Category: Students

SHUShelf: A Textbook Exchange For Students, By Students

Submitted By: Adreanna B. Dones, Samantha R. Gizzi, and Edward T. Vela

Tired of Buying Expensive Textbooks?    We’ve Got You Covered!

Ever find yourself buying a textbook for just one class, only to have it collect dust on your shelf forever? We get it. Textbooks are expensive, and sometimes you only need them for a semester. That’s why we created SHUShelf, a student-led, Buccino-supported initiative that makes textbooks more accessible for the entire Seton Hall community.

What is SHUShelf?

SHUShelf is a textbook exchange program designed to help students access the books they need—without breaking the bank. Whether you’re taking a CORE class, in the Honors Program, or any other specified course, we accept and exchange textbooks across all disciplines. Through student and alumni donations, we’ve built a growing collection of over 300 books (and counting!).

How It Works

Getting a textbook through SHUShelf is easy! Just fill out a simple form here with:

Your Name
SHU ID Number
The Book(s) You Need

If we have the textbook in our system, we’ll get it to you!

Additionally, we maintain a real-time inventory of available books to ensure a seamless experience. You can view the live list here.

Where to Find Us

Location: 2nd Floor, Walsh Library
Book Exchange: By Appointment

We operate at the beginning and end of each semester for open hours. During the semester, students can access drop boxes for book donations and schedule pick-ups by appointment.

Why SHUShelf?

Despite having no official marketing campaign or funding, we’ve already made a big impact:

✅ 300+ books available
✅ 25+ students directly helped so far
✅ Official partnership with Walsh Library

Join the Movement

SHUShelf isn’t just about books—it’s about students helping students. By donating, exchanging, or spreading the word, you’re making academic resources more accessible for your peers. Whether you need a textbook or want to give one a new home, SHUShelf is here for you.

Looking for a textbook or interested in donating one?

Visit us at Walsh Library or contact our founding members for more information:

Adreanna Dones – adreanna.dones@student.shu.edu

Samantha Gizzi – samantha.gizzi@student.shu.edu

Edward Vela – edward.vela@student.shu.edu

 

Exciting Fellowship Opportunity for All Seton Hall Students: New Jersey Wind Fellowship

Project Overview: The New Jersey Wind Institute Fellowship Program sponsored by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) features Seton Hall University as a participating institute. This program helps graduate and undergraduate students from all disciplines advance knowledge and expertise around offshore wind energy in the state of New Jersey.

This new program provides opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to pursue research or projects focused on the offshore wind industry. Fellows will conduct independent research in collaboration with a Seton Hall faculty member to build student and faculty expertise in the offshore wind industry.

Fellows will together participate in industry training, guest lectures, site visits, and other activities to enhance their knowledge of the offshore wind industry and gain exposure to key industry stakeholders.

The Fellowship Program is open to students at Seton Hall from all disciplines and backgrounds. Past projects from students at other participating Wind Institute universities have spanned across the STEM, social sciences, and humanities fields.

Applications for the fellowship are open. The deadline to apply is August 25, 2023 with notification of acceptance coming on August 31, 2023. The program will run from September 2023 until August 2024 (one academic year and one summer).

Eligibility Requirements:

  • Undergraduate students: rising juniors only (Class of 2025)
  • Graduate students: all graduate and professional students. The fellowship program is open to Seton Hall students from all fields of study.
  • No prior experience with offshore wind is required, but students must be in good academic and disciplinary standing.

Stipend Breakdown & Program Expectations:

  • Undergraduate fellows will be awarded a fellowship totaling $15,000 plus an additional $1,000 for travel, materials, and other fellowship expenses.
  • Fall and Spring: fellowship funds will amount to $4,800 per semester. Students are expected to work eight weeks per semester during the academic year, for no more than 10 hours per week.
  • Summer: fellows will receive $5,400 for nine weeks of summer research. Students are expected to work approximately 33 hours per week.
  •  Graduate fellows will be awarded a fellowship of $30,000, plus an additional $1,000 for travel, materials, and other fellowship expenses.

Applying: The New Jersey Wind Institute Fellowship opportunity application must include:

  • A proposal with a description (maximum of 2 pages) of the research project.
  • Brief personal statement (~250 words), explaining the students’ motivation for applying for the fellowship and what skills and past experience you bring to the project.
  • Resume or CV.
  • Unofficial transcript.
  • Letter of recommendation from the faculty mentor.

More Information: Please consult the New Jersey Wind Institute Fellowship Program website: https://library.shu.edu/NJWindFellowship for additional details.

