College of Arts and Letters
Student Achievements
The Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program: 2008-2009
Clariza Ruiz De Castilla, Department of Communication Studies, current doctoral student in Rhetoric at the University of Texas, Austin. Faculty Advisor, Dr. David Olsen.
The 2008-2009 Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Program Scholars
Joshua Allen, Masters Philosophy, faculty advisor-- Joseph Prabhu
Jennifer Avila, English, faculty advisor-- Marilyn Elkins
Jennifer DeClue, Masters Communications/Media Studies, faculty advisor--Kelly J. Madison
Laura Lesko, Masters Art History, faculty advisor--Abbas Daneshvari
Thania Muñoz, Masters Spanish Literature, faculty advisor—Gaston Adolfo Alzate
Anna Noice, Masters Comparative Literature, faculty advisor—Andrew L. Knighton
Anthony Shogren, Music Composition, faculty advisor-- John M. Kennedy
Daniel Topete, American Studies, faculty advisor-- Dionne Espinoza
Honorable Mention:
Wyatt Andrew, Masters Music – Composition, faculty advisor--John M. Kennedy
Western Association of Graduate Schools (WAGS) Award for
Outstanding Thesis: Nominations 2008- 2009.
College Outstanding Theses
1st Place: Jeremy Gomer, Department of Philosophy,
Thesis Title: Virtue Epistemology and the Pyrrhonian Problematic. [Chosen as the college nomination for the WAGS Thesis Competition]
2nd Place: Jennifer DeClue, Department of Communication Studies, Emphasis: Critical Studies, Thesis Title: She’s My Boyfriend.
3rd Place: Leilani Serafin (Department of English.)
Thesis Title: Interpretable Objects and Material Culture in Tennyson’s Idylls of the King
Western Association of Graduate Schools Award Nominee: 2007- 2008
Michelle Chasman, Department of Philosophy, Thesis Title: Human Rights: The UN Declaration and its Implementation was chosen as the Outstanding MA Thesis in the College of Arts and Letters, and selected as the university’s nominee for the Western Association of Graduate Schools (WAGS) Outstanding Thesis Competition.
International Graduate Student Tuition Waivers
2009-10
Wenjing Zhou, Department of Communication Studies (Television, Film and Media Studies).
Femke Weidema, Department of Music
2008-09
Justyna Szymura, Department of Music
Jisso Park, Department of Music
Femke Weidema, Department of Music
Wenjing Zhou, Department of Communication Studies
Student Accomplishments by Department
Department of Art
The 2008-2009 Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Program Scholars
Laura Lesko, Masters Art History, faculty advisor-- Abbas Daneshvari
Department of Communication Studies
The 2008-2009 Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Program Scholars
Jennifer DeClue, Masters Communications/Media Studies, faculty advisor-- Kelly J. Madison
The Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program: 2007-2008
Clariza Ruiz De Castilla, current doctoral student in Rhetoric at the University of Texas, Austin.
International Graduate Student Tuition Waivers
2008-09 Wenjing Zhou
2009-10 Wenjing Zhou
Conference Presentations, CSULA Graduate Student Recognition
CSULA Student Symposium on Research, Scholarship and Creative
Activity February 27, 2009
Three of the six students who presented on the Humanities and Letters panel were Masters of Arts graduate students: Smitha Thippanna, Ulises Moreno and Dashi Zhang.
Anthony Helguera, also one of our MA students, co-presented on the Education panel.
Western Communication Association Annual Convention in Mesa, AZ, Feb. 2009.
Claudia Quintero, "A Conservative Ideograph: Analysis of Senator John McCain's Usage of the Word Conservative"
Tim Mount, "Friendship Park: Two Worlds Divided,"
Ulises Moreno, "Auto[e]scapes: Exploring Disjunctures and Disidentifications through Performative Writing."
Tanya Andrea Cornejo, "Political Preemptive Apologia: Senator Barack Obama's Memo on Declining Public Financing for the General Election."
Katie Brown, "Barack Obama: The Bargain Basement Price."
Samantha Tamayo, "Obama, Agent of Redemption: A Dramatistic Critique of Obama's Speech on Race."
Monique L. Thomas, "Keep it down, I'm trying to talk about the Super Bowl!: The Performance of Masculine Power in the Workplace."
Paul Vera, "Foreign Policy Experience and Exaggeration: Ideographic Usurption in the Accountability Interview."
