series is colored by fears from the Cold War era. Can you delve a little deeper into the American history that influenced the show?

The Hellfire Club was also a big shout-out to the original (D&D) players from that era. A lot of cool people today pretend they were “really into” D&D in the 80s, but they weren’t—it was a game for outcasts and recluses and misfits like Eddie and Dusty Buns and the gang. D&D changes the equation of the popular fear of satanic influence, too—there was a lot of fear in those days just as there is today, about mysterious forces preying on American youth. It wasn’t communism anymore (even the Reagan administration couldn’t make a credible case that American teenagers in the 80s were closet commies). But the broader conspiracy theories that the show is based on (secret bases, secret experiments, the military/scientific/paranormal) acted at the time against all sorts of things. The destroyed lives, and the just made it impossible for a kid I played Little League with to come over and play D&D with us. But I think the show didn’t just plant 80s cultural references like Easter eggs: It had a very 80s mindset and sensibility.

So I thought one of the most interesting things about the show was not that it was “about” anti-communist fears of sinister satanic forces infiltrating small-town, authentic American heartland lives. That was all true in the show, right? The Soviets really were training a strike force of interdimensional creatures and all that. It was more the way it inhabited that 80s world of paranoia so fully, the same world that gave us all those classic horror franchises. Subterranean tunnel networks—what could be a more obvious symbol of this? A parallel dimension—all of that.

So the varsity hoops team beating up the D&D club was part of the way the show inhabited the 80s sensibility, but so was the casual way that our heroes, including Sheriff Hopper (a Vietnam vet—another essential element of the 80s anti-government conspiracy mix) shot American soldiers as they invaded the base in the final season. That was right out of , and I found it frankly jarring—there was another scene where an Army sniper in a helicopter was gunning down scientists fleeing a secret desert lab, laughing as he shot them. The portrayal of soldiers in these ways was really not something we’re used to seeing much these days.

Stranger Things was rooted in the very real tensions of the Cold War.

Most importantly, what did you think of the ending?

Not enough death. I think the show took on a cultural resonance way bigger than its story and characters, and (let’s face it) the “tension” between Nancy and Jonathan or the bromance between Dustin “Dusty Buns” and Steve “The Hair” Harrington was never going to sustain the show. So they added character after character, and only Eddie and Bob ended up dying. I thought both of those characters’ deaths were important and gripping, and I thought we’d see a few more as they wrapped things up. But I think it just became impossible to kill off Mike, or Max, or Robin, or Hopper, etc., etc.

So as the final season wrapped up, we were left with a lot of long conversations to tie up plotlines that took too much time and were kind of implausible. Joyce vanished, and she was not only a great character but also Winona Ryder, which is a very important point to a person my age. But the biggest problem was time: There wasn’t enough time for the final boss fight, so it was a letdown—Nancy got to blast things, okay, but it was too easy. And no one died!?! Who’d have thought Hawkins v. Vecna would be a shutout?

These multi-season streaming series are a strange and new phenomenon, almost a new form of storytelling. The show writers try to get renewed, so they open up the conflict the way Stranger Things did in the first couple seasons without resolving it (so they *have* to make a new season and get paid). But this kind of narrative lends itself to just this sort of problem. My daughters would have been very sad to see Max or Robin die in the finale, so why do it? It would have soured the show for them, and the finale served the purpose of the show well enough. Not every series can end perfectly the way did.

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We live in an era of unprecedented access to information and in these moments of extraordinary change, reading books or diving into history seem at best, quaintly out of date, or at worst, an indulgence that cannot create the same opportunity that we see in other growing fields like computer science or marketing. As someone who works in higher education, I can tell you that there is always talk about the demise of the humanities. In moments of technological innovation, these conversations intensify, and yet, these are the points in history that need the humanities the most.

The humanities—the study of literature, language, history or philosophy—offer opportunities to think about why our world is the way it is, and give its students the tools to meet the changes we face. , but not always obvious, even as humanities students find their paths in education, law, business, management and the not-for-profit sector. The humanities invest in processes—developing critical thinking skills, intellectual creativity and flexibility. Put simply, humanities students know how to learn. At Adelphi, we have seen our graduates go on to become published authors, teachers, lawyers and technological innovators, finding jobs and building careers in unexpected and thrillingly varied fields. To follow the humanities is to pursue a passion, but that doesn’t mean that those of us who do so have to choose between that and a satisfying and lucrative career. We consider ourselves the lucky ones—more often than not, we can have both.

