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| May 2, 2025 | Submit a Note |
 overhead, a skylark called in rehearsal. Clockwise from top left: Katy Wolff '25 (Communication, English) at Vari Hall; (l) Christian Barnard '26 (Political Science, Theatre Arts) and (r) Ashwin Raman '26 (Computer Science & Engineering) at the Arts Paseo; the Ensemble, including Caz Morales '25 (Theatre Arts), Alex Jordan '25 (Philosophy, Theatre Arts) and Roselyn Jauregui-Mejia '26 (Psychology, Theatre Arts), listening to an SCU Chamber Singers recording on Mayer Lawn; staging the final scene in Mayer Theatre: onstage (l‑r) Emma Fox '27 (Theatre Arts), Katie Castillo '26 (Political Science, Theatre Arts), Tate Burks '25 (Music), Brian Thorstenson (Theatre and Dance), Samantha Chiotellis '25 (Computer Science) and in the audience (l-r) Ximena Melgoza '27 (Theatre Arts, Psychology), William Patmore '27 (Computer Science & Engineering), Kat Gorospe Cole and Eric Garcia (Detour), Sydney Gorin '27 (Psychology); at the de Saisset, Audrey Thomson '26 (Theatre Arts), Gael Sotelo '25 (Political Science, Theatre Arts), Sophie Copple '26 (English), Emilia Rodriguez '27 (Theatre Arts, English); Kennedy Dawson '25 (Theatre Arts), Ashwin Raman, and Tate Burks in the Dowd lobby; and Tony Baldacci '25 (Accounting) as the Messenger. Visit SCU Presents for tickets.
Last week we celebrated the 12th Annual Day of Giving. I’m happy to report that the College of Arts and Sciences ranked third across the University for total number of gifts with 419 donors! We raised nearly $128,000 and completed five matching gift challenges thanks to the generosity of our Bronco friends and family. It was an extraordinary day and I am grateful to everyone who helped make it a success, most especially our CAS donors. 
Next week, we are looking forward to opening night for overhead, a skylark called, the culminating event of Brian Thorstenson’s time as the Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts. As our first faculty Sinatra Artist-in-Residence, Brian has worked closely with students throughout the creative process. Together with visiting artists Detour Productions, they have developed an immersive devised dance-theater piece that centers on the question “what do you call home?” Performances will begin in satellite locations around campus—here in Vari, in the Dowd lobby, and at the de Saisset Museum—before progressing to the Mayer Theatre for the conclusion of the show. I encourage you to attend one of the performances as I have no doubt it will be a unique and inspiring production. Is this quarter moving by in a flash? For a reflection on speed and time, I leave you with this poem by A. Van Jordan, who teaches poetry, creative non-fiction and screenwriting at Stanford University. Sincerely, Daniel The Flash Reverses Time
By A. Van Jordan
When I’m running across the city Highlights
On April 15, the Italian Studies Program, in collaboration with the Center for the Arts and Humanities (CAH), hosted a screening of We Were Here: The Untold Story of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe, a powerful and thought-provoking documentary by Italian Afro-descendant artist Fred Kuwornu. Acclaimed at the 60th International Art Exhibition–La Biennale di Venezia (2024), the documentary sheds light on the often-overlooked history and contributions of Black Africans to European visual culture. After the screening, Fred Kuwornu led a Q&A, engaging the audience to reflect on the long-standing issues of erasure and the vital role of Black Africans in shaping the cultural landscape of Europe. This event was made possible through the generous co-sponsorship of Center for the Arts and Humanities, Department of Art and Art History, Department of Communication, Department of English, Department of History, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (MODLL), Office of Diversity & Inclusion, Office for Multicultural Learning, and University Library.
