Alexis McCurn remembers the exchange she had one day with her neighbor, Ruth: She was sitting on the front steps of her former East Oakland apartment when the 19-year-old mother walked by pushing a stroller. McCurn asked, “Where you going, Ruth?” “You know where I’m going, taking him to the babysitter, then to King’s (the local fast-food restaurant where she worked),” said Ruth. “I’ve gotta stay on my grind because the bills don’t stop.” McCurn, an associate professor of sociology at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), met Ruth while conducting nearly two years of ethnographic research on the lived experiences of poor African American women and the creative approaches ... Read More
Features
CSUDH Students Deep Dive into Research
Tackling a spectrum of investigative topics, California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) students in the university’s federally funded scholarship programs—McNair Scholars, Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE), Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) and Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (U*STAR)—explore, experiment, publish, and present their research in a variety of disciplines. Their rigorous investigations are part of an education preparing them for advanced degrees. Eight graduating seniors in these programs talk about their research and personal growth along with their plans for the future. McNair Scholars The Ronald E. McNair ... Read More
Legacy Marks the Male Success Alliance’s 10th Anniversary
Thomas Richardson was a shy and unassuming teenager in South Los Angeles who didn’t express his feelings too often, even with his family, until one day when he decided to tell his siblings “I love you.” The show of affection was just one of several ways Richardson started connecting on a more personal level with family and his peers at John C. Fremont High School, as suggested by his mentors from California State University, Dominguez Hills’ (CSUDH) Male Success Alliance (MSA) program. “It was strange, but cool, too. My sister would laugh and my brother would call me a name, or say ‘I love you, too, but I don’t need to tell you that. You know I do.’ But I thought, ‘Do I?’” said ... Read More
University Inaugurates Thomas A. Parham as 11th President
Words of admiration and promise filled the Loker Student Union Grand Ballroom as California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) celebrated the investiture of President Thomas A. Parham on Feb. 8. The afternoon ceremony was attended by nearly 450 faculty, staff, students, political figures, and notable community member. Parham delivered his inaugural address after being formally installed as president by California State University (CSU) Chancellor Timothy P. White and CSU Board of Trustee Chair Adam Day. He reflected on the power of higher education in society, and CSUDH’s role, in particular, in helping shape the lives of the students and the communities it serves. “The ... Read More
Sarah Taylor’s Book ‘On Being Maya and Getting By’ Highlights Economic Ingenuity of Indigenous Villagers
After the ancient city of Ek’ Balam—with its remarkably well preserved Maya sculptures—was unearthed on the Yucatán Peninsula in the late 1980s, the Mexican government gave control of the site to local indigenous villagers to create an authentic Maya tourist destination, and in the process, improve their overall prosperity. Sarah R. Taylor, assistant professor of anthropology at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), has been researching the Ek’ Balam’s community-based economic development project since 2004 and the effects tourism and growth have had on the rural Maya village. She has chronicled her findings in her new book, On Being Maya and Getting By: Heritage ... Read More