Here’s the thing about the humanities: The path ahead isn’t always clear. We take a road map, and set out on a path, perhaps stopping to listen to the stories or histories that will guide us on our path, and keep moving forward. As we study the humanities, building vast reserves of intellectual curiosity, empathy and problem-solving skills, we are moving toward jobs that we haven’t yet realized exist—or perhaps even jobs that don’t yet exist. We move with creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit that will serve us well in the world—not only as an employee, or (better yet) a boss, but as a human being, navigating the rapidly changing world with a sense of history, a sense of compassion and a sense of purpose. We understand how history and culture have brought us to this point in time, and we have the ability to imagine what comes next. We are, as Shakespeare put it, makers of manners.

In a world where technology insists that answers can be given instantly, and the world can feel increasingly unsettled, it can be hard to invest in a long-term strategy that can only promise to take you to places you are willing to go. But the outcomes are always worth it.

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This summer, undergraduate research is heating up on and off campus, thanks to support from the Scholars Pursuing Arts, Research and Knowledge (SPARK) Center, the Honors College and other funding sources. These program offerings ensure that every undergraduate has the tools to spark their curiosity—a�Ի� immerse themselves in the University’s culture of research, creativity and innovation.

Honors College Students Explore the Past, the Future and Everything in Between

Vincent Calvagno, a history major and rising senior in the Honors College, is spending the summer doing research supported by two fellowships—an Honors College Summer Research Fellowship and a . Remarkably, he is the lone undergraduate in the group of 48 scholars from around the nation who received MHS fellowships this year.

History major Vincent Calvagno is researching water and property in the colonial era for his Honors thesis. He is one of just 48 research scholars selected by the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Calvagno is using the fellowships to comb through the archives of MHS, the , and for his Honors thesis project, “Aquatic Appropriation: Water and Property in Colonial New England.” Much of what he’s paging through hasn’t been unearthed in decades, sometimes even centuries. “It’s made me more thoughtful about how I bring the distant past to life,” he said.

With guidance from his research adviser, associate professor of history Michael Lacombe, PhD, Calvagno is working to discover the role that access to fresh water played in relations between colonists and the Indigenous population and to place it in the context of larger geopolitical trends of the colonial era. His findings may even shed light on current issues. “Our world is experiencing a rising water scarcity crisis right now,” he explained, “so in looking back into the history of water possession, I hope to potentially gain insight into some of the root causes of this problem.”

Calvagno isn’t the only Honors College student to receive two fellowships. Troy Cofie, a rising senior majoring in economics and minoring in mathematics and political science, won an award to do research with the University of Pittsburgh’s National Science Foundation-funded Mobilization and Political Economy Summer Research Program. He was one of only eight students chosen nationwide for this program.

Cofie is using the National Science Foundation and Honors College fellowships to conduct research for his Honors thesis, “Social Embeddedness and Legal Institutionalism: Alternative Frameworks for Economic Policymaking.” Mariano Torras, PhD, professor and chair of the finance and economics department, is the adviser for Cofie’s Honors College summer research project.

“A Diverse Group of Thinkers” Tackles Research Topics from Energy to Neuroscience

Honors College students Aruzhan Bissenbay, Nadirah Peakes and Mickeylia Walker are working with Professor Brian Stockman, PhD, who last year won a $311,000 National Science Foundation grant to explore the origins of life on Earth. Now, Dr. Stockman is supervising the three students as they tackle separate pieces of his . The impact of their findings could reach well beyond the scholarly community, generating real-world value for projects such as .

Much like other research partnerships at the University, Dr. Stockman’s student team exemplifies the richness of the Adelphi community. “I wanted a diverse group of thinkers,” he told Adelphi in 2024. Since then, he’s staffed his lab with students who bring a variety of disciplinary perspectives to their work. Bissenbay, an international student from Kazakhstan, is a mathematics major. Peakes is a computer science major, while Walker is majoring in biology and minoring in African, Black and Caribbean studies.

Elias Nauth, a junior psychology major and political science minor, is working with Michael Moore, PhD, associate professor of psychology, on “Trauma in the First Responder Population,” a project inspired by his work as an EMT on a volunteer ambulance squad. By identifying where trauma comes from and how it manifests, Nauth hopes to provide data that can guide future therapeutic treatments for first responders.

