Professional pianist and Professor of Music Teresa McCollough as 2024-26 Frank Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts.

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you’ve all enjoyed a successful start to the quarter and that you’re finding your way back into a familiar rhythm. Welcome Weekend always ushers in the new academic year with a bang. Overnight, our campus transforms from its quiet summer state into a bevy of activity. Between all the moving in, the LEAD Resources Fair, the Meet the Student Engagement Team (SET) event, and our Meet the Dean reception, CAS faculty and staff connected with nearly 600 students and their families last weekend. SET had the brilliant idea of distributing 300 little succulents for new students to pot and “put down roots” at Santa Clara… I'm guessing some of those students were more interested in meeting their new house plant than the Dean!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the planning and execution of these events—whether you had boots on the ground or provided support behind the scenes.

This fall, Teresa McCollough, our 2024-26 Frank Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts, will be kicking off a celebration of new music created in collaboration with former students—award-winning alumni composers Sam Pluta ’01 and Brian Thorsett ’00. The programming continues into winter and spring with events showcasing the work of Nicolás Lell Benavides ’10. I invite you to take a look at the calendar included below for upcoming performances this October. And, keep an eye out for future listings as Teresa’s time as our Sinatra Chair continues to unfold throughout the academic year.

It is technically no longer summer, but it feels hot this week just the same. So here is a poem about summer, striving and transforming, and maybe what feels a little like the transition back into the academic year.

Sincerely,

Daniel

The rain, of course, as it dings
every leaf on the eucalyptus—
what was it doing there, on the US-

Mexico border, so far from its native
lands? You might have asked your
grandmother that question, she too

so far from home, she too singing
in her beloved Purépecha tongue—
Mederush cancahuish nirash Inguia.

Again, I'm going to sit and drink.
Drink what? The rain. The sorrow
of thirsting for sounds that take us

back among our kind. Is this why
she sat beneath that tree all day,
sweating in the heat? To water

the soil, to plead to the tulips—
they too displaced—grow! grow! grow!
Oh, desperate wish. If they didn’t burst

open all spring, not a chance in July.
Then again, who would have guessed
a tree from Australia befriending an

Indígena from the mountains, here
in the arid and dry Sonoran Desert.
Then again, the miracle of summer rain

and your grandmother’s song inside
that song. And the tulips aching
to be free, hum hum humming along.

Highlights

Attendees of the Vertigo 67 Conference at Trinity College. Erin Bradfield is pictured in the front row, far right.

Erin Bradfield (Philosophy) presented her paper, “‘Is it Future or Is it Past?’: Trauma, Repetition, and Tragic Heroes in Vertigo and Twin Peaks” at a conference held at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland on August 13-15. Vertigo 67, a conference dedicated exclusively to the exploration of Alfred Hitchcock’s cinematic masterpiece, coincided with the 67th anniversary of the film’s release. It hosted artists, authors, and scholars from around the world and across the disciplines to discuss Hitchcock’s work. Bradfield’s essay argues that there are striking parallels between the protagonist detectives, Scottie Ferguson in Vertigo and Special Agent Dale Cooper in the various iterations of Twin Peaks. These similarities all but guarantee that the characters will be compelled to repeat familiar patterns and play out their obsessions in new ways, leading to an unsettled sense of time and place. She argues that unresolved trauma inspires a form of tragic heroism in both Scottie and Cooper such that they cannot save the various female characters in their orbits – e.g., Madeleine Elster, Judy Barton, Caroline Powell Earle, Annie Blackburn, and even Laura Palmer. In fact, the failure to fully work through their psychological maladies seals their fates and dooms them to repeat and replay rather than to recover and recuperate.

In June, Chad Raphael (Communication) represented SCU and the Environmental Justice and the Common Good Initiative as an invited plenary speaker at the Jesuit Integral Ecology Assembly at Loyola University Chicago. In his talk, he discussed the rise of the U.S. environmental justice movement in the politically hostile environment of the 1980s and the lessons for us today in a new “dark age” of political denial, funding cuts, and attacks on environmental health. Recalling the Principles of Environmental Justice, Raphael pointed to the need to build inclusive movements across lines of faith, race, gender, age, and class; to appeal to widely-held values of health, community, and foundational American ideals; to build grassroots-led networks nurtured by community organizing rather than top-down mobilization; and to practice community-driven research and lawyering. He also discussed the importance of preserving hope, understood not as passive optimism that “everything will turn out well,” but an active commitment to working for justice even when success is uncertain.

