Justin Ferate has provided several recent presentations for the NMJHS. New York State Governor George Pataki and the New York State Tourism Council honored him as New York’s “Most Engaging Tour Guide”. Mr. Ferate also wrote the official New York City Professional Tour Guide Licensing Examination for the City of New York. Time Out New York selected Mr. Ferate as “One of New York’s 50 Essential Secrets!”

Karoline Cook (Ph.D. Princeton 2008) is an historian of Iberian Atlantic history. Both her research and teaching interests explore the interconnections between Atlantic and Mediterranean worlds. Her research focuses on Moriscos and the Spanish Empire, and the intersection between religious identity, race, and nation in the creation and negotiation of ethnic categories. Her book, Forbidden Passages: Muslims and Moriscos in Colonial Spanish America was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2016. She currently holds the position of Lecturer in the History of the Atlantic World at Royal Holloway, University of London. 

Stephen Whitfield is Professor of American Studies Emeritus at Brandeis University, where he taught for 44 years. 

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He has also served as Fulbright Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), and as visiting professor at the Sorbonne and at the University of Munich. 

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His nine books include, most recently, Learning on the Left: Political Profiles of Brandeis University (Brandeis University Press.)

Stacey Ravel Abarbanel works with museums and other arts/cultural organizations to amplify their messages and build audiences. From 2002–14 she was director of external affairs for the Fowler Museum at UCLA, after ten years in arts-related publishing at Getty Publications and Architectural Digest. In addition to her consulting practice, her writings about art, culture, and history have appeared in Alta, UCLA Magazine, and other outlets.