Alternative energy industries are booming, driven by the growing corporate, consumer, and government awareness of the impacts of climate change. As growth continues, how will the tens of thousands of unemployed fossil fuel workers find “just transitions” to good-paying jobs they will need to support their families? With that question in mind, CSUDH Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies Vivian Price joined a team of five researchers from universities across the country to launch the Just Transition Listening Project (JTLP) in the spring of 2020, led by the Labor Network for Sustainability. Their goal was to learn from workers, and environmental justice and Indigenous activists about ... Read More
Features
Joanna Perez Receives the 2021 Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Award
As the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, Joanna Perez understands first-hand the struggles that immigrant communities undergo due to structural inequality. In her role as an assistant professor of sociology at CSUDH, Perez uses her research, teaching, and service to highlight the various social issues that impact immigrant communities and to advocate for social change. “When I first began my educational journey, I would have never thought I’d end up as a sociology professor,” says Perez, “but honestly it’s been the best decision of my life. Doing the kind of work that I get to do through sociology, particularly at Dominguez Hills, is very rewarding.” Perez’ dedication to and research ... Read More
Cristina Rose (Smith) Named 2021 Catherine H. Jacobs Outstanding Faculty Lecturer
When Cristina Rose (Smith) is teaching, she doesn’t just lecture while students jot down notes. Rather, Rose acts as an active and engaging facilitator of conversation – letting students take the lead in their own discoveries. Rose, who has taught in the CSUDH Women’s Studies program since 2014, describes herself as relational and feminist in her teaching approach. Her pedagogy is “less about having the answers, and more about asking the questions that will bring us into fuller lives,” she says. “I share my life and who I am with students. It feels like I am actively part of this community. I think from here, I am from here, and this is my home.” That passion for connection has ... Read More
Terry McGlynn Honored with 2021 Presidential Outstanding Professor Award
Professor of Biology Terry McGlynn says it’s not the technical details that really drive research, or the “very minute questions” scientists seek to answer. He believes the best fundamental questions are often asked by those who are new to the field. McGlynn has always treasured the curiosity-driven insights his students bring to his research of the natural world, and the “really big questions” they have asked often during field research in remote locations such as the rain forests of Coast Rica, in Australia, or while just exploring a location’s raw beauty. McGlynn began teaching at CSUDH in 2007 as an assistant professor of biology, but he began traveling to rain forests to study ... Read More
Kirstin Ellsworth Named the 2021 Lyle E. Gibson Distinguished Teacher
Being a conscientious learner isn’t enough for Associate Professor of Art History Kirstin Ellsworth. She also wants her students to be “knowledge makers.” “This comes from what is called the social construction of knowledge,” says Ellsworth. “For assignments like research papers, I like to have students choose what they want to write about, develop an argument, and follow the argument through. The students present their arguments verbally or in their writing, and it typically becomes part of the class conversation.” Ellsworth refers to this inclusive teaching style as self-selected topics that are guided by a thesis. “It really draws out their creativity,” she adds. “So much so that ... Read More