Image: Protest against Proposed PCB Landfill, Warren County, North Carolina, 1982. Image credit: Ricky Stillely.

Over the summer, Giselle Laiduc (Psychology) co-chaired the 2025 Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) Summer Conference in Portland, Oregon, alongside Tessa Dover (Portland State University). Together, they developed the conference theme “Research as Seed, Teaching as Root, Action as Bloom: Foundations for a Just Future” and oversaw the program’s schedule and logistics. This year’s conference received a record number of submissions and brought together scholars, educators, practitioners, and community members to exchange cutting-edge research, innovative teaching practices, and community-engaged work. The gathering highlighted topics related to a variety of pressing social issues, including racial and economic justice, educational equity, health and well-being, climate change, and human rights, among many important others.

Image: Giselle Laiduc pictured with opening keynote speaker, Dr. María Elena Torre (CUNY Graduate Center).

Sustainability across the Curriculum Workshop participants.

Over 75 faculty and sustainability staff participated in SCU's Sustainability and Justice across the Curriculum workshops this summer. Thirty-six faculty and staff members from the College and other SCU schools were joined online by educators from 17 other institutions across the country. The new curricula that SCU participants developed in the workshops will reach over a thousand students per year in anthropology, biology, economics, English, ethnic studies, history, psychology, sociology, and Spanish; multiple departments in the schools of Business, Engineering, and Education and Counseling Psychology; the Ignatian Center’s community-based learning placements, fellowships, and immersions; and two Jesuit high schools. All participants agreed that the workshops fulfilled their goals and 96% said that they would recommend the workshops to a colleague. The workshops are offered each summer by SCU's Center for Sustainability and SCU's Environmental Justice and the Common Good Initiative, and taught by Chad Raphael (Communication), Leslie Gray (Environmental Studies and Sciences), and Lindsey Kalkbrenner and Veronica Johnson (Center for Sustainability). SCU faculty members interested in joining next summer’s workshops should look for an email inviting applications in January or contact Chad Raphael, craphael@scu.edu.

Paul Schutz with faculty of Ateneo de Manila University.

In July, Paul Schutz (Religious Studies) gave a lecture and led a faculty seminar at Ateneo de Manila University in Manila, Philippines, on his recent monograph, A Theology of Flourishing: The Fullness of Life for All Creation (Orbis Books). In August, he recorded several podcast episodes on his research: for AMDG, the official podcast of the Jesuits of the United States and Canada; for The Biggest Table, a podcast on food, faith, and justice; and for Orbis Books' own podcast, One on One.  In October, he will give a half-day retreat on his work for the Peace and Spirituality Center of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace in Bellevue, Washington.

In July, Chris Bacon (Environmental Studies and Sciences; Environmental Justice and the Common Good Initiative) moderated a plenary session on environmental justice at the International Association of Jesuit Universities 2025 Assembly at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia. The conference drew attendees and leaders from Jesuit universities in over 50 countries, including SCU President Julie Sullivan, Provost James Glaser, and VP for Mission and Ministry Matthew Carnes, SJ. In Bacon’s session, “Responding to the Cry of the Earth and the Poor,” panelists addressed how Jesuit institutions can continue to respond to Pope Francis’ urgent call in Laudato Si’ by enhancing ecological education, empowering and benefitting marginalized communities, and scaling our impacts to tackle systemic challenges to ecological justice. In his talk, Bacon emphasized promoting campus dialogues rooted in Ignatian reflection on justice and ecology, incorporating retreats and spiritual formation that link care for creation with care for the poor; and encouraging intercultural and inter-institutional collaboration to bring diverse perspectives to bear on environmental decision-making.

