Walking through the “Becoming Los Angeles” exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles where she works, Cambria Rodriguez came across a small box labeled “Dead Man’s Island: Demolished in 1929,” which contained several artifacts. Intrigued, Rodriguez, a history major who graduates with her bachelor’s degree this spring, began looking into the history of the tiny island at the entrance of San Pedro Harbor. The former island whose ominous name was given for the human remains buried there in the 1800s, was demolished to make way for the expansion of Los Angeles Harbor because many sea-going vessels had run ashore on the island. “I thought ‘What? There was an island there?’ When I ... Read More
College of Arts and Humanities
Benito Gómez Personalizes Spanish Literature for his Students
Professor Benito Gómez’s passion for researching and writing about Hispanic authors and literature is only matched by his enthusiasm for sharing it with his students in unique ways. As a professor of modern languages at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), Gómez prepares students who intend to study Spanish in graduate school, and/or teach Spanish in high school. His unique ways of creating intellectual stimulation and motivating his students have earned him CSUDH’s 2018 Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Award. “I felt very honored when I was nominated because the nomination came from my students. I’m not a big fan of recognitions when they are ... Read More
Nancy Cheever Named Presidential Outstanding Professor
For her dedication and service to the campus community, scholarship in the field of media psychology, and contributions to advancing the university’s reputation as a comprehensive research institution, Nancy Cheever was named California State University, Dominguez Hills’ (CSUDH) 2018 Presidential Outstanding Professor. “I was so happy that I actually cried when I heard. All the years of hard work that I put into my career—that I love—then to be honored in this way is just so sweet and wonderful. It’s hard to explain how much I appreciate the award and this university that has been such a big part of my life for so long,” says Cheever, who began at CSUDH as a student, then a part-time ... Read More
Doris Namala is Reviving History’s Lost Perspectives
Two of Doris Namala’s greatest thrills are experiencing students’ enthusiasm about her lessons that challenge European-centered perspectives of Mexican history, and knowing her former students who now teach are relishing the same experience in local schools. Namala, a colonial Latin American historian, is well respected in California State University, Dominguez Hills’ (CSUDH) History Department for her bold and creative approach to integrating her research into student learning. That admiration has garnered her the 2018 Catherine H. Jacobs Outstanding Faculty Lecturer Award, an honor that acknowledges non-tenure track lecturers who have “demonstrated excellence in teaching effectiveness ... Read More
‘In the Next Room’ Sure to Create Hysteria
California State University, Dominguez Hills’ (CSUDH) production of “In the Next Room (or the vibrator play),” playwright Sarah Ruhl’s comedic play set in the 1880s about sex, intimacy, equality, and the use of a new instrument to treat female “hysteria,” will run on campus April 6, 7, 13, and 14 at 8 p.m., and April 15 at 2 p.m. Produced by CSUDH’s Department of Theatre and Dance, and directed by Shonni Holmes, alumnus and theatre arts faculty member, “In the Next Room” is the department’s final theatrical production of the 2017-18 season. “Sarah Ruhl is masterful at two things:finding the humor in serious topics, and exploring the depths of the female experience, and‘In the Next ... Read More
