When Gilah Yelin Hirsch first read her mother's 70 diaries and discovered the extent of the physical and psychological abuse she had endured from infancy to the age of 16, rather than loathing her, she felt “love, empathy and compassion for her mother,” the celebrated Canadian author Shulamis Yelin. “I grew to admire her for all that she had accomplished despite the extremes of her mental illness and her very difficult life,” said Hirsch, professor of art at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH). “The greatest difficulty in reading the diaries was seeing the severity and depth of her suffering, and reading how although on a certain level I and others who were close to her ... Read More
National Poetry Month: 3 CSUDH poets share insights, teaching and their writing
There is a reason the departure from the conventional rules of writing and speaking is often referred to as poetic license. As poets try to tell narrative or more personal stories based on the world around them through their prose, rules on writing could hinder their ability to creatively dissect observations, draw from cherished memories, or tap strong emotions attached to painful life experiences. To celebrate poets and their renegade spirit, the Academy of American Poets inaugurated the month of April as National Poetry Month in 1996. Today it is the largest literary celebration in the world. At California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), poetry has a subtle voice, but it ... Read More
Alumna Jimmie Thompson to step down from CSU Alumni Council
The California State University (CSU) Alumni Council has honored California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) alumna Jimmie Thompson with a commendation for her tireless leadership in alumni relations and support for the entire 23-campus CSU system. Thompson ('92, B.A., political science; '94, M.A., negotiation and conflict management), an eight-year member of the CSU Alumni Council where she served as secretary from 2011 to 2012 and was as a frequent legislative advocate who met with elected officials in Sacramento to discuss CSU priorities, will step down from the CSU Alumni Council in June 2015. “I am beyond appreciative for the commendation from the CSU. I've always enjoyed ... Read More
Political Science Department Hosts Panel Discussion on Human Trafficking
There is a big open secret here on this campus and throughout the cities beyond. Something that impacts all of us. You might see glimpses of this crime in the neighborhood or in the local grocery store. They look like ordinary people; actual chains do not bind them, but they are nevertheless enslaved. Human trafficking, in its many forms and variants, is alive and thriving throughout every community in Southern California, and the world at large. Indeed there are more people alive and enslaved today than ever in this planet's history On Tuesday, April 14, from 2:30 to 4 p.m., the Department of Political Science at California State University, Dominguez Hills will present an open forum ... Read More
Community Engagement Symposium highlights service-learning at CSUDH
Scared, alone and with no real place to go, several children stand with full plastic grocery bags on the United States side of the U.S.-Mexico border while being detained by border patrol officers. After they're taken to a shelter, a few are handed empty brand new backpacks. They dump their grocery bags into the packs and fill them with what is likely everything they have in the world. For California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) art design students Deborah Paramo and Maria Vargas, who designed the student-learning project “Surviving by the Hour: The Migration of Unaccompanied Minors” to raise funds to purchase and donate the backpacks, “everything they have in the world” ... Read More