^{Students from The Book of Will's cast and crew visited SCU Library's Archives & Special Collections to view the facsimile of Shakespeare's First Folio and other Shakespeare-related articles with Nadia Nasr (Head of Archives & Special Collections) and Leanna Goodwater (Humanities Librarian, pictured). The folio's printing (which celebrates its 400th anniversary next year) is the subject of the play, directed by Kimberly Mohne Hill (Theatre and Dance) running on the Mayer stage Nov. 4-13. Photo by Kimberly Mohne Hill.}

Dear College Faculty and Staff,

As we stretch into the second half of Fall Quarter, I want first to express my heartfelt thanks for the many, many of you who made last weekend’s Open House such a great success! I especially want to give shout-outs to Katy Korsmeyer, Kathy Aoki and Sandy Boyer, here in the Dean’s Office, for their presence and behind-the-scenes work.

Open House is different from Preview Day – prospective students are less invested, naturally, because they are still shopping around. But turnout was tremendous and the vibe was great, thanks again!

The sun shines on our beautiful campus and we make great strides in our teaching and research daily, as every College Notes demonstrates. So, it can be easy to tune out the suffering of our global family members. As Father Arturo Sosa, S.J., Superior General of the Society of Jesus, wrote in last summer’s address to the Assembly of the international Association of Jesuit Universities:

For our universities, the challenge of participating in public life and offering political formation to the members of the university community includes promoting governance based on truth, strong institutions, and the rule of law. We must contribute to a social environment that considers to be normal an ideological pluralism, a dialogue among alternative proposals. Above all, a commitment to create and maintain conditions that guarantee the possibility of alternation in the exercise of political power with scrupulous respect for the will of the citizens. In the international arena arrangements that permit the mutual defense of democracies and the diffusion of democratic culture should be promoted.

Heeding Fr. Sosa’s call, many in our campus community closely follow the war in Ukraine. Most recently, we have been shaken by a new wave of brutal repression in Iran. I am thus grateful that there will be a Vigil for Justice to raise awareness on the current civil rights situation in Iran and its impact on current SCU students, faculty and staff from Iran and the Iranian diaspora. The Vigil will be held on Monday, October 24, 2022 at 6pm at the Sobrato Fountain on Palm Drive facing the Mission Church. Many thanks to the SCU Iranian and MENA community and also for support from the Inclusive Excellence Division, Mission and Ministry, Provost Office and the Office of the President.

In peace and hope,

Daniel

Highlights

Lindsay Halladay (Psychology & Neuroscience) published a new textbook, Brain, Behavior, & Beyond: the Science of the Mind, which is debuting this quarter as the main textbook for PSYC 65 - Foundations in Behavioral Neuroscience, one of the natural science core curriculum courses at SCU.

The textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of behavioral neuroscience, written specifically for majors and non-majors alike. Lindsay and three other expert behavioral neuroscientists crafted the book specifically with the diversity of modern students in mind; in addition to covering major concepts in behavioral, cognitive, and social neuroscience while incorporating contemporary findings from both human and animal research, the book also includes nuanced, scientifically-grounded discussion of race and gender, including the current neurobiological understanding of biological sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation; implicit bias, discrimination and prejudice; and historical and current biases in psychology and neuroscience, including the racist application of phrenology and eugenic roots of intelligence testing. Finally, the book incorporates science in “everyday life”; students will discover the science behind everyday behaviors, experiences, and common illusions and errors. The overarching goal is for student readers to obtain a deeper appreciation for the brain’s role in all aspects of life.
 

^{Dawn Hart gives a talk on Sea Stars to the students and teachers from Monterey High School}

Biology and Teach Biotech recently hosted 65 students and teachers from Monterey High School's Monterey Academy of Oceanographic Science (MOAS) for STEM education. Katy Korsmeyer (Biology) greeted the group and gave a general overview of STEM at SCU. They then toured campus with Admissions, had lunch around campus and at the Bronco Pony Express. Heard an interactive technical talk from Dawn Hart (Biology) followed by a student college panel from BIOL 188.  Photos taken by MOAS of their trip.

