Dear Arts & Letters Community:
Welcome to the Fall 2020 semester! We especially welcome 467 new First Time Freshman and 618 new Transfer Students to our College of Arts & Letters Community of engaged teachers, scholars, artists, and learners!
The CSU system took the lead nationally by deciding very early on to hold classes this semester in an all-remote format. Doing so enabled us to create a Summer Institute for our faculty so that that they can be well-prepared to teach in both synchronous and asynchronous remote formats. I am happy to report to you that over 280 College of Arts & Letters faculty participated in the Center for Effective Teaching and Learning (CETL) Summer Institute. As a result, our students will have access to high quality remote learning opportunities this semester.
Just in time for the Fall semester, we received approval for our newest – but not really new – major in the College: the BA in Journalism. The College of Arts & Letters last offered the BA in Journalism in the 1990s. Distinguished alumni of the former BA degree program include Dave Lopez, who recently retired from CBS News after a career of more than four decades, and Norma Roque, a reporter for Univision’s local affiliate, KMEX34. The effort to re-initiate the BA in Journalism was ably led by Professor Tony Cox, whose Op-ed Who Tells the Story Matters recently appeared in the LA Times.
In addition to this new major, we are also being joined by a new Associate Dean. Dr. Katherine Weiss is a Cal State LA alum, having received her MA in English here; you can read more about her in the profile below. I offer my deep appreciation to Dr. Kevin Baaske, who served as Interim Associate Dean for the past two years. Fortunately, we will still have his expertise in the College as he returns to the faculty of Communication Studies to teach a very timely course in “Campaign Communication” and serve on both the campus and statewide Academic Senates. In addition to these changes in the Dean’s office, we are joined by ten (!) extraordinary new full-time faculty. You will be seeing profiles of our newest faculty members in subsequent newsletters.
Finally, I want to acknowledge that we are still in the midst of a global pandemic. LA County has recently been a hotspot nationally so please continue to follow public health guidance on mask-wearing (anytime you go out), hand-washing (frequent), and physical distancing (six feet). If you are a student needing healthcare, please contact the Student Health Center. The University’s Health Watch page is updated frequently with information about Covid-19, the campus response to it, and related services available to students, faculty, and staff.
Our learning journey this fall may be in a different format than expected, but it will be engaging, instructive, and transformative.
Go Golden Eagles!
Linda Essig
Dr. Linda Essig, Dean
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The Next Arts & Letters ASI Representatives |
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Lauren Diana will be receiving her B.A. in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies this spring. Her hobbies include singing in the Chamber Choir, bonding with her Delta Zeta sisters, and lobbying to end global poverty through The Borgen Project. Her experience as a Representative for the Residence Hall Association in Housing allowed Lauren to build community among students living on campus. Originally from the east coast, Lauren has made a new home at Cal State LA. She is eager to represent the College of Arts & Letters and looks forward to working with you! Please feel free to meet Lauren via Zoom during her office hours every Thursday from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm.
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Born and raised in Lancaster California, Brajohn Hicks is a Communication Studies Major with an option in Mass Media, Advertising and Public Relation and a minor in Marketing. He will be graduating and leaving a legacy behind at Cal State LA in May, 2021. He has been involved on campus in numerous ways; he was a part of Changemakers (a global network of social entrepreneurs, innovators, business leaders, policy makers and activists), The Middle Leadership Academy and was a Student Ambassador. Brajohn has a history of advocating and communicating with students from various backgrounds without any sort of struggle. His zodiac sign is a Sagittarius and loves the outdoors. On his free time, Brajohn prefers to be laying in the sand and listening to the waves at Hermosa Beach. He is very excited to serve as our Arts & Letters ASI Representative. He will be holding office hours via Zoom every Thursday from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm.
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Welcoming Katherine Weiss, College of Arts & Letters Associate Dean |
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Dr. Katherine Weiss comes to us from the Department of Literature and Language at East Tennessee State University where she served as department chair for six years. Her scholarly publications include Samuel Beckett: History, Memory, Archive (co-edited with Seán Kennedy, Palgrave/Macmillan, 2009), The Plays of Samuel Beckett (Methuen/Bloomsbury, 2013), A Student Handbook to the Plays of Tennessee Williams (Bloomsbury, 2014), Samuel Beckett and Contemporary Art (co-edited with Robert Reginio and David Houston Jones, ibidem, 2017), and Simply Beckett (Simply Charly Press, 2020). She has published articles in the Journal of Beckett Studies and Samuel Beckett: Aujourd’hui. Other writers who occupy Katherine are Tennessee Williams, Sam Shepard, Sophie Treadwell and Bob Dylan.
A San Francisco State graduate (BA in English) and a Cal State LA graduate (MA in English), Katherine is delighted to be back in California and working in the College of Arts & Letters.
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Pursuing a Bachelor's Behind Bars |
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Students become higher-education advocates in Cal State LA’s Prison BA Program.
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Celebrating Student Scholarship Recipients
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Join us in congratulating the following Cal State LA Alumni Association scholarship recipients.
Education Alumni Network Scholarship
Emelie Guerrero, Department of Liberal Studies
Marjorie Morrison Mitchell Scholarship
Arlene Contreras, Department of Liberal Studies
Renaissance Scholarship
Mia Jessie, Department of Art
Mary Pace, Department of English
You can browse the various scholarships available on the Cal State LA Scholarships Application site during the scholarship application season (March 3-April 19, 2020 - extended). However, it’s never too soon to review the process so that you are prepared.
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KPFA 94.3 recently re-aired professor of Liberal Studies, Patrick Sharp's, interview about John Hersey's Hiroshima.
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Calling all Cal State LA students!
The submission deadline is September 10 at 6 PM.
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Play in the Cal State LA String Ensemble |
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The Music Department welcomes all bowed string players (violin, viola, cello, bass) to perform in the Cal State LA String Ensemble. Activities this Fall include: creating videos for “virtual string ensemble,” group classes on string technique over Zoom, and the study of repertoire by Arturo Marquez, William Grant Still, and Aram Khachaturian. Non-music majors are welcome, and we will adapt parts to your playing level! To schedule an audition, sign up here or contact Patti Kilroy at [email protected].
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The College of Arts & Letter Advisement team invites incoming Black students and their families to an Open House via Zoom on Wednesday, August 19 from 5 pm - 6 pm.
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The College of Arts & Letters wants to support your efforts to secure external funding to support your work. In order to do so, we have created a very simple “Intent to Apply Form”. Please fill out this simple form by clicking the button below as early in your process as possible so that we can: make sure your proposal gets routed to the right office; assist with grant writing if needed; assist with budget development if needed; and connect you with other faculty who may be working on related projects. For public agency research grants, you do not need to wait for a response from the Dean's Office before moving forward with the proposal to ORSCA; foundation grants, however, do need to be reviewed by the development team. Remember, this is an INTENT to apply, not an application. It is designed to help us help you – not to make an assessment or judgement about the grant itself.
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Click the button below to submit your professional activities, publications, and awards to see them highlighted by the College of Arts & Letters.
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*All events are virtual, click on individual events for additional information. Event dates are subject to change.
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