Our faculty members participate in conferences around the world, conduct groundbreaking research, and publish books and journal papers that contribute to their field and highlight their expertise. We feature those accomplishments and more in this section. To share faculty news, email ucpa@csudh.edu.
College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences
Ximena Cid, professor and chair of the Physics Department, was a featured speaker on Oct. 20 during 2020 SACNAS – The National Diversity in STEM Virtual Conference, the largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity event in the country. Her inspirational presentation was titled, “Who We Are and Where We Come From Shape Who We Are as Scientists.”
Ashish Sinha, professor of earth sciences, has co-authored a recent research study which found that while droughts on the island of Madagascar contributed to the extinction of such giant species the Dodo bird, gorilla-sized lemurs, and the Elephant Bird, it may have been humans that ultimately sealed their fate. Published Oct. 16 in Science Advances, the study shows that the crash of megafauna (large or giant animals, especially of a given region) that happened around 1,500 years ago took place after a couple of centuries of human settlement.
College of Health and Human Services
Amer El-Ahraf, emeritus professor of Health Sciences, was recently selected as vice president of the international scholarly organization Union of Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations. In September, El-Ahraf chaired the first session and delivered opening and closing remarks at the organization’s 2020 International Conference, held in Cairo, Egypt. He also co-presented the paper “Goiter in Ancient Egyptian Women.”
College of Arts and Humanities
On Oct. 27, Vivian Price, professor of interdisciplinary studies and coordinator of the Labor Studies program, was a featured panelist during a United Nations Research Institute for Social Development webinar. The panel discussed “Gender and Just Transitions,” exploring the inter-linkages between gender justice, and just transitions. The proposed questions that guided the panel discussion were, “How do lived experiences differ from women in the male-dominated industries that receive much of the attention in current just transition debates?,” and “What would a gender just transition look like?”
Teodross Avery, jazz saxophonist and assistant professor of jazz studies and contemporary music, has put out his eighth album, “Harlem Stories: The Music of Thelonious Monk.” Released by WJ3 Records, Avery delivers a 10-track collection with the support of two different quartets. The album is less a tribute to Monk than a deep study of the music, as Avery has a proclivity for swimming against the current, and digging deep into musical traditions.
Donna Nicol, associate professor and chair of Africana Studies, will present “’Counter’ Race Philanthropy and US Higher Education” on Nov. 13 during a City University of London’s webinar series. Nicol’s talk will be based on her article “Conservative Philanthropy’s War on Ethnic and Gender Studies in U.S. Higher Education,” which was published in June 2020 on the website HistPhil.org.
University Library
Tessa Withorn, online learning librarian, co-wrote the article “A foot in both worlds: Current roles and challenges of academic online learning librarians.” Published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Library and Information Services in Distance Learning, the article presents findings from a national qualitative interview study of academic online learning librarians and provides recommendations for librarians and library administrators.
Recent quotes and/or interviews in the media from faculty
“I would imagine that it has to do with how we handle negative information vs. positive information. Negative information can lead to rumination where our thoughts about the loss consume us and our thoughts. This would raise the level of hormones such as cortisol that would then make us feel anxious. The more we ruminate the more anxious we get and further anxiety cognitions lead to more biochemical anxiety. Too many anxiety-ladened chemicals for long periods of time can make us physically and emotionally ill.” —Larry Rosen, professor emeritus of psychology, was quoted in the CreditDonkey article “Automatic Savings Apps.” The article provides readers information and advice about finding the best apps to help reach money saving goals. For the article, Rosen was asked “Why does it feel worse psychologically to lose money than it does to win money?”
Rosen was also quoted on Snopes.com for the article “Bleached Halloween Pumpkin Post Sparks Vitriolic, Misinformed Backlash.” In response to the anonymity social media affords those who respond harshly to posts, Rosen says: “It’s called the ‘behind-the-screen’ phenomenon. Once you’re behind a screen, you feel anonymous, even if you’re not. Once you feel anonymous, it lets your ego free. You can and do say anything you want to, which is why cyberbullying has become such a major problem.”
