Disrupting Narratives: The Power of the Humanities The Center for the Arts and Humanities and the Bannon Forum co-hosted a Mission Week event featuring a keynote address from prominent humanities scholar, Wendy Roberts (University of Albany). Back row: José Villagrana (English). Front Row left to right: Michelle Burnham (English), Wendy Roberts, Britt Cain (CAS Dean's Office), Amy Randall (History), Aaron Willis (Ignatian Center), Jackie Hendricks (English).

Dear College Faculty and Staff,

We have had a number of transitions among the staff in the College recently that I wanted to share.

Casey Robertson, who served as department manager for Political Science for the past six years, has joined the Office of Multicultural Learning as an Administrative Associate. The department will miss Casey’s joyful and energetic spirit as well as her administrative expertise. The College will miss her generosity and leadership in our efforts to improve Workday processes. Good luck to Casey in her new position!

Melissa Sims, who served as department manager for the departments of History and Classics since 2018, has recently retired from service. Prior to joining the College, she held positions in the Business School and the Silicon Valley Executive Center since 2011. The departments will miss her calm and loyal support over the years. We wish her well as she starts this new chapter in her life!

Andrew Chait, our Director of External Relations, has decided to move back to Los Angeles to be closer to family. A double Bronco, Andrew earned his MBA during the pandemic. He will soon start work for the Saint John’s Health Center Foundation in Santa Monica, thus continuing his career in fundraising for non-profit institutions. We will miss him, and wish him well as he begins his next chapter!

Additionally, next week campus will be participating in the National First-Gen Celebration with a number of events on campus. I wanted to draw particular attention to the FLI Forward: Breaking Barriers in Education Conference taking place Tuesday, November 7. This conference offers sessions for faculty and staff on how to be an advocate for first-gen and limited income students in addition to sessions that explore issues of inclusion.

In particular, please consider attending Closing Equity Gaps: Addressing Student Basic Needs at SCU featuring Chris Bacon (Environmental Studies and Sciences) and student researchers from 3 to 4 p.m. and Beyond Access: Building a Campus of Belonging, a panel featuring Laura Nichols (Sociology), Erin Kimura-Walsh (LEAD) and two alumni from 4 to 5 p.m.

Sincerely,

Daniel

Highlights

Kirsten Read (Psychology) with"Read Lab" alumni Sara Rabinowitz '21 (Psychology, Communication) and Hayley Harrison '23 (Psychology) recently published an exploratory review covering 50 years of study and observation in the developmental psychology and early education literature of how parents use of extra-textual talk during shared book reading (aka the side-conversation and commentary that parents use while reading aloud), how that extra-textual talk has been categorized and leveled, and what factors contribute to parents differing styles of extra-textual talk. The paper, available online now in the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy will serve as a foundation for dozens of future research questions in the Read Lab around how reading aloud with young children can support early language development!

U.S.-Mexico Border Immersion Participants. Bottom left to right: Tony Cortese, Victor Lemus, Gloria Hermosillo, Mateo Carrillo. Top left to right: Kate Morris, Isaura Cruz, Rami Mohamed, Natasha Civ, Simone Billings, María Bauluz, Sister María Engracia Robles (Kino Border Initiative), Ana Sedano, and Tobin Hansen (University of Oregon).

Over the summer, a diverse group of SCU faculty and staff members participated in the U.S.-Mexico Border Immersion co-sponsored by the Ignatian Center and the Kino Border Initiative. Tony Cortese (Ignatian Center) and Victor Lemus (Campus Ministry) led the following faculty and staff on a six-day immersion: María Bauluz (Modern Languages and Literatures), Simone Billings (English), Gloria Hermosillo (Drahmann Center), Natasha Civ (Study Abroad), Mateo Carrillo (History), Kate Morris (Provost’s Office, Art and Art History), Rami Mohamed (University Library), Ana Sedano (Drahmann Center), and Isaura Cruz (Anthropology). The group divided their time between Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora listening to and learning from migrants, border residents, immigration agents, and others connected to the migration experience. The group developed a set of proposed actions to develop once back on campus, following the Kino mission of humanizing and accompanying those who are linked to U.S.-Mexico migration and of complicating the narratives around this topic.

Di Di (Sociology) published an article, “Scientists Explain the Underrepresentation of Women in Physics Compared to Biology in Four National Contexts,” on Women, Gender & Organization as the co-lead author. This research addresses the following question: How do scientists in different national/regional contexts explain why there are fewer women in physics than biology? Using original survey data collected among academic biologists and physicists in the US (N = 1777), Italy (N = 1257), France (N = 648), and Taiwan (N = 780), the authors examine how scientists’ social identities, social locations, and country context shape essentialist, individualist, and structural explanations of gender inequality. Findings indicate that scientists across national contexts attribute the unequal gender distribution in physics and biology to women’s individual choices. Findings suggest that scientists and advocates ought to engage conversations that explicitly confront scientists' assumptions about individual choices in global science. Other authors on this article are Esther Chan at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Elaine Howard Ecklund at Rice University.

Tom Plante (Psychology) published an article with Carolina Rader '23 (Psychology, Political Science) titled  "Potential benefits of the Examen for psychological health and well-being: A pilot study." in Pastoral Psychology.