The other Honors College summer fellows are drawing on their studies in neuroscience, public health, physics and other fields to produce equally impactful work. Read more about their projects on the Undergraduate Summer Research and Fellowships page.

SPARKing Students’ Passion for Research

The SPARK Center is foundational to the Adelphi undergraduate experience. SPARK Summer Research Fellowships are designed to encourage important inquiry in fields outside the lab sciences, empowering Adelphi students to follow their passions wherever they lead—from the archives to the rehearsal room to the community center.

This summer, SPARK fellows are unlocking the brain’s secrets with projects focused on the relationship between socio-cognitive impairment and mental illness and how gaming can help older adults maintain cognition. They’re also exploring theme development in dance choreography, examining the role of AI in employee retention strategies, translating their coming of age into a story collection, and more.

There are many other fellowships available for Adelphi students interested in specific areas of research: the Landesberg Family Summer Research Fellowship for chemistry students, the Mary Klement Fellowship for physics students, and a Bhisé Center Field Research Travel Grant for global research. The 2025 Bhisé grant was awarded to Clara Ossandón Melo, a dual dance and psychology major, who is exploring dance and women’s empowerment in Butoh, a form of Japanese dance theater.

Maintaining Adelphi’s Global Reach Throughout the Summer

Adelphi’s commitment to global engagement is also evident in a Poland-based summer research program led by Justyna Widera-Kalinowska, PhD, professor of chemistry. Every year since 2014, Dr. Widera-Kalinowska has taken a group of Adelphi students to Poland to conduct research on nanotechnologies with top scientists at the University of Warsaw. The program is funded by International Research Experiences for Students grants from the

This summer’s participants are posting about their experiences in and outside the lab—including seminars, educational workshops, and trips around Europe, along with cutting-edge projects on green energy and sustainability—on the . Visit that page for more direct reports from Adelphi students on their research efforts.

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Provost and Executive Vice President Christopher Storm, PhD, remembered Dr. Starkey as “a valued member of the Adelphi family. He was a respected historian, dedicated educator and cherished colleague whose contributions to our academic community were profound and lasting.”

Dr. Starkey’s Adelphi career began in 1968 when he joined the history department and spanned his service as a professor, Department of History chair, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, provost of the University, and chair of the Faculty Senate. Dr. Starkey retired in 2009.

A historian of the British and Scottish Enlightenment, he was also the author of seminal histories—European and Native American Warfare, 1675-1815 and War in the Age of the Enlightenment, 1700-1789.

A Man of Reason

Martin Haas, PhD, associate professor of history, characterized War in the Age of Enlightenment as Dr. Starkey’s “culminating work, in which he examined the potential strategic and practical influence of enlightenment ideas on the military in the 18th century.”

According to Dr. Haas, his former colleague personified the great values of Enlightenment thought. “He was a man of reason based on empirical evidence and exemplified the value of civic virtue—which is why he served the department and University so ably,” he recalled.

A Belief in the Rule of Law

“Lastly, he believed in the rule of law and not the rule of men.” This principle guided him in 1997 when Adelphi made history by removing its president and board of trustees for not meeting their responsibilities, and during his subsequent service as University provost from 1997 to 1999.

Lester Baltimore, PhD, professor emeritus of history, who joined the Department of History faculty alongside Dr. Starkey, remembered his colleague as a person of great integrity, whose many contributions to Adelphi were, in his words, “huge.”

Yet despite the many academic and administrative roles he so ably filled at Adelphi, Dr. Starkey’s first love was sharing his love of history in the classroom. “His students appreciated that,” Dr. Haas recalled.

A Good Friend

Dr. Haas also noted that his friend, as well as being a loving father and grandfather, was a “great conversationalist who would have been comfortable in a Paris salon or Edinburgh coffeehouse. He personified some of the best aspects of the style of the Enlightenment—by that I mean the wit and sense of humor of Voltaire, Jonathan Swift and Samuel Johnson.”

Simply put, Dr. Baltimore said, “He was a very close friend, and I miss him a lot.”

The post Remembering Professor Armstrong (Lou) Starkey, PhD: Distinguished Historian, Author, Dean and Provost appeared first on Adelphi University.

