Dear College Faculty and Staff,

Mid-August! When the dog-days of summer are supposed to wane…at least in terms of when the star in Canis Major, Σείριος (Seirios or Sirius) appears to rise alongside the sun in the Northern Hemisphere. The Greeks and Romans believed that Sirius and our own sun combined to make this the hottest time of the year, a time when catastrophe and fevers would strike. Now, it seems to be hurricanes and wildfires, but as this summer moment passes, the Fall beckons with increasing urgency.

I will give the Fall its due attention soon enough! For now, children have returned back to school, with varying degrees of reluctance, while some of our colleagues are squeezing in last vacations and fieldwork.

My little corner of the world has had a busy summer, starting with my daughter's wedding in June, followed by the wonderful news that she will be moving with her husband to Santa Clara…literally into the house next-door to me! They will join us in harvesting the bounty of late summer and fall garden produce. This year, we grew French melons, a dozen tomato plants (who wants to do all that work for one tomato?) and green beans from seeds that Renee Billingslea gave me – wow! Best green beans I've ever had, proving once again, that you can grow practically anything in Santa Clara, California. I think I should call my garden the Backyard of Heart’s Delight!

I hope you will enjoy this week’s College Notes – impressive as they are, they are just the tip of the iceberg. The work our colleagues do in the summer is breathtaking in its diversity, impact and creativity.

Onward – but not too fast, just yet!

Daniel

Highlights

Santa Clara University’s Audiogram series Celebrating First-Generation College Week at Santa Clara University won Gold in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Special Events | Online (Series) competition this year. This 6-part audiogram series featured staff, faculty, alumni and current students who identify as first-gen including Casey Robertson (Political Science), Tom Plante (Psychology), Simran Prasad ’21 (Women’s and Gender Studies), Derek Gitmed ’19 (Communication), Ryan Nazari ’21 (English, Philosophy), and Blanca Moncada ’21 (Ethnic Studies, Psychology). Recorded during Fall 2020, a time of deep isolation, the first-person authenticity and vocal textures deliver intimate storytelling and “focused on a creative way to not only interact with alumni, but to reach a very important student population where they are utilizing social media,” commented the CASE judges. “The questions asked of their participants were outside of the standard interview questions and allowed them to tell personal, meaningful stories that made others feel seen.” CASE, the premier recognition program for the advancement sector, received a record number of entries (more than 4,500) from 636 member institutions in 28 countries, making this recognition even more significant.

Tom Plante (Psychology) received the "Distinguished Service Award" from the American Psychological Association’s Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association (August 3-6, 2022, Minneapolis, MN). He also presented (virtually), "Jesuit and APA Civility Guidelines for Managing Increasing Divisiveness and Polarization," for the Religion and Social Justice: An Interfaith Dialogue symposium at the convention.

Abstract: Divisiveness is currently a toxin that invades and trickles down into every nook and cranny of society. Faith traditions are susceptible to these trends and especially those who engage in messages that their traditions are correct and sanctified by the divine. In this presentation, a three-point approach for better dealing with divisiveness was offered. The model has its roots in the spiritual exercises and writings of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The three-step model includes: (1) accommodation to others, (2) humility, and (3) the expectation of goodness. Then, core civility principles and procedures adopted by the APA as policy were presented to provide a practical strategy that encourages not only civility but also respectful and compassionate dialogue. Spiritual and religious principles found within many religious traditions can be secularized appealing to diverse audiences. This can be used with civility as well in efforts to turn the tide from divisiveness to unity and even to solidarity.

An article by Amy Lueck (English), Lee Panich (Anthropology), and Matt Kroot, "Public Memory as Community-Engaged Writing: Composing Difficult Histories on Campus," originally published in Community Literacy Journal, has been selected for inclusion in the forthcoming Best of the Journals in Rhetoric and Composition 2022, to be published by Parlor Press.

Jessica Eastburn (Art and Art History) recently completed a commissioned mural project for the City of Carmel, Indiana. Jessica designed a 15-foot mural that was installed in Sophia Square, in the Arts and Design District of Carmel, Indiana. Jessica's design illustrates a variety of elements that speak to the history of the city of Carmel and the surrounding Indianapolis region. The mural title, "Around Town," is a reference to Carmel's most well-known infrastructure feature: the town boasts more roundabouts than any other city in the United States.

Francisco Jiménez (professor emeritus, Modern Languages and Literatures) had his short story, The Circuit, included in Connections Literature, published by Perfection Learning Corporation. He was a keynote speaker at the WestEd QTEL Summer Institute for teachers, teacher educators, and school administrators from across the country. He spoke about the necessity to recover, analyze, and transmit stories by and about the different ethnic groups that make up our culturally and linguistically diverse society. The program was held in the Presidio Golden Bay Club in San Francisco, July 18-22. He was a guest speaker in the “Meet the Author,” a virtual event at New Heights Middle School, Brooklyn, New York, on June 2, 2022. On June 7, he made two virtual presentations on his work, one (in Spanish) at Park Middle School, a dual Language school, in Spring Lake, Minnesota, and a second one at Pacific High School, which is the continuation high school site of the Ventura Unified School District in Ventura, California. On July 15, he participated in a virtual discussion and Q&A with students in summer school classes in the Dixon Unified School District. Students read his memoirs, Reaching Out and Taking Hold: From Migrant Child to Columbia University. In addition, he participated in a virtual discussion and Q&A with teachers, school administrators, and staff about his book, Breaking Through, for a class offered by the Santa Clara County Office of Education.

Michelle Bezanson (Anthropology) published an open access (OA) article in the American Journal of Primatology. In this article, we address the history and status of Primate Conservation Education Programs. These are programs where primatologists implement education programs in the human communities where they conduct research with the goal to prevent extinction. As you may guess, researchers prioritize conservation/scientific goals over the needs and desires of human communities. This article will be of interest to colleagues interested in the following topics: Conservation, Education, Culture, Decolonizing Disciplines/Research, History, Primates, and Civil Engineering (jk, no Engineering-just checking if you are reading this).
   
If you thought that was interesting, buckle up for more fun. This article is OA because SCU’s library has a one-year deal with Wiley to publish OA for free. If we did not have this deal, we would have needed $4,300 for OA fees because access is a critically important component of our work. We do not care about citation, we want access in primate habitat countries and in areas where libraries cannot afford these journals.
   
In Anthropology, we are working hard to promote OA opportunities/journals even if the journals do not yet have high impact. We believe that it is more important for our work to be available and will be updating our R/T standards to reflect these values. Please join us in making our work available for all readers and work to remove paywalls.
 

College of Arts and Sciences Calendar