The Jesuit Examen is a form of prayerful reflection on daily experiences that was introduced five centuries ago by St. Ignatius of Loyola. Although five centuries old, the 10–15-minute daily reflective practice has not been subject to empirical research. Furthermore, research has not explored the effects of the Examen on psychological health and well-being in a workplace setting. Other religious practices, including mindfulness and yoga, are important and religiously derived but now secularized interventions that can be utilized in multiple work and other settings. The present pilot study focused on the potential effectiveness of using a secularized version of the Examen in the workplace to determine whether this practice can produce psychological and well-being health benefits, such as stress reduction and improvement in one’s satisfaction with life.

The Spanish Psychedelic Society highlighted Alberto Ribas-Casasayas (Modern Languages and Literatures) in its October newsletter. “Colgado de una cadena, a mil pies de altura” (“Hanging from a Chain, a Thousand Feet Above”) is a personal account of a journey and discussions that led to writing his long-form essay Luces y sombras del renacimiento psicodélico.

Image: Alberto walked up the Angel's Landing trail in Zion National Park, Utah, during a personal quest discussed in his chronicle.

Anna Sampaio (Ethnic Studies) recently published a research brief entitled “Mujeres y Movidas: Latina Congressional Candidate Emergence and Experiences in California and Texas,” with the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) and the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. Drawing on empirical data as well as interviews with over 24 Latina Congressional candidates and political professionals in both California and Texas during the 2018, 2020, and 2022 election cycles, this research examines obstacles and opportunities for Latina candidates as well as experiences shared during the campaigns and in office with the goal of addressing the representation gap for Latinas in national office. The research was funded by a $30,000 external grant and included support from SCU students who worked as research assistants on the multi-year project.

CAWP held a panel discussion with Anna, Director Debbie Walsh, and Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) to discuss research findings as well as applications for candidates, practitioners, and political professionals. Anna was also interviewed by KCBS radio, and the Daily Targum to discuss the research.

Kristin Kulas (Physics) and Nathan Williams (Physics) organized a Solar Eclipse viewing event on campus on Saturday, October 14. There were free glasses and telescope viewing of this amazing event where the Moon partially blocked the Sun. Many students and the general community came out to witness this stellar event.

Image: A view of the eclipse from one of the Physics Department's telescopes.

Rohit Chopra (Communication) delivered on online lecture titled "Online Hindu Extremism: Local, National, and Global Dimensions," on October 4, 2023, for the VOX-Pol network of excellence, a European Union-funded academic research network focused on studying violent online political extremism and responses to it. The lecture was followed by a Q&A with Professor Julian Droogan, Associate Professor of Terrorism Studies and Director of Research and Innovation at the Department of Security Studies and Criminology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.

Laura Cocas (Biology, Neuroscience), along with students Iris Tilton '23 (Neuroscience), Alekhya Parvathaneni '21 (Biology & Economics), Atehsa Sahagun '21 (Biology & Neuroscience), Robert Brock '22 (Neuroscience & Biology), and Emma Brennan '22 (Biology, Neuroscience & Music), former inclusive excellence postdoctoral fellow Daniela Moura, and Lindsay Halladay (Psychology, Neuroscience), published an article in the Society for Neuroscience journal ENeuro, titled “Neuronal Activity Changes the Number of Neurons that are Synaptically Connected to OPCs.” They found that neuronal activity was important for oligodendrocyte precursor cell development and synapse formation. Understanding the mechanisms that regulate oligodendrocyte maturation is important for determining new treatments for demyelinating diseases like multiple sclerosis. 

Image: Neuronal activity increases the number of excitatory neurons that are synaptically connected to oligodendrocyte precursor cells.

Jesica S. Fernández (Ethnic Studies) attended the first Voices of Healing Justice Convening at CU Boulder. This event, the first of its kind, brought together youth community organizations, youth organizers, activists, artists, poets, and youth advocates/allies/workers to engage with, and listen-learn from youth about best practices for supporting youth healing, thriving and power within community organizing youth centered spaces. Jesica was invited as a facilitator for a roundtable/interactive session "youth activism for systems change," and was also invited as a panelist with expertise on "sociopolitical wellbeing" among youth activists. The convening was nourishing and wholesome – bridging movement with art, poetry, crafts and storying with scholarship and evidenced-based practices for supporting healing justice in times where all communities are healing and must heal.

On October 21, CSPAN2 broadcast a lecture from Meg Eppel Gudgeirsson's (History) HIST 186 California class, "The Church in Colonial California." The broadcast includes the lecture as well as some student engagement.

Image: Meg Eppel Gudgeirsson lecturing on CSPAN on Sept 25, 2023

Jeffrey Bracco (Theatre and Dance) will go behind the scenes of his directorial work in Ken Ludwig's The Game’s Afoot, or Holmes for the Holidays. OLLI@SCU members will learn how the show came to life on the SCU stage, gain insights into the production, meet some of the actors and designers, and uncover stage secrets not readily available to the general admission.

OLLI@SCU will be featuring notable instructors periodically in the College Notes. The average course ranges from 4 to 10 hours of instruction per quarter. We hope this will inspire you to stay updated on OLLI news and possibly teach a class for our members. OLLI instructors are compensated for their time and knowledge; to learn more about the joy of teaching adult learners, contact olli@scu.edu.

College of Arts and Sciences Calendar