When professor of graduate education Peter Desberg interviewed comedy writers from the golden age of television to the present for his new book, “Show Me the Funny: At the Writers’ Table with Hollywood’s Top Comedy Writers,” he and co-author Jeffrey Davis, a professor of screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University, had the opportunity to ask the age-old question, “What’s so funny?” The answers surprised them. As a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in treating stage fright, Desberg has worked with numerous stand-up comics. He says that many of the writers he and Davis interviewed had experience as comedians and that they learned what was funny as a survival ... Read More
Campus News
Tammy Tumbling: SCE’s Director of Philanthropy Plants Seeds For Green Education
As the new director of philanthropy and community involvement at Southern California Edison (SCE), Tammy Tumbling (Class of ’90, B.S., business administration; ’94, MPA) is responsible for overseeing the company’s philanthropic interests and strategizing funding programs and priorities. Among these is Edison’s commitment to educating a “green” workforce through its $1,000,000 Green Jobs Education Initiative, which was conceived and launched by Tumbling earlier this year. The initiative provides 10 community colleges throughout the state with funding to support training programs in areas such as green building, renewable energy, energy efficiency, water and waste management, biofuels ... Read More
Teatro Dominguez: Local Second Graders Learn From Multicultural Theatre
There are few better ways to start the day than to watch kids having fun, unless you’re an actor from California State University, Dominguez Hills who gets to perform for an auditorium full of second-graders. Theatre major Eduardo Frias got to do just that recently. On Nov. 9, he and 18 fellow Teatro Dominguez members wrapped up a five-week tour performing “The Storytellers” for Carson area second-graders. In the folktale play, Frias portrayed a young boy who learns patience. “Telling folktales to children uses their experiences and what they are exposed to, so they can relate to the story,” said Frias. “Using talking animals, insects, birds… it’s a way to get children’s attention. ... Read More
Anthropology Students Help Present Cambodian Culture in Long Beach
For the second year, students in Susan Needham’s ethnographic field methods class will assist Cambodian artisans in presenting the 2nd Cambodian Arts & Culture Exhibition in the Long Beach community of Cambodia Town, Inc. which will take place on Saturday, Nov. 20 at MacArthur Park in Long Beach. Along with discovering a new culture, the students have found connections to their own experiences through learning how seemingly obscure traditions are preserved and nurtured for the generations to come. Lillian Justice has been working with Dosokhum Roth, a former Buddhist monk, to present the art of yoan, sacred drawings that serve as protective talismans and prayers to be ... Read More
Dance Students Perform Faculty and Guest Choreography in “Dancers without Borders”
More than 60 dance students will perform a variety of dance styles in original choreography by faculty members of the California State University, Dominguez Hills Department of Theatre Arts and Dance—and two guest artists— during the “Dancers Without Borders” concert on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 19 and 20, at 8 p.m. in the University Theatre. Dance program coordinator and assistant professor of dance Doris Ressl and dance lecturer Michelle Funderburk will present two new modern works with water themes. “River Currents” by Funderburk is a fast-paced athletic dance, while Ressl’s “Border Crossing” deals with the breaking down of borders in the spirit of peace and acceptance. Dance ... Read More