Students from the Sociology Department had the opportunity to attend the Pacific Sociological Association meetings in San Francisco. Some students also presented with their faculty mentors, including Isabella Fernandez ’25 (Sociology, Political Science), who presented “Collaborative Networks as Gendered Relational Opportunity Structures” with Molly King and post-doc Ruodan Liu. Maggie Hunter and student researchers Maya Diaz ’25 (Spanish Studies, Sociology), Alex Zabalza ’25 (Sociology, French and Francophone Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies), and Sade Hashemi ’26 (Sociology) presented “Gen Z Experiences in College and with Social Activism.” And, Iliana Rodriguez ‘25 (Sociology) presented “The Four-Year College Selection Process for Community College Students” with Laura Nichols.
Michelle Rivers (Psychology) was a co-author on two articles published in a special issue of Behavioral Sciences called "Educational Applications of Cognitive Psychology." The first, "The Role of Answer Justification in Multiple-Choice Testing: Effects on Performance and Metacognitive Accuracy," found that adding a short explanation for why you chose an answer on a multiple-choice test can help you remember information better. In two experiments, students who justified their answers scored higher than those who just selected answers without explanation—and they were slightly better at judging how well they actually knew the material. This simple strategy could make tests more useful for learning, not just for assessment. The second, "Point Values on Scoring Rubrics Influence Self-Regulated Learning for STEM Material," found that when students were given rubrics showing which topics were worth more points, they chose to study high-value topics more often and sometimes for longer. However, focusing on high-point topics didn’t always lead to better performance on the assignment. The results suggest that while rubrics can guide what students study, they may still need support in how to study effectively.
Preston Taylor Stone (English, Ethnic Studies) has been awarded a 2025 ACLS Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). The longest running program at the organization, ACLS Fellowships support outstanding scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. After four years of restricting ACLS Fellowships to early-career scholars due to the impact of COVID-19, the 2024 competition was reopened to scholars across all career stages. Preston has been recognized as one of 62 outstanding scholars from a pool of over 2,300 applicants through a multi-stage peer review process. “ACLS is grateful that we are in a position to continue to fund this vital research that advances our understanding of human societies and cultures,” said ACLS Vice President James Shulman. “Representing many different fields of study—including African diaspora studies, art history, English, gender studies, musicology, philosophy, religious studies, and more—this year’s fellows demonstrate the importance of foundational humanistic inquiry in helping us to understand a wide range of questions concerning our collective and varied histories, narratives, creations, and beliefs.” The ACLS Fellowship Program is funded primarily by the ACLS endowment, which has benefited from the generous support of esteemed funders, institutional members, and individual donors since 1919.
Tom Plante (Psychology) gave the keynote address, "Living Ethically in an Unethical World: Reflections for Healthcare Professionals," for the annual Interprofessional Collaboration Symposium for World Health Day at San Jose State University on April 11. Santa Clara University alum and SJSU professor, Courtney (Daniels) Boitano ’03 (Psychology), was one of the hosts and organizers of the event.
On Dec. 28, Sean was invited by the Chinese Language Center at Wenzao to speak to a group of L2 Mandarin instructors on a range of contemporary pedagogical issues. Topics included the pros and cons of traditional drills and their transformation, challenges and enhancements in curriculum design, the internalization of insights from oral testing and ACTFL proficiency guidelines, inclusive and diversified approaches to assessment, and the evolving use of AI tools in language instruction. He shared research findings and discussed their instructional implications with the teaching team. Image: Poster of Hsin-hung (Sean) Yeh's talks invited by the Chinese Language Center at Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Meilin Chinn (Philosophy) presented her paper "Other Orients: Music and Orientalism" at the University of San Francisco on April 14. The use of “Oriental” or Asian musical motifs within music has a long enough history to form a distinct musical tradition across genres including folk, rock, jazz, hip hop, dub/reggae, pop, and electronic music. The question of when examples from this tradition should be heard as orientalism is harder to pinpoint than the motifs themselves. In her paper, Meilin considers orientalism and music by examining several examples set against the backdrop of a very old philosophical question: what can be heard in music? Examples include: (1) obviously bad orientalism in music (the “Asian riff”) (2) Asian motifs in music that are not clearly orientalist or not harmfully so, (Stephen Cheng’s “Always Together,”) and (3) anti-orientalism in Asian-American music (Kishi Bashi’s Omoiyari and Yellow Pearl’s A Grain of Sand). The last two examples lay the groundwork for inquiring into music as a solidarity practice based on what can be transmitted in sound. Using a debate from early Chinese philosophers over whether music has representational meaning, Meilin argues that certain music can represent the un-representable and therefore offers an alternative to the paltry options of assimilation or appropriation offered in orientalist politics. Meilin's paper will be published in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook on Asian American Philosophy. Image: "Always Together" by Stephen Cheng and produced by Byron Lee.