 Alberto Ribas-Casasayas (Modern Languages & Literatures) published a review, “Psicodélicos para principiantes” (“Psychedelics for Beginners”), discussing Michael Pollan’s documentary series How to Change Your Mind (Netflix) in the magazine Ulises. Revista de viajes interiores. How to Change Your Mind advocates for the use of psychedelics as a tool to treat mental health ailments, most notably depression, PTSD, and anxiety. Alberto’s review questions some limitations in Pollan’s approach, with a focus on the controversy between decriminalization activists and religious practitioners in the Native American Church over legitimate uses of the peyote cactus. Ulises is the longest-running publication specialized in psychedelics and counterculture in Spain.

Earlier this year, Katy Bruchmann (Psychology) and Chan Thai (Communication), pictured left, and alumna Brianna Wingard '22 (Psychology) published an article entitled "One size does not fit all: Implicit theories of body weight and body mass index interact to predict body image disturbances" in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. This research demonstrated that for people with larger body size, a belief that body weight is changeable can be protective against body shame and disordered eating behaviors. However, for people with smaller body size, a belief that body weight is changeable actually led to more disordered eating behaviors. This paper provides preliminary evidence that interventions to shift beliefs about whether one's personal characteristics are malleable can be helpful for some, but harmful for others.
 

Tom Plante (Psychology) published an article, "Five spiritually based tools for clinical practice during challenging, stressful, and apocalyptic times," in Spirituality in Clinical Practice.

Stress in America and across the globe is high with so many ongoing societal problems. The COVID-19 global pandemic along with accelerating climate change, increasing economic instability and inequality, divisive politics and an increase in authoritarianism, racism, and discrimination against those who are oppressed and marginalized are just a few current examples. Evidence suggests that mental health problems and demand for services have exploded as well. Psychotherapists who are well versed in spiritual and religious integration in their clinical work can help. The purpose of this clinical reflection is to encourage clinicians to use five especially relevant spiritual and religious tools with their clientele that include (a) underscoring the sacredness of all; (b) learning to accept others, even with faults; (c) focusing on spiritual modeling; (d) encouraging virtues of forgiveness, kindness, gratitude, and compassion; and (e) incorporating ethics into daily decision-making. A brief explanation of each tool along with clinical case examples are presented.

^{Hannah Aguirre, Yiyi Wang, Chris Weber, Javier Garcia, and Manita Rai.}

Chris Weber (Physics) and his research team attended the Gordon Research Conference on Ultrafast Phenomena in Cooperative Systems, in Ventura, CA. Students Hannah Aguirre '23 (Physics, Spanish Studies), Javier Garcia '23 (Physics, Mathematics), and Yiyi Wang '23 (Physics) and postdoc Manita Rai presented two posters: "Coherent phonons in SrMnSb2: Toward reversible, ultrafast control of topology" and "Developing thin films of the Dirac semimetal SrMnSb for ultrafast experiments."

^{Sebastian Acevedo '23 (Biology, Environmental Science) presents results from the SOAR pilot project at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Montreal.}

Brody Sandel, Janice Edgerly-Rooks, Justen Whittall (Biology) and Virginia Matzek (Environmental Studies and Sciences) received NSF funding to launch a collaborative project, SOAR (Student Opportunities in Avian Research). SOAR draws together a network of teachers and researchers from Santa Clara University, Stanford University, San Jose State University, the California Academy of Sciences, the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, Mission College and West Valley College, unified in our goal of using birds as the hook to introduce students to exciting research. SOAR will provide resources to support class visits to field sites and hands-on summer genetics courses, while developing student and faculty collaborations among the program partners.
 

In the first week of October, Bachana Lomsadze (Physics) and undergraduate student Skyler Weight ’23 (Engineering Physics) attended the American Physical Society Far West Conference at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Skyler gave a contributed talk entitled “Chemical Sensing using Linear and Nonlinear Dual Frequency Comb Spectroscopy”. The research was conducted in Bachana Lomsadze’s lab and it was supported by the National Science Foundation.

College of Arts and Sciences Calendar