Events are free and open to the public
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (Sept. 4, 2019)— On the 18th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Monmouth University is partnering with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum to offer a day of free public programming including art and discussion. The program, “Commemorating 9/11: Art, Perspectives, and Reflections,” will provide a platform for the varied perspectives and stories of those greatly impacted by the attacks. In coordination with events in the five boroughs of New York City, Monmouth University is the only New Jersey location hosting this exhibition.
Video Screening
On Sept. 11 from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., the University will present a free public viewing of artist Wolfgang Staehle’s dual-channel video work “2001” in Pollak Theatre on campus. The excerpt of Staehle’s video work will be shown in real time throughout the day, and viewers are invited to stay for as much or as little of the footage as they would like. This rare footage recorded the launch of the terrorist attacks on America from a pair of unmanned webcams.
Several days before Sept. 11, 2001, Staehle, a pioneering internet artist, had situated two cameras in an apartment building in Brooklyn, focused on lower Manhattan. They were calibrated to continuously snap panoramic views of New York City, at four-second intervals, for live-streaming to the Postmasters Gallery in Manhattan. The installation was intended to convey the predictable normalcy of life at the start of the 21st century. Instead, Staehle’s cameras bore witness to the unexpected rupture of those mundane rhythms at the moments framing 8:46 a.m., when hijacked Flight 11 exploded through the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Staehle’s webcams continued to document lower Manhattan’s skyline for the next three weeks.
Presentation of this program is made possible through the generous support of the 9/11 Memorial Museum Presenting Sustainer Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund.
Panel Discussion
At approximately sunset (7 p.m.) on Sept. 11, the University will host a panel discussion in Pollak Theatre on campus. Registration is required. The panel will feature the varied perspectives of those impacted by the events of 9/11. Hear from Virginia S. Bauer, a member of the Board of Directors for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, as well as University faculty members Douglas Collier, M.A., John Comiskey, Ed.D., and Christopher DeRosa, Ph.D.
After her husband was killed at the World Trade Center, Bauer became a key activist on behalf of the families of the 9/11 victims. In her role as advocate for the 9/11 victims, Bauer worked closely with congressional leaders and the White House to achieve the successful enactment of 9/11 victim legislation in 2002. She is the CEO of GTBM Inc. in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which provides software security technology for law enforcement and corporate facilities. Bauer is also a member of the Monmouth University Society of Trustees.
Collier, who worked as a federal agent at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks, is the director of professional outreach and engagement for Monmouth University’s graduate program in criminal justice and also serves as a faculty member with a special focus on federal, state, and international global studies in criminal justice. A retired DEA agent, he is also a State of New Jersey Police Training Commission certified instructor and professor, a member of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, and an associate academic member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
A retired New York City Police Department lieutenant, Comiskey served as a first responder on September 11, 2001. He is a faculty member in the University’s criminal justice department, leading coursework in intelligence, evidence-based counter-terrorism operations, and the nexus of crime and terrorism for the University’s homeland security program. Comiskey’s undergraduate and graduate homeland security courses include the many lessons learned from the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He leads a Terrorism in New York City tour that features Ground Zero as well the 1920 Wall Street bombing, the 1979 Fraunces Tavern Bombing, and the 2017 West Side Truck Attack. Comiskey is also a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve and serves as an intelligence specialist.
DeRosa is the chair of the Department of History and Anthropology at Monmouth University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on the military and political history of the United States. His first-year seminar on the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars includes dedicated lessons on the September, 11, 2001 attacks. As part of the seminar, he leads student trips to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
Gallery Exhibit
“Beyond Ground Zero: 9/11 and the American Landscape,” a collection of photographs by Jonathan C. Hyman, will be on display in Pollak Gallery from Sept. 3-13. On the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, Hyman, an artist and photographer based in upstate New York, embarked on a journey to document responses to the 9/11 terrorist attacks appearing in the landscape around him.
Armed almost daily with his camera, ladder, and car, Hyman captured the grassroots expressions of everyday citizens spurred by this national catastrophe. His investigations took him from Maine to Florida and west to Illinois, though the majority of photographs were taken closer to New York City. The result is an expansive archive of more than 20,000 film and digital images. Hyman encountered improvised tributes and memorials on public and private property, in urban and rural areas, and on all manner of surfaces from building walls, handball courts, and vehicles to tree trunks, construction fencing, and human skin. He continued to document these unofficial memorials for years, many of which remained long after the emergence of more formal tributes.
Information regarding the events of “Commemorating 9/11: Art, Perspectives, and Reflections” at Monmouth University is available online.
About Monmouth University
Monmouth University is the region’s premier private coastal university offering a comprehensive array of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs in a dynamic and personalized learning environment. Located in West Long Branch, New Jersey, Monmouth University’s magnificent coastal campus is approximately one hour from both New York City and Philadelphia. Innovative academic programs, individual faculty attention, and nationally ranked Division I athletics make this private university a great place to find your future. To learn more, visit us at monmouth.edu.
About the National September 11 Memorial & Museum
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is the nonprofit organization that oversees operations for the 9/11 Memorial and 9/11 Memorial Museum. Located on eight of the 16 acres of the World Trade Center site, the Memorial and Museum remember and honor the 2,983 people who were killed in the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993. The Memorial plaza design consists of two reflecting pools formed in the footprints of the original Twin Towers surrounded by swamp white oak trees. The Museum displays more than 900 personal and monumental objects while its collection includes more than 60,000 items that present intimate stories of loss, compassion, reckoning and recovery linked to the events of 9/11 and the aftermath. The Museum also explores the global impact of 9/11 and its continuing significance through education programs, public programs, live talks and film features that cover contemporary topics designed for diverse audiences. For more information or to reserve a ticket to the 9/11 Memorial Museum, please visit 911memorial.org.