Amy Lueck (English) presented with Isabella Gomez '27 (Philosophy) at the Conference on College Composition and Communication in Baltimore, Maryland. They presented their work on co-authoring with undergraduates, which is a collaboration that also involves Teresa Contino '23 (English, Psychology) and Leah Senatro '19 (English, Philosophy). Other SCU English faculty who presented at the conference include David Coad, Matt Gomes, Cruz Medina, and Scott Wagar.
Image: Amy Lueck and Isabella Gomez.
Francisco Jiménez (Modern Languages and Literatures, Emeritus) gave a talk on the dramatic short film The Unbroken Sky at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose on March 21, followed by a Q&A session. The event served as a fundraiser for the Monterey County Food Bank. To promote the event, he was interviewed on March 9 by Damian Trujillo on NBC-TV’s Comunidad del Valle. He also gave a brief talk, sponsored by SCU’s Staff Senate, following a screening of The Unbroken Sky at Santa Clara University on April 9. On April 15, Francisco gave a presentation at SCU in Spanish to 54 students and their teachers from Yolo Middle School in Newman, who had traveled to meet him. The students had read his books Cajas de cartón and Senderos fronterizos in preparation for the visit. In addition, Francisco made author visits sponsored by the Redwood City Library to Taft Elementary and Orion Elementary in Redwood City. In advance of his visit, the library provided 400 students with copies of his book The Circuit: Graphic Novel.
Military Science students embarked on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to deepen their academic and leadership development through an immersive staff ride in Belgium, where they studied the historic Battle of the Bulge firsthand. Training to lead means learning from those who led before us. At the Luxembourg American Cemetery, cadets stood in solemn reflection honoring the sacrifices of those who fought before them and presented what they learned to one another on the grounds where the historic battle occurred.
Taiwanese architect and professor Hsiao Yu-Chih led a workshop on his “Megaweaving” practice. Yu-Chih, Zooming in from Taipei, instructed participants in the Dowd sculpture studio how to build "Nest." First, they constructed a large wooden scaffold, then wove irrigation piping into a basket around it, securing joints with zip ties. It necessitated everyone working collaboratively and simultaneously—bracing supports, feeding tubes, and yanking ties tight. At the two-hour mark, it was time to remove the scaffolding and see if Nest could stand on its own. One-by-one, each support was gingerly dismantled and slid out from the structure, like Jenga with six-foot-long two-by-fours! In the end, Nest stood prettily, and participants were reminded how gratifying it is to come together and make something physical and palpable in real time. "Nest" is on view in the first floor of Dowd for a limited time. The Megaweaving event was funded by the Center for Arts and Humanities (CAH), supported by the SCU Student Art League (SCUSAL) and the School of Engineering’s Frugal Innovation Hub (FIH), and organized by CAH Fellow Heather Clydesdale (Art and Art History). "Nest" is a design by Hsiao Yu-Chih and Doug Johnston.