When history major Thea Crouch came to Adelphi, she knew she wanted to do original research alongside a faculty member.

“I wanted to assist a professor since the prospect of discovering historic information and sharing it with others is so exciting,” said Crouch, who is entering her senior year this fall.

She’s been able to do that in her three years at the University. Now she is working on her own in-depth research project, with the help of associate professor and chair of the history department Edward Reno, PhD, as one of six students to receive an Undergraduate Research and Creative Works Summer Fellowship from Adelphi.

Supporting Projects by Students of History, English, Psychology, Neuroscience, Computer Science and Dance

The summer fellowship program, which was launched last year as one of the first programs established by Adelphi’s new Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Works, was made for students like Crouch.

“The new fellowships were created to show that research can be done not only in the lab, but outside the lab,” said Justyna Widera-Kalinowska, PhD, professor of chemistry and director of the office. “The fellowships support all of Adelphi’s Core Four areas of study and join the fellowships offered to students in the lab sciences.” (Adelphi’s Core Four include arts and humanities, STEM and social sciences, the business and education professions, and health and wellness.)

Fellowship winners were selected out of around 20 students who submitted in-depth proposals. Fellows receive a $4,000 stipend; their faculty advisers receive $1,000.

Crouch is using her fellowship to conduct research into the history of the , a soaring landmark in Garden City, New York, that serves as the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. Opened in 1885, the cathedral was built by the family of Alexander T. Stewart, a department store magnate and one of America’s richest men at the time of his death, to honor his memory. Adelphi University stands on grounds formerly owned by the cathedral.

The goals of Crouch’s project are to learn more about the cathedral’s history by examining its archives and to create a digital catalog of cathedral documents for use by future researchers.

Meet Our Other 2024 Summer Research Fellows

The five other undergraduates joining Crouch as summer fellows have projects that are equally ambitious.

• Sarah Marino, a dance major entering her senior year, is attending workshops held by a major dance company to explore new styles and techniques that she can incorporate in her own choreography. Her faculty adviser is Orion Duckstein, associate professor and chair of the Department of Dance.
• Brienna Connor, a rising junior who is majoring in English with a minor in African, Black and Caribbean Studies, is conducting research into the myths and legends of Black Americans from the time of the slave trade and onward. She is being advised by Patricia Lespinasse, PhD, associate professor of African, Black and Caribbean Studies.
• Katelyn Schwab, a psychology major set to enter her senior year, is conducting an experiment to compare the effects of a range of political and legal issues on the well-being of LGBTQ+ individuals. She is being advised by Chana Etengoff, PhD, associate professor in the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology.

• Heather Gittelson, an Honors College student and rising senior majoring in neuroscience, is conducting an experiment to assess how taking the perspective of a family member in the future impacts their perception of climate change risks. Her adviser is Karolina Lempert, PhD, assistant professor in the Derner School.
• Vaishnavi Dixit, a statistics major who is also an Honors College student and rising senior, is continuing her work on developing a k-nearest neighbor algorithm that can improve decision-making in finance, security and other areas. Her adviser is Josh Hiller, PhD, associate professor of mathematics and computer science.

Expanding Adelphi’s Commitment to Undergraduate Research

The new summer fellowships join a robust program of offerings overseen by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Works, which was created in response to the increased emphasis the University’s Momentum 2 strategic plan placed on undergraduate research. They include Honors College Summer Research Fellowships for honors students in any field; Landesberg Family Summer Research Fellowships for students in chemistry; and McDonell Summer Research Fellowships for biology, chemistry and physics students.

Dr. Widera-Kalinowska leads her own summer program, taking a group of students to Poland each summer since 2014 to conduct research on nanotechnologies with top scientists at the University of Warsaw. The program is funded by International Research Experiences for Students grants from the National Science Foundation.

As director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Works, she is now working to make research a part of every undergraduate’s experience.

“The new summer fellowships were created not only to support students who want to do research, but as a way to encourage even more students to do research,” she said. “We also want the fellowships to advertise research, to attract students who aren’t yet involved in research projects. ”

Undergraduate Research Benefits Both Faculty and Students

The office is busily doing that over the summer, posting frequent updates on its about the work that fellows are doing and the experiences they’re having. This fall, the office will host a series of research workshops for students on a wide range of topics, including how to use different search engines, how to find a faculty mentor and how to apply for student research funding. Dr. Widera-Kalinowska would also like to start a student salon on Zoom that would give students who are doing research an opportunity to share their work.

