Dear College Faculty and Staff,

I’m happy to welcome you all back to campus after what was hopefully a restful winter break. While winter quarter has the reputation of being a ‘slower’ quarter, I find we inevitably end up staying busy – this week’s long roundup of faculty, staff and student news attests to how busy and productive you all are…and it’s only January 12th!

Case in point, this year, we have 15 faculty searches taking place across 12 departments: Art and Art History, Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, English, Environmental Studies and Sciences, History, Mathematics and Computer Science, Modern Languages and Literatures, Philosophy, Psychology, Religious Studies, and Theatre and Dance. We have already made three successful hires, and I’m gearing up to meet many of the other candidates starting next week!

So far this academic year, I’ve attended a handful of department meetings to hear what’s going on in the department and to get to know you all better. Most recently, I attended the Modern Languages and Literatures’ meeting this week. The Department Chairs know that I would like to continue this throughout the rest of the year. Please reach out to Noreen Golden, if you are interested, to find a day that works with my schedule.

I am looking forward to our first College of Arts and Sciences Night at the upcoming Men’s Basketball game versus St. Mary’s tomorrow afternoon. I hope you have taken advantage of your free tickets and will be representing the College while cheering on our team! See you there!

Go Broncos!

Daniel

Highlights

Erick Jose Ramirez (Philosophy) and his co-editor Andrew Kissel (Old Dominion University) have published a collection of articles, Exploring Extended Realities: Metaphysical, Psychological, and Ethical Challenges with Routledge. The collection includes contributors from diverse disciplines including Jeremy Bailenson (Stanford), Espen Aarseth (IT University of Copenhagen), Jon Rueda (Universidad de Granada), ‪Thomas D. Parsons (University of Arizona), and Kathryn Francis (Keele University, UK).

The collection includes a chapter, "Extended reality, control, and problems of the self: An ethical analysis," co-authored by Erick and several SCU students and alumni including Shelby Jennett '24 (Neuroscience), Dorian Clay '22 (Individual Studies, Computer Science & Engineering), and Mohit Gandhi '21 (Computer Science).

Porterville High School students and their teachers meet with Francisco Jiménez in the Mission Room.

The Unbroken Sky, a short dramatic film based on the award-winning memoirs of Francisco Jiménez (Modern Languages and Literatures, Emeritus), premiered at the San Francisco Short Film Festival at the Roxie Theater on October 12. It won first prize. The film was also a semifinalist in the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

On October 17, over 100 students and their teachers came to SCU from Granite Hills High School in Porterville to visit with him. He spoke about the importance of education and answered questions about his writing. He also met with all SCU LEAD Scholars to discuss his book Reaching Out and to answer questions.

The latest issue of Historical Perspectives, the History Department's undergraduate history journal, has won second place in the 2023 Phi Alpha Theta Gerald D. Nash History Undergraduate Electronic Journal national competition. Sean Chamberlain '23 (History, Philosophy) and Bianca Romero '23 (History, French & Francophone Studies) served as the student co-editors, and Naomi Andrews (History) served as the faculty advisor. This is the 5th year in a row that Historical Perspectives has won first or second place. Bravo to SCU history students!

Jesica S. Fernández's (Ethnic Studies) chapter, "Disciplinary Disruptions: Strategies Toward a Decolonial Community Psychology Praxis," will be published in the forthcoming book, Decolonial Psychology: Toward Anticolonial Theories, Research, Training, and Practice published by the American Psychological Association and edited by Drs. Lillian Comas-Díaz, Hector Y. Adames, and Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas. The book will bring together scholarly literature on approaches to decolonial psychology, its historical foundations, education and training, and psychological practice. Jesica's chapter focuses specifically on the development of a decolonial/decolonized community psychology.

In addition to her forthcoming publication, Jesica traveled to Australia to present her research on decolonial critical psychologies and facilitate workshops on decolonial praxis in collaboration with Drs. Christopher Sonn and Sam Keast at Victoria University. Additionally, Jesica led a training on Participatory Action Research and critical ethical reflexivity with artist-scholar Dr. Paola Balla at the Moondani Balluk Center for Indigenous Studies & Aboriginal Peoples headed by Dr. Karen Jackson.

Nancy C. Unger (History) continues to enjoy the interest in The Gilded Age and Progressive Era generated by the HBO series “The Gilded Age.” She recently gave an interview that resulted in an episode for the HistoryExtra podcast, produced by the BBC History Magazine. The podcast “The American Gilded Age: Everything you Wanted to Know,” answers questions that British listeners had submitted concerning this exciting period (1877-1917) in American History.

Image from the podcast interview courtesy of the BBC.

Tom Plante (Psychology) hosted an In Conversation presentation and campus visit for the Catholic Community at Stanford University on December 6, 2023 with Jim O'Connell, MD, President of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. His story was captured in Tracy Kidder's recent New York Times bestselling book, Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O'Connell's Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People.

He also published an article, "Ethical Considerations in Working with Roman Catholic Seminarians and Men and Women in Religious Formation," in Integratus: The Journal of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association. Abstract: There are many ethical challenges when mental health professionals work clinically with Roman Catholic seminarians as well as with men and women in religious formation. This article highlights ethical issues and challenges confronted by mental health professionals working with these clients. These topics include issues of competence in evaluating, treating, and consulting with seminarians, those in religious life, or those applying to enter religious life. Issues of informed consent must also be considered so that seminarians, religious life clients, applicants, and their religious superiors have clarity about the limits of confidentiality and who maintains the privilege of accessing client information. In addition, professional conflicts can arise when Church expectations may seem challenging to satisfy for professionals trained in a predominantly secular environment. Cultural understanding and appreciation are needed to work with clients from different ethnic and racial groups as well as different religious orders and branches within the Catholic Church.

Di Di (Sociology) published a co-authored paper titled, "Evoking, Grounding, and Defining: How Contemporary Scientists Connect Religion, Spirituality, and Aesthetics" in Religions. Drawing on interviews with 71 biologists and physicists in India, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, this paper identifies three distinct logics by which scientists connect these experiences, which are called “evoking”, “grounding”, and “defining”. Findings from this paper enhance the understanding of how personal beliefs can shape and be shaped by professional experiences and suggest opportunities for dialogue between scientists and communities of faith centering aesthetic experience. This paper is co-authored with Bridget Ritz (University of Notre Dame) and Brandon Vaidyanathan (Catholic University of America). It is open access.

Mateo Carrillo under Ghana's Independence Arch in Accra.

Mateo J. Carrillo (History) organized a panel and presented a paper at the American Historical Association’s 2024 Meeting in San Francisco. The panel, held on January 4, was titled “Reimagining Rural Landscapes, Building Modern(ist) States: Experts, Nature, and Nation in Twentieth-Century Latin America.” His paper, “Revolutionizing Rural Mobility: Technology, Engineers, and Modernity in Mexico, 1925-1940,” was taken from the first chapter of his current book manuscript. He was joined by fellow panelists Frederico Freitas (North Carolina State University), María de los Ángeles Picone (Boston College), and James Mestaz (Sonoma State University).

In November 2023 Mateo traveled to Accra, Ghana to participate in the Latin American Studies Association’s first-ever Continental Congress in Africa: “África y Ámerica Latina: Diálogos y Conexiones.” Held at the University of Ghana, the Congress was particularly focused on the diverse experiences and cultures of African and Afro-descendant peoples throughout Latin America. While in Ghana Mateo visited El Mina and Cape Coast castles, major embarkation points in the Atlantic slave trade with primary destinations in Brazil and the Caribbean.

College of Arts and Sciences Calendar