Yujie Ge (Modern Languages and Literatures) was invited to give a presentation at the 2025 International Chinese Education Symposium, held April 19-20 in Santa Barbara. She presented her Chinese Business Culture course at the conference, where the main theme focused on business Chinese education. In her presentation, she introduced the course design framework, key concepts covered, class activities and project design, and shared her teaching experiences and reflections on business culture teaching. She also discussed the demand for up-to-date books and resources in the field. The conference also covered other themes, including the development of specialized Chinese language and culture teaching, and the shifting dynamics of study abroad programs in the new era. These discussions aimed to foster collaboration and inspire future directions in global Chinese education.
Mateo J. Carrillo (History) chaired a panel and presented a paper at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies in Mexico City. His presentation, titled "Transportation Technologies, Denationalizing Discourses: Mobility, Media and Citizenship in Western Mexico," took place at the Instituto Mora on April 26. The paper was based on the fourth chapter of his current book project. Mateo was joined on the panel by Christopher Boyer (University of North Carolina at Charlotte), Seth Garfield (University of Texas at Austin), and Richard Coughlin (Florida Gulf Coast University).
Laura Ellingson (Communication) delves into the influence of communication on everyday interaction of biological sex, gender identity, and perceptions of others’ embodied gender expressions, such as clothing and hairstyles. She looks at relevant theory and research on gender similarities and differences in verbal communication, nonverbal communication, family roles and dynamics, friendship styles, career expectations, and more. The course will discuss how gender intersects with race, class, sexual orientation, disability, status/power, and other identities and how to navigate understandings based on gender style differences. OLLI@SCU will be featuring notable instructors periodically in the College Notes. The average course ranges from 4-10 hours of instruction per quarter. OLLI hopes this will inspire you to stay updated on OLLI news and possibly teach a class for their 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
Got IT Questions or Issues?Stop by the virtual IT drop-in sessions with Charles Deleon! These sessions are designed to provide faculty and staff in the College of Arts and Sciences a friendly and casual setting for addressing general IT questions and concerns. Feel free to drop in and out at any time during the scheduled session, whether you have a quick question, need assistance with something and don't know where to start, or simply want to learn more about our IT resources. Biweekly. Next session: Friday, May 9, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Zoom link
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Fred Kuwornu (fourth from the right) with Italian Studies students, faculty, and staff (L-R): Nora Kolerich ’27 (Political Science), Hazel Inoway-Yim ’28 (Political Science), Lily Walsh ’27 (Undeclared), Olivia Genovese ’28 (English), Megan Nuchereno ’27 (Communication), Simon Lanzoni ’23 (Music, Italian Studies), Britt Cain (CAS Dean‘s Office), Augustin Pace ’25 (Italian Studies, Economics), Evelyn Ferraro (MODLL), Jake Caprini ’26 (Communication, Marketing), Marie Bertola (MODLL), Fred Kuwornu, Amy Randall (History, CAH Director), Jimia Boutouba (MODLL), and Katey Dallosto ’93 (Marketing).
SCU sociologists attending PSA 2025.
Francisco Jiménez with Yolo Middle School students and teachers in front of Nobili Hall.
Military Science Cadets & Cadre at the Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg BE.
Dawson Rogers '25 (Accounting) visited a memorial honoring his grandfather’s unit, the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion. On Jan. 7, 1945, the remaining 250 members of the Battalion were ordered to attack the Belgian village of Rochelinval over open ground without artillery support. The unit lost more than half its men, but the assault succeeded. Rogers’ grandfather was among the survivors.
Inset Photo (L-R): Iris Chen ’28 (Communication), Addy Sharkness ’27 (Studio Art), Calyn Ellacer ’25 (Studio Art), Sophia Irinco ’26 (Ethnic Studies), Heather Clydesdale, and Naveen Shastri (LSB, MBA program).
Panel titled "Marketing and Capitalism in Latin America and Its Impact in Rural and Urban Spaces." Mateo J. Carrillo at far left.| College of Arts and Sciences |
Questions? Contact Sandy Boyer |