Questions? Send fellowship inquiries to Prof. Jose L. Lopez at jose.lopez1@shu.edu

President of SHU Black Student Union on the Meaning of Kwanzaa

Guest blog post by Thanelie Bien-Aime, a senior biology major and president of the Black Student Union (BSU)

I didn’t grow up celebrating Kwanzaa and my first real experience with it was through BSU. Coming into college, I experienced a new sense of Black pride. Through Africana classes and organizations like the Black Student Union, I embraced the connectedness of Pan-Africanism and learned more about black culture, social justice, activism, and community service. Each year, the BSU would host a program to teach and celebrate Kwanzaa, and there would always be community members who had personal stories of the Holiday to share. For example Ghana Hylton, who works within Student Services at SHU, has assisted BSU for the past 2 years to facilitate engaging and informative content. Our main goal is not only to teach the history of the holiday but for people, especially those of African descent, to understand why it is relevant to them.

Kwanzaa’s 7 principles are Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith). All of these principles are significant to my various roles; health advocate, performing artist, student leader, community member, and the list goes on. Kwanzaa empowers my identity and emphasizes my connection to the world. You might not celebrate Kwanzaa with all of the traditional customs or symbols but celebrating can be as simple as allowing the principles to positively change you, your relationships, and your work. Like many holidays, it’s a time that emphasizes reflection, giving, family, community, and culture.
I would suggest taking a look at BSU’s Instagram page @setonhallbsu. We have uploaded Ghana’s Kwanzaa 101 video and our saved IG Live program from earlier this month. We’ll also continue sharing some more Kwanzaa content.

Kwanzaa will begin on Saturday, December 26, 2020 and end on Friday, January 1, 2021. 

For Africana Studies databases, books, and resources, please visit the SHU Libraries Africana Studies Research Guide.

Latinx Law Students Commemorate Centennial of 19th Amendment with Heritage Month Panel Event 

In the spirit of the “Mi Voz” initiative developed by the Unanue Institute, the Seton Hall University Hispanic Heritage Committee, and the Seton Hall Archives, we seek to spend this month creating connections, exploring resources, celebrating voices, and opening doors. We are pleased to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month with the first of a series of student guest blog posts written by members of  the Seton Hall Latin American, Latina/o/x, and Hispanic community.

The Seton Hall Latin American Law Student Association (LALSA)’s 5th Annual Sangria Social will occur Monday, Sept. 21st 4-6pm via Zoom.  Register to attend.

In celebration of Latinx Heritage Month and in commemoration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment’s, LALSA invites current students, alumni, friends, faculty, and allies to Women of Color in Political Movements: Celebrating an Under-Recognized Power 100 Years Later. Join us as we learn from and engage with our distinguished panelists for a discussion about the impact that women of color have made in political movements, the history behind Equal Rights Amendment, and the future of gender equality in politics and beyond. 

We are humbled by the opportunity to learn from the following panelists:  

  1. Professor Michael Coenen — Professor of Law at Seton Hall Law, and U.S. Constitutional Law Scholar  
  2. Professor Cathleen D. Cahill — Associate Professor of History at Penn State University 
  3. Kerlyn Espinal — New Jersey Department of Education – Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Cultural and Historic Commissions  
  4. Amelia Adams — Chair of 21 in ‘21 and New York Equity Advocates Advisory Board Member 
  5. Maria Del Cid-Kosso — Director of Legislative Services, Office of the Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Health 
  6. Assemblywoman Maritza Davila — New York State Assembly District 53 

Register for the event at this to receive program details and login information. 

Who We Are:  

The Latin American Law Students Association (LALSA) at Seton Hall University School of Law is a non-profit organization committed to the following goals: Fostering individual achievements; Providing necessary services to the law school community; Addressing legal issues of the minority community. 

Our mission is to educate the law school community on the benefits of diversity and create awareness of the challenges that Latino communities currently face.

LALSA achieves its goals by providing academic, professional and social support for all students by recognizing the achievements of Latino students and alumni, so that lessons may be learned, mentorship relationships created, and friendships established among the current LALSA members. 

Suggested Readings:  

One of our distinguished panelists, Dr. Cathleen D. Cahill, is an author and Professor of History at Penn State University. Her newest publication, Recasting the Vote: How Women of Color Transformed the Suffrage Movement, will be published in November. LALSA is recommending this book for purchase by the SHU Libraries.

If you would like to make your own Latinx/Hispanic Heritage book suggestions this month, you can do so by filling out the Latinx Book Survey.  