In August, Iris Stewart-Frey (Environmental Studies and Sciences, Environmental Justice and the Common Good Initiative) and Jake Dialesandro (ESS) presented critical data analysis of the Water and Climate Justice Lab to the State Water Resources Control Board’s Nitrate Expert Panel in Sacramento. Their research supports a coalition of 20+ environmental justice organizations including the California Rural Legal Assistance, Community Water Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, and communities impacted by nitrate pollution. Findings indicated that voluntary reduction efforts by growers are insufficient as nitrogen pollution continues to worsen—harming both people and ecosystems in the Central Valley and Central Coast. The data reveal a statistically significant relationship between nitrogen discharge and nitrate concentrations in groundwater wells and suggests that targeting the largest nitrate dischargers and areas with the highest nitrate concentrations in groundwater will yield the greatest health and environmental benefits. Even though agricultural coalitions are currently lobbying for further delays, scientific evidence suggests that California has already collected sufficient data to set science-backed and enforceable nitrate limits. KAZU public radio covered the testimony in part two of a three-part series. The coalition has also provided extensive public comments to the State Water Board that include the analysis.

Image: Part of the NGO nitrate coalition at the expert panel testimony in Sacramento.

Heather Clydesdale (Art and Art History) gave an invited talk at the Linsen Humanities Studio in Taipei, Taiwan. The hour-long talk, titled "Eternal and Contemporary: Mediating the Dharma Through Architecture," explored how space and form act as mediums for Buddhist doctrine, transforming abstract concepts like compassion, non-self, and emptiness into embodied experiences and esoteric revelations. The talk focused on and featured original photographs of the Guanyin Prayer Hall 祈願觀音殿 at Dharma Drum Mountain 法鼓山, Water Moon Monastery 水月道場, and Bodhisattva Saṅgha 菩薩寺. The presentation was in English with Q&A in English and Chinese. Heather's research in Taiwan was funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Taiwan Fellowship.

Image: Heather Clydesdale at Linsen Humanities Studio, Taipei, Taiwan.

Takeshi Moro (Art and Art History) participated as an exhibiting artist in the international group show "K whole" at ODP3 in Copenhagen, Denmark (Sept. 13 - Oct. 4). Moro's Karaoke Mänttä video works were featured alongside 14 international artists in an immersive karaoke club installation by TOFU Collective, exploring themes of identity and performance.

Image: Onkel Dannys Plads 3 website.

Tom Plante (Psychology) gave an invited keynote address entitled, "Embarking on a Psychotherapy Career from a Catholic Integrated Training Program: Five Strategies For Success" for the inaugural launch of the new faith-integrated M.S. in Clinical Psychology program at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota on Sept. 5, followed by a panel discussion with university officials as well as local mental health and clerical professionals.

Image: Tom sharing a laugh with Rebecca Brubaker, founder and director of the Minneapolis-based Elijah Institute.

Elsa Chen (Political Science) has two new co-authored journal articles now available via open access:

Chen, Elsa Y., Sarah Lageson, and Ericka Adams. “‘This is Everyone’s Issue’: The Role of Policy Entrepreneurs, Coalition Building, and Issue Framing in the Passage and Adoption of Automatic Criminal Record Expungement,” in Criminology and Public Policy; and Lageson, Sarah, Carolina Ribiero Caliman, Elsa Y. Chen, and Ericka Adams. “Online Recruitment of Interview Participants with Criminal Records: Methodological Challenges and Opportunities” in the Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology.

In August, Elsa and her colleagues presented a webinar on "Recruiting Research Participants Directly Impacted by the Legal System."

Image: Elsa with undergraduate research assistants Chisomaga Nlembigo '25 (Public Health Science, Political Science) and Sam Campos '25 (Political Science) at commencement, June 2025.

End-of-year celebration with the lab. From left to right: Ian Carter-O'Connell, Peter Miao ’28 (Biochemistry), Mikayla Dupen ’25 (Neuroscience, Biochemistry), Violetta Yousefpor ’28 (Bioengineering), Steph Nivaggioli ’25 (Biochemistry), and Christian Mohr ’25 (Biology).