And students aren’t the only audience Dr. Widera-Kalinowska hopes to reach. The office will also begin offering workshops to faculty members encouraging them to include undergraduates in their research.

“We want faculty members to see that there is a mutual benefit to involving students in their research,” she said. “Students are so motivated and can learn quickly from faculty members and provide real support. I don’t have the time to do all the measurements, but my students can do them quickly. Because of that help, I’ve been able to publish things I couldn’t have done without their help. I can’t clone myself, after all.”

And, she said, there are other pleasures in working with students.

“You give them new responsibilities and they thrive. They come back from the research experience and they’re so mature. They’ve spread their wings, become independent. It is very gratifying.”

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“Their presentations received more attention than mine did,” said Dr. Torres. “I was with them at the beginning and helped them to practice their presentations. But soon, they attracted constant attention from the public.”

It Started as a Classroom Exercise

Dr. Torres’ spring semester course, Spain Today, covered topics such as contemporary cinema, literature and nationalism. But he also dedicated class time for students to choose their own topics of interest, then prepare and submit research abstracts to NeMLA.

“With the help of AI, we practiced how to create prompts to produce a satisfactory abstract,” he explained. “We worked on editing those abstracts to be ready for submission—a�Ի� every student in the class sent in their proposals. Several students’ proposals were selected to present at the conference.”

For Dr. Torres’ students, the opportunity to present at a major conference was a win-win in terms of résumé building and crafting graduate school or job applications. “You need to convince. You need ideas, you need examples, you need to show your potential. And the best indicator for future results is always your past work,” he said.

Showcasing a Refuge for Chinese Comfort Women and Children

Gawrinauth, a history major, elected to showcase her advanced research on how Minnie Vautrin, an American missionary and head of Ginling College in Nanjing, China, during the 1937–1938 Nanjing Massacre, made the college a refuge for women and children escaping Japanese brutality. Many of these women, according to Gawrinauth, were thought to be former comfort women—women who had been forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese.

It’s a topic that invites parallels to contemporary sex trafficking. “Understanding these past atrocities can shed light on the enduring patterns of abuse, exploitation and resilience. By learning from history, we can better advocate for and protect victims of sex trafficking today,” Gawrinauth insisted.

History professor Maria Cristina Zaccarini, PhD’s Gender in Modern China course “ignited my passion to learn more about these resilient women and share their stories with others,” Gawrinauth recalled.

For Gawrinauth, presenting her research at the NeMLA conference “not only allowed me to share my findings, but also served as a valuable learning opportunity to enhance my speaking skills.”

In addition to her NeMLA poster presentation, her paper, “Bound by Love: Uncovering Familial Love and Sisterhood Among Chinese Comfort Women During WWII,” received two other accolades: It was published in the and earned her the undergraduate .

Exploring the Portuguese Tradition of the “Melancholy Portuguese” in Spanish Literature

Goncalves’ presentation was “related to things we talked about in class, and that appealed to her Portuguese cultural heritage,” Dr. Torres reported. “She is an accomplished student who explored how Portuguese people were depicted in Spanish literature.”

Her focus was on the portrayal of the melancholic Portuguese—a characterization closely linked to Portuguese saudade, an emotional, nostalgic—a�Ի� often bittersweet and sorrowful—longing for the past.

Miguel de Cervantes’ final, masterful novel, The Trials of Persiles and Sigismunda: A Northern Story, recounts the adventures of lovers’ two-year journey to Rome. Along the way, they encountered a Portuguese man who was melancholic because he’d canceled his marriage at the last minute as he said he was married to God.

Goncalves, according to Dr. Torres, connected Cervantes’ classic tale to Portuguese fado—a traditional music genre that embodies the melancholy, soulful yearning known as saudade.

A Validating Experience

For both students, Dr. Torres said, “the experience talks about their excellence, initiative, motivation, professionalism and healthy ambition. It mainly shows that they can be successful in producing results.”

His students’ posters are displayed in Alumnae Hall, for all to see and enjoy.

As for the students, now alumnae, both will continue to pursue their master’s degrees in education at the Adelphi University School of Education in the Ruth S. Ammon College of Education and Health Sciences.

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