What do you know about your home state? This six-week series will offer a taste of everything New Jersey from the disputed state borders to the relentless Jersey joke.  Michael  Aaron Rockland  originated, and has taught the course titled "Jerseyana" at Rutgers University for many years. It derives from "Americana" but with a focus on New Jersey and operates under the assumption that New Jersey has a culture of its own, Since Rockland has written five books on New Jersey  (among his sixteen) as well as some sixty-five magazine articles (mostly for "New Jersey Monthly" magazine, he is considered an expert on New Jersey, Indeed, he was recently awarded the Governor Richard J Hughes award "for a lifetime of contributions to New Jersey history and culture," Several of his New Jersey books, and a movie for television concerning New Jersey in which he is one of the two key actors will be featured in the course, 

If you wish to know more about Rockland, you are invited to consult his website, http://www.michaelrockland.com/.

April 9^th - New Jersey's Boundaries (Some Still in Question).  This is a geography-focused talk.

April 16^th - Highlights of New Jersey History

April 23^rd - Our Bridge: based on Michael Rockland’s book The George Washington Bridge: Poetry in Steel.  (updated 2020)

April 30^th - America's Great Road; based on Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike by Michael Rockland and Angus Kress Gillespie. One of the Ten Best Books Ever Written on New Jersey or by a New Jerseyan as listed by the NJ State Library.

May 7^th - New Jersey Adventure, based on the film Three Days on Big City Waters and Rockland’s book Snowshoeing Through Sewers, which contains ten adventures such as Walking Across the whole state. Please view the film before the session. This 1973 film is available for free at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1zoHi6BiMo or https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/35293/.

May 14^th - The Jersey Joke. How New Jersey Became a Joke and How and Why Things Changed and the State Became Respectable and even Beloved 

This course is funded through a grant from the Manley Winser Foundation.