Ian Carter-O'Connell (Chemistry and Biochemistry) was recently awarded a $507,796 R15 grant from the NIH to support his lab's ongoing research, “Defining the Biochemical Function and Therapeutic Utility of Unique PARP14 and PARP15 ADP-Ribosylation Sites.” This funding will help advance their efforts to understand how ADP-ribosylation—a key cellular modification—functions in normal cells and in disease contexts, including cancer and viral infection. Their work is strengthened by an incredible team of collaborators, including the Fuller lab at SCU, the Daugherty lab at UCSD, the proteomics core at OHSU, and the Brenner lab at USC’s City of Hope Hospital. This award not only supports cutting-edge research but also provides invaluable opportunities for our students to engage in hands-on scientific discovery.

Tripp Strawbridge (Modern Languages and Literatures), along with Jillian Pandor (Rochester Institute of Technology, Dubai) and Javier Muñoz-Basols (University of Seville, Spain), published an article in the International Journal of Applied Linguistics, titled "Linguistic and cultural immersion of American students in Spanish universities: Implications for higher education and study abroad programs." The study examined the experiences of 91 U.S. students studying abroad in Spain, who were enrolled in "direct enroll" coursework alongside local Spanish students (as opposed to taking class with fellow U.S. nationals). The study measured the impact of pre-departure support, language proficiency, and in-country assistance on students' satisfaction with the direct enroll experience, and with their perceptions of their own improvement in the Spanish language.

Michelle Burnham (English) was invited to deliver a talk at the Early American Literature Symposium, held at Washington University in St. Louis on Sept. 18-19, on “Drift and Shelter: Reading Migration in American Literary History.” The 12 invitees to the symposium will be expanding their talks into articles to be published in a forthcoming special issue of the journal American Literary History on the state of early American literary studies.

On Sept. 16, it was announced that Nico Opper (Communication) has been awarded the Saul Zaentz Creative Vision Award for $25,000, the most prestigious annual grant given in the name of the venerable Academy Award Winning Producer, Saul Zaentz, founding partner of the Berkeley FILM Foundation.

The grant will directly support Nico's current documentary in progress: “Untitled Alexandra Billings Project.” This documentary chronicles the life of Alexandra Billings, a pioneering trans actress, activist, and performer who has broken barriers on stage and screen while surviving the AIDS crisis, homelessness, and addiction. Blending biography, love story, and musical fantasia, the film traces her journey from Chicago drag clubs to Broadway and Hollywood. The film celebrates Billings’ resilience, artistry, and enduring impact as a beacon for the LGBTQ+ community.

Image: Alexandra Billings, courtesy of Chrisanne Blankenship-Billings.

Aparajita Nanda (English) published a peer-reviewed article, “Canonizing Discomfort: Deconstructing Empathy in Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood” in a special issue titled, Cultures of Empathy in the European Journal for English Studies, Vol. 28, Issue 1. In today’s divisive world empathy, simply understood as caring deeply for others, has come to occupy a pivotal position in discussions of social relationships. Empathy is one of the primary issues at stake in Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood, a narrative of human and alien interaction. Lilith’s Brood presents us with a formidable “other” in the Oankali aliens—hardly a candidate for human empathic bonding. The story revolves around complicated issues of alien take over, forced interbreeding that can also be interpreted as well-intentioned salvation politics depending on positionality and perspectival reading. Under the circumstances, empathy for the other, whether human or Oankali, becomes a complicated, loaded issue. Building on Megan Boler's "passive empathy" this paper draws on the works of Thalia Nicolaou and Brianne van Rhym to argue that Butler's work ultimately redefines empathy as a discourse of the body, an embodied empathy, needed to understand the lived experience of others in order to truly empathize with them.

Eugene Schlesinger (far left).

Eugene Schlesinger (Religious Studies) presented "Nicaea and the Necessity but Inadequacy of 'Sufficiency'" at the Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Network's conference "Dissent, Power, and Christian Identity After Nicaea" in Thessaloniki, Greece. This paper is the first of several aimed at developing an account of agonism and contestation within theological discourse in general and understandings of Christian unity in particular.

College of Arts and Sciences Calendar

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Upcoming sessions: Today, Sept. 26, and Friday, Oct. 10, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

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