Catch The Visual Arts @ SCU exhibit, featuring the art and publications of the Department of Art and Art History and the de Saisset Museum faculty and staff, before it closes on November 8. View more photos.

Dear College Faculty and Staff,

Hello from St. Louis! I’m at the AJCU annual Arts and Sciences Dean’s conference hosted by Donna LaVoie, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at St. Louis University and Kathleen Schneider's former classmate and friend at LMU! Most deans from the 27 AJCUs across the country come to this meeting annually as well as some assistant and associate deans. Throughout the conference, we’ll be comparing notes on lots of issues important to the College, including leadership on student, staff, and faculty belonging, AI, faculty workload and evaluation, free speech and academic freedom, and faculty morale.

While I’m traveling, I’ll be meeting with alumni and potential donors in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Seattle to cultivate those vital relationships that are so important to an institution like ours.

I also sit on the Board of Directors for the Patient Advocate Foundation, the largest U.S. non-profit providing relief to patients who can’t afford copays and other medical bills. They serve roughly 200,000 people and spend about $200 million annually on medical bills and associated costs for those in need. I’ve been on the board for five years now and just attended the first in-person annual board meeting they’ve held since I joined. In the current landscape, the foundation is looking to expand their financial support to help patients, many of which are underinsured, more wholistically.

Last weekend, I presented an overview of the College to hundreds of prospective students and their families at SCU’s annual Open House. We fielded lots of questions and overall had a successful day. Thank you to all the students, staff, and faculty who represented the College to our prospective students!

Have a happy and spooky Halloween next week!

Daniel

Highlights

David Gray's (Religious Studies) most recent book was just published. It is an edited volume entitled Re-envisioning Tsongkhapa: Tibet's Great Philosopher-Saint (Wisdom Publications, 2024). It is a collection of English language contributions to a conference held in Mundgod, Karnataka, India, in December 2019.

 

 

 

 

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Anna Sampaio (Ethnic Studies) recently delivered the Hispanic Heritage Month Keynote address entitled "Latinephenonmenon: Latiné/x Voters, Candidates, and Organizers Shattering the Stagnant Pale Male Paradigm of U.S. Politics" at the Rutgers-Camden campus in New Jersey. Drawing on an intersectional analysis and original data published in her recent report on Latinas/xs for the Center for American Women and Politics, the talk examined the political engagement of the Latiné/x community as voters, candidates, and organizers paying particular attention to their impact in national politics and their significance to the 2024 election.

As part of her ongoing public scholarship, Anna was also interviewed by Gregg Lee of KTVU as part of a special report on Latinos in the 2024 election and appeared on the State of California podcast discussing the role of denigrating immigrant narratives and immigration policy in the general election.

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Hsin-I Cheng (Communication) published “‘Crabs in the Barrel’: Strategic Color Consciousness of Black and Asian Americans on Anti-Asian Attacks” in Communication and Race. This article illustrates how Black and Asian Americans talk about anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from Critical Race Theory and Relational Citizenship, this research addresses the central and ambiguous role of racial identity in understanding interactions between Asian Americans and Black Americans. Four themes highlighted the centrality of visible racial identity in participants’ embodiment of relationality between these two groups. These themes include “naming the absent forces,” “drawing boundaries on criticism,” “managing racial salience in public spaces,” and “transcending temporal and geographic confinements.” This research extends CRT and develops the concept of strategic color consciousness (SCC), which can be applied to cultivating opportunities for relational inscriptions among historically marginalized racial groups when discussing difficult topics.

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Evelyn Ferraro and Marie Bertola (both Modern Languages and Literatures) presented “Fostering Collaboration, Engagement, and Scholarship Through Digital Spaces in the Italian Studies Curriculum” at the ATXpo 2024 Annual Conference held at UC San Francisco on October 7. The presentation highlighted a pilot project designed to build on the success of individual Italian courses and establish a sustainable digital pedagogical framework. The project seeks to enhance students' learning, teaching practices, and research through the integration of digital humanities, with a strong emphasis on fostering collaboration with diverse Italian and Italian-American communities, both locally and globally.

