In 2014, at a moment when immigration was cresting a wave in the public consciousness, we launched Newest Americans. Cities and counties across New Jersey and the country were beginning to shift to minority majority status, DACA was altering the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people, and a backlash against immigrants would help fuel a presidential campaign. In this climate, project partners Talking Eyes Media, VII Photo, and the Center for Migration and the Global City at Rutgers-Newark birthed a project that honors the past, present and future of our migrating identities.
We are more than a website
What We DoWe are a multimedia collaboratory of journalists, media-makers, artists, faculty and students telling the stories that radiate from the most diverse university in the nation and the global city of Newark, NJ.
Newest Americans produces multimedia stories, gallery and museum exhibits, educational curriculum, interactive experiences and public history programming.
Got two minutes? Watch the video on the right for a taste of what we do.
These are our core creators
Meet The Team-
Tim Raphael
Co-Director -
Julie Winokur
Co-Director -
Ed Kashi
Co-Founder -
Rachel Dennis
Associate Director -
Kristina Micu
Program Coordinator -
Mary Ann Koruth
Program Manager: Digital Humanities -
Sahar Hosseini
Project Manager: Urban Landscape Research -
Mike Curry
Digital Tech -
Brenda Bingham
Social Media Coordinator -
Ashley Davison
Social Media Consultant -
Yeimy Gamez Castillo
BOLD Post-Graduate Fellow -
Cat McGrath
Producer -
Jacob Anthony Amaro
Undergraduate Research Fellow -
Ana Monteiro (she/her/hers)
Undergraduate Research Fellow
We have a lot of co-conspirators
Our ContributorsCOLLABORATORS
Adam Abada
Nyier Abdou
Anthony Alvarez
Igor Alves
Yuri Alves
Wynne Bennett
Samantha Boardman
Vincent Bryant
Guillermo E. Brown
Marcia Brown
Ron Chaluisan
Marcy DePina
Karishma Desai
Amir El Saffar
Luc Forsyth
Ashley Gilbertson
Sara Grossman
Ron Haviv
Stephanie Khoury
Tom Laffay
Maria Lopez-Nuñez
Cynthia Mellon
Brian Mooney
Catalina Muñoz Rojas
Maciek Nabrdalik
Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis
Maria Do Carmo Pereira
Maria Pisani
Dimitri Reyes
Ruddy Roye
Shana Russell
Juan Saldarriaga
Griselda San Martin
Fernando Sandoval
Hugo Dos Santos
Liz Sevcenko
Katie Singer
Gareth Smit
Erin Sweeney
Bruce Tantum
Orlando Velez
Paolo Vignolo
Reiley Wooten
RESEARCH FELLOWS
GRADUATE
Ayeasha Ali
Thayane Brêtas
Nakeefa Garay
Tolu Lanrewaju Kadri
Bernie Lombardi
Addie Mahmassani
Lauren O’Brien
Gülse Eraydin Ozkan
Marie-Jeanne Ndimbira-Rosner
Hourie Tafech
UNDERGRADUATE
Adejola Adefowoju
Saad Admani
Yeimy Gamez Castillo
Sandra Riano Fernandez
Antonia Holton-Raphael
Angelica Meija
Suliman Olantunji
Hamna Saleem
Dina Sayedahmed
Angus Seaver
Katherine Terreros
RUTGERS FACULTY
Zahra Ali
Sociology
Francisco Artigas
Meadowlands and Environmental Research Institute
Jennifer Austin
Spanish and Portuguese Studies
Sahar Aziz
Rutgers Law School
Gaiutra Bahadur
Arts, Culture and Media
Fran Bartkowski
Express Newark
Anonda Bell
Paul Robeson Galleries
David Bergeland
Arts, Culture and Media
Victor Davson
Express Newark
Tim Eatman
Honors Living and Learning Community
Anne Englot
Express Newark
Marta Esquilin
Honors Living and Learning Community
Kyle Farmbry
Public Affairs and Administration
Gary Farney
History
Robin Fischer
Arts, Culture and Media
Chantal Fischzang
Arts, Culture and Media
Janice Gallagher
Political Science
William Garcia
Video Production
Joanne Gottesman
Rutgers Law School, Immigrant Justice Clinic
Mayte Green-Mercado
History
Kimberly DaCosta Holton
Spanish and Portuguese Studies
Nick Kline
Arts, Culture and Media
Mark Krasovic
History and American Studies
Jamie Lew
Global Urban Studies
Randi Mandelbaum
Child Advocacy Clinic – Rutgers Law School
paulA Neves
English
Charles Payne
Joseph T. Cornwall Institute for Metropolitan Studies
Keary Rosen
Arts, Culture and Media
Mara Sidney
Global Urban Studies
Rose Cuison-Villazor
Rutgers Law School
Adrienne Wheeler
Multi-media artist, arts educator – Paul Robeson Galleries
People like what we do
Supporters & PartnersWe partner with many local stakeholders on the work we do including civic, educational, legal and cultural institutions in and around Newark. Our work has been supported by Rutgers University-Newark and by the local and national funders listed below.
SUPPORTERS
Audible
Ann F. & Lawrence A. Wiener Educational Foundation
Community Foundation of New Jersey
Dodge Foundation
Express Newark
FreePress Foundation
National Endowment for the Humanities
National Geographic Society
Newark Board of Education
Newark Trust for Education
New Jersey Council for Humanities
New Jersey Historical Commission
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Open Society Foundation
Rutgers-Newark Office of the Chancellor
Rutgers-Newark Office of the Dean
Rutgers Center for Global Partners and Sponsorsihp
The Atlantic
Working Films
PROJECT PARTNERS
AFSC Immigrant Rights Program
Audible
Breakout
CoLab Arts
East Side High School
Express Newark
Friends of Riverfront Park
GlassRoots
Humanities Action Lab
Institute of International Education
Ironbound Community Corporation
Joseph T. Cornwall Institute for Metropolitan Studies
Newark Makerhoods
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Newark Board of Education
Newark Museum
Newark Public Schools
Newark Riverfront Park
Newark Trust for Education
Schools that Can
Spark15
St. Stephan’s Grace Community Church
University Alliance for Refugees and At-Risk Migrants