If you’re interested in learning more, we have also collected the following amazing recommendations from our panelists: 

The following are titles SHU Libraries does not yet own. You can Suggest a Latinx Book Purchase or Request a Copy through Interlibrary Loan.

TV Show
One Day At A Time (Available on Netflix) not available for purchase by libraries due to licensing restrictions

Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15th to October 15th. For more information about the Seton Hall University Hispanic Heritage Month events and participants, visit the homepage.

Caribbean American Heritage Month

Happy Caribbean American Heritage Month! To learn more about Caribbean culture, life, and history, we partnered with SHU’s West Indian Student Organization (WISO) and compiled a list of reading recommendations. Below is a list recommended by Ijah Penn, the treasurer of SHU WISO. To see more reading recommendations, you can go on Instagram and follow #caribbeanreads, and you can get involved in SHU WISO or learn more about their organization by following their Instagram: shu_wiso

Additionally, Chelsea Barrett, Business Librarian and Africana Studies liaison, compiled a new Research Guide on Caribbean Studies. Please check it out and provide feedback!

1. Land of Love and Drowning (2014)- The author Tiphanie Yanique represents St. Thomas and the U.S Virgin Islands. The story is a book of twisted and dark family secrets that plague the Bradshaw women over 60 years in the early 90’s in the U.S Virgin Islands. The novel is available as a print book in the library.

2. Elizabeth Nunez is a Trinidadian author who writes about internal cultural and societal struggles and the complex identities of her characters reflect the turmoil of these challenges. Two of Nunez’s works listed below can be found in the SHU library catalog as ebooks: Even in Paradise (2016),  and Not Everyday Use (2014).

3. The Dragon Can’t Dance (1986) by Earl Lovelace is a novel that discusses the difficulty of postcolonial Trinidad. The story is told through one man’s preparations of an elaborate dragon costume for Carnival as he attempts to shed the struggles of his life after Emancipation.  This book can be found in print in the library.

5. A Brief History of the Seven Killing (2014) is written by Marlon James, who represents Jamaica. The novel is a suspense-filled fictional story about Jamaica’s history and the political climate of the 1960’s through the 80’s. This book can be found in print in the library.

6. Esmeralda Santiago is a prominent Puerto Rican author in the United States. She writes memoirs that encapsulate her own assimilation into this American culture and way of life, which allow others with similar experiences to relate and feel represented. Her writing showcases themes of self-discovery, immigration, working-class immigrant experience and biculturalism.

Below are just a few samples of her writing and contributions:

Esmeralda Santiago. “El Hombre Que Yo Amo.” Ploughshares, vol. 26, no. 2/3, 2000, p. 146. EBSCOhost. Link to Read Full Text.

Video: “Esmeralda Santiago discusses her novel When I Was Puerto Rican.”

More selections from Santiago’s writing are also available to read in this print book, Boricuas: Influential Puerto Rican Writings — An Anthology. 

 

Uniting #SetonHall2020 and Beyond: Personal Narratives of COVID-19

The University Libraries partnered with Professor Angela Kariotis-Kotsonis in CommArts to develop the Personal Narratives of COVID-19 Oral History project this semester.

We continue to seek your stories of what this time has been like for you with the goal of staying connected as a community. Now that we have begun to receive submissions, we’d like to feature some from those in the 2020 graduating class and encourage more to submit their stories! Capture a 1-3 minute reflection of your experience during this time, and your narrative will become part of Seton Hall history.

Submit your narrative to the project.

Together Again: Select Personal Narratives from the Class of 2020

 

Library Hiring Student Workers

#SHU_Libraries is looking for student workers to work part-time in the library in 2019!

Library Hiring Student Workers

IF YOU ARE…

  • a current SHU student
  • qualified for Federal Work-Study
  • interested in working in the library
  • available to start immediately

then please send an email to Tiffany Burns tiffany.burns1@shu.edu.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Follow #SHU_Libraries on Twitter @SHU_Libraries | Facebook

Now Hiring: Students Needed!

Are you a student staying in the area for the summer? Need a job? Want to get some great work experience while staying cool? The Library is hiring work-study students!

A variety of positions in several areas of the library are open. Whether you want to work with the public, learn valuable office skills, work with rare historical materials, learn the ins and outs of making information available to the university community, or just get a great job that will give you an edge on your future, apply to work in Walsh Library!

To find out more information or apply, go to http://www.shu.edu/offices/shu-job-opportunities.cfm and click the green View Open Positions button. Browse Student Positions to find the Library Work Study Student position or search for posting 0001354.

Good luck, and we hope to see you soon!

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