Doctoral Program Updates:
Entry:
Mai-Ly Nguyen, accepted into Ph.D. Program, University of Houston, Social Psychology (2009)
Taos Glickman, accepted into Ph.D. Program, University of Massachusetts, Communication (2009)
Victoria Chang, accepted into Ph.D. Program, Claremont Graduate School, Cultural Studies (2009)
Completion:
Richie Hao (B.A., and M.A CSULA) recently defended his doctoral dissertation at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His dissertation is entitled: (Mis)Diagnosing Silence: A Cultural Criticism of the Virginia Tech News Coverage of Silence as Public Pedagogy. November 2009-- Richie accepted a Assistant Professor, tenure track appointment at the University of Denver. He begins in the Fall 2009.
Corey (Cora) Leighton, M.A. recently defended her doctoral dissertation at Louisiana State University . Cora has accepted a one year appointment at Rowan University in New Jersey.
Department of English
The 2008-2009 Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Program Scholars
Jennifer Avila, English, faculty advisor Marilyn Elkins
Anna Noice, Masters Comparative Literature, faculty advisor— Andrew L. Knighton
Association of Educational Office Employees (AEOE) Scholarship, $2000.00
Marina Duff (MA, Creative Writing Option), educational costs based on her high level of academic achievements.
First Annual Shakespeare Symposium, Cal State LA, March 7, 2009.
Nigel Dookhoo, presented “’Qui va la?’ Gendered Language in Henry V.”
Caroline Jurovic presented “ Satorial Metamorphosis”
CSULA Student Symposium on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity February 27, 2009
Jennifer Milanese – 2nd place, Humanities & Letters category; delegate to statewide competition “Vicki Hearne and her Ability to Manipulate and Influence through Rhetorical Means”. Faculty mentor---Michelle Hawley
Department of Liberal Studies
The 2008-2009 Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Program Scholars
Daniel Topete, American Studies, faculty advisor-- Dionne Espinoza
Graduate Program Update
Yesenia Villar-Villalobos has been accepted to the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) for the Masters of Library and Information Science.
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
The 2009-2010 Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Program Scholars
Luis Vargas Maldonado Spanish Linguistics, faculty advisor Gaston Alzate
The 2008-2009 Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Program Scholars
Thania Muñoz, Masters Spanish Literature, faculty advisor— Gaston Adolfo Alzate
Fan Chi Kung (Chinese major) presented the paper, "A Hybrid Approach to Teaching Chinese Phonetic Systems," at the Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research at Cal Poly Pomona on November 22, 2008, and an extended version of the paper at the 17th Annual CSULA Student Symposium on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity, February 27, 2009. Mentor: Kylie Hsu
Students of Spanish Juan Carlos Roque and Erika Reyes published reviews of theater shows in Spanish in the peer-reviewed journal KARPA (issue 3.1, January 2009).
Jorge Encinas won a scholarship to study in the Bryn Mawr in Avigno program, summer 2008.
Christine J. Fernandez received $468.00 to present a paper at the Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies, November 7 - 8, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Department of Music
The 2008-2009 Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Program Scholars
Anthony Shogren, Music Composition, faculty advisor-- John M. Kennedy
Honorable Mention: Wyatt Andrew, Masters Music – Composition, faculty advisor--John M. Kennedy
International Graduate Student Tuition Waivers
2008-09
Justyna Szymura
Jisso Park
Femke Weidema
2009-20010
Femke Weidema
Department of Philosophy
The 2008-2009 Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Program Scholars
Joshua Allen, Masters Philosophy, faculty advisor-- Joseph Prabhu
Western Association of Graduate Schools Award Nominee
Michelle Chasman: Outstanding MA thesis Department of Philosophy, Outstanding MA Thesis College of Arts and Letters, University selected thesis: Western Association of Graduate Schools, Outstanding Thesis Competition
Student placement in Grad programs (Philosophy):
Scott Tidwell, UCLA PhD program in Philosophy
Peter Yong, UCSD PhD program in Philosophy
Phil Gordon, University of Texas
Leslie Cane, Manhattan School of Music
Kimberly Chuang, London School of Economics
MA grads who were appointed in Teaching Jobs at Community Colleges (Philosophy):
Kelley Falconer: Loyola Marymount University
Venessa Shulz: Pasadena City College
Kate Carpenter: Pasadena City College
Theatre Arts and Dance
2009 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival: Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships, CSU Fullerton, February 2009.