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Hsin-hung (Sean) Yeh (Modern Languages and Literatures) presented his project "Transforming the Advanced Mandarin Chinese courses with AI tools" at the ATXpo 2024 Conference at UCSF on October 7. He discussed how AI tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, Microsoft Azure, and AIVA are being integrated into course design to enhance the learning experience for advanced Mandarin students. These tools help generate semi-authentic materials, create multimedia resources, and develop assessments reflecting contemporary Sinophone cultures. He also addressed challenges such as content limitations and accessibility issues, highlighting his collaboration with the SCU tech team to find solutions. This project is a step toward transforming the Mandarin curriculum with innovative technology at SCU.

Image: Hsin-hung (Sean) Yeh presents his project "Transforming the Advanced Mandarin Chinese courses with AI tools" at the ATXpo 2024 Conference, UCSF, San Francisco.

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Tom Plante (Psychology) presented a continuing education workshop for mental health professionals hosted by the American Psychological Association's Public Service Division (Division 18) on October 7 entitled, "DEI Efforts Should Include Religion/Spirituality Too: Ethical and Professional Considerations."

Abstract: Professional psychology, along with many other health care disciplines as well as society in general, have become increasingly attentive and sensitive to issues of cultural diversity in recent years. We are likely all well aware of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts within our professional organizations and institutions and the importance of becoming more culturally competent in our various professional roles. Most of these efforts have focused on issues related to race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and various marginalized or oppressed groups. One area that has received inadequate attention in these efforts has been religious/spiritual diversity. The purpose of this workshop is to discuss the ethical issues associated with attention to religious and spiritual diversity and the integration of this important element of human functioning into our clinical work.

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Vivien Leung (Political Science) collaborated with the non-profit organization Committee of 100 and the University of Chicago's NORC on their 2024 State of Chinese America survey. This survey focused on areas of mental health, political preferences, discrimination, and diversity of the Chinese American population. They found that four years after the pandemic, discrimination continues to shape Chinese American political and mental health outcomes.

Image: Vivien Leung discussing key takeaways and policy recommendations from the survey.

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Robin Tremblay-McGaw's (English) suite of 5 poems—"we," "after Calamities," "Every image leaves the body," "Why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?" and "A woman sweats in bed"—has just appeared in Threefold Magazine's October 2024 issue.

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Dennis Gordon (Political Science) presented a paper "Mindfulness Practices and Constructivism: Can Leaders’ Attitudes About Actors, States and Global Challenges Change?" to the annual meeting of the International Studies Association - West annual meeting on September 28 in Pasadena, California. This paper considers how leaders’ views of actors, states, and the global system may evolve through learning and experiences as envisioned in the International Relations theory of Constructivism. The paper explores the effectiveness of mindfulness practices that promote being present in the moment, letting go of judgments, being intentional, not being prone to premature judgments, and developing empathy and openness to new possibilities.

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Ráyo Furuta (Music), ELSJ Fellow, Chair of the ELSJ Faculty Curriculum Committee, has recently been awarded $75,000 in grants from the California Arts Council. These funds will support several exciting initiatives, including the co-creation of a multidisciplinary performance art experience blending music, dance, and digital media art to highlight the stories of California’s farmworkers. Additionally, the grant will fund Arabic music workshops and performances, with a special focus on Palestinian traditions, in local elementary and middle schools. The award will also sustain the continued development of Furuta’s Emerging Artist Fellowship program, which provides young musicians of color with hands-on professional training and high-profile performance opportunities at the early stages of their professional careers.

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Britt Cain (CAH), Danielle Morgan (English), Amy Randall (History), and Fernando Rojas '25 (Web Design & Engineering) tabling at the CAH pop up event.

In honor of National Arts and Humanities Month, the Center for the Arts & Humanities hosted an all day outdoor pop up event. Attendees enjoyed poetry readings, Shakespearan performances, a "learn to draw class" and tabling from a variety of SCU student organizations as well as individual students and faculty.

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Maura Tarnoff (English) dives into the Shakespearean comedy Twelfth Night and explores the themes of grief, jealousy, unrequited love, and ambition. She leads the class in studying this play's writing, cultural contexts, and history of performance as Santa Clara University prepares its production for this fall.

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