Regional Nominees were: Kolleen Richards, Ben Caron, Lexis LaRue, Tony Christopher, Sophie Goldstein, Concetta Verna, Tokunbo Kujore, Roberto Guzman, Meggie Welch, Paul Diem and Diana Wehbe.
Partners were: Tyler Jonsson, Doniele Harrigan, Matthew Zuk, Eric Charles, Christopher Brown, Mack Calhoun, Amanda Haro and Kelly Ehlert.
20 students participated as actors/singers and dancers in the Next Step Auditions, auditioning for 12 Theatre companies and University Graduate Programs, including Disney Theatricals, A Noise Within, Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, Kaiser Permanente Educational Programs and Missoula Children’s Theatre.
Participants were: Kolleen Richards, Ben Caron, Lexis LaRue, Sophie Goldstein, Concetta Verna, Roberto Guzman, Meggie Welch, Diana Wehbe, Doniele Harrigan, Matthew Zuk, Eric Charles, Christopher Brown, Mack Calhoun, Amanda Haro, Kelly Ehlert, Rick Cook, Daphne Gabriel, Bianca Doria, Paul Coutinho, Ashley Vaugn.
6 students participated as Directors/Designers/Production Staff for the Next Step Interviews, interviewing with 6 theatre companies, including Disney Theatricals, PCPA Theatrefest and the Kingsmen Shakespeare Company.
Students participating: Matthew Tsang, Paul Coutinho, Amber Cox, Monique Fisher, Lemuel Thornton, and Jessica Amezcua.
In all, 17 students were called back from the Next Step Auditions / Interviews and some offered employment.
CSULA undergraduate student (double major Music/TAD) Benjamin Caron’s short play 10 Minutes, was invited to perform in an evening of new works at the Festival.
Actors Paul Diem, Lexis LaRue, Whitney LaBarge and Kolleen Richards along with technicians Paul Coutinho and Matthew Tsang, stage manager Leticia Gonzalez and A+L Production and Technical Staff Phil van Hest, Jim McFail and Tim Jones, traveled to CSU Fullerton, mounted the show in under two hours, and ran 3 flawless performances for sold-out crowds of over 250 people.
Master of Fine Arts in Television, Film, and Theatre
(Combined program offered between the Department of Communication Studies and the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance)
Tamir Mostafa--Playwright, Guy Friends, selected for the John Lion New Plays Festival Readings, Cal State L.A., February 2009
Jerry Sanchez--Assistant Editor, The Ultimate Fighter Reality TV Show, Seasons 8 and 9, Spike TV, 2008. Assistant Editor, Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment Season 2, Discovery Channel, 2009.
Lemuel Thornton--Assistant Director, California State University, Los Angeles production of Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid, Fall 2008; Director, Hooks, Hollywood, CA, 2009; Co-Director, California State University, Los Angeles production of Tales by Shakespeare, Winter 2009.
Alicia Tycer--Lecturer. Theatre Arts 152: Analysis of Drama and Theatre Awarded Alumni Association Scholarship, California State University, Los Angeles. Fall 2008. Dramaturg: California State University, Los Angeles production of Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid, Jon Kellam director. Fall 2008. Author. “Feminist Resonances in Contemporary British Theatre.” Atti e Sipari (Acts and Curtains), October 2008.
Tim Zajac---Director, California State University, Los Angeles production of Tales of Shakespeare¸ Luckman Intimate Theatre at
CSULA. Assistant Director, Winter 2009, California State University, Los Angeles production of Guy Friends by Tamir Mostafa, John Lion New Plays Festival. Short Film Director, Bushido Bass Clarinet shown at 2009 Sundance Film Festival, Short Film Corner, Park City, Utah.
Xiaoguang “Mark” Zhen---Camera Operator: “Jonathan Gold’s Top 99” Presented by L.A. Weekly, Co-sponsored by CSULA College of Arts and Letters. Camera Operator & Editor: “The WGA-CSULA Speaker Series: Guest writer: Jose Rivera (Screenwriter, Motorcycle Diary) CSULA, Winter 2009. 1st Assistant Director: Music Video Tak Tak by Joseph Krikorian, Revolutionary Pictures, 2009. Director of Photography, PGA Camera Assessment Series, (documentary),Revelations Entertainment, 2009.