Despite its name, shadow puppetry glows from a spiritually whimsical manipulation of light; although there was a time when an unfathomable darkness nearly wiped the little-known art form out of existence. From 1976 to 1979, nearly 90 percent of the artists in Cambodia, where shadow puppetry was created in the early ninth century, were killed along with roughly 2 million others during the Cambodian Genocide carried out by the regime of the Khmer Rouge. Thirty-five years later, most Americans still know very little about Cambodia's culture, let alone shadow puppetry which even in Cambodia is relatively obscure and today, for the most part, only enjoyed by the affluent. Professor ... Read More
Anthropology
CSUDH Professors Featured, Utilize NBC Learn’s Online Platform
California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) is the latest campus to contribute to the California State University (CSU) system's growing collection of informative and educational videos posted on NBC Learn's Campus Perspectives collection. Produced by the College of Extended and International Education's Mediated Instruction and Distance Learning division, CSUDH's video, "Dig It: Anthropology Students Search for History in the Soil," features Professor of Anthropology Jerry Moore and his students conducting archaeological field research at the nearby historic Dominguez Rancho Adobe in order to better understand daily life at the rancho during the 1800s and to search for evidence ... Read More
Field Notes from Peru: A Blog by Dr. Jerry Moore and Anthropology Students
Professor of Anthropology Jerry Moore and four students, Claudio Carini, Michelle Garcia, Martha Ramos, and Steve Rosales, are in Peru using geophysical techniques to help answer archaeological questions at sites dating from as old as 4700 - 4300 BC and as recent as AD 1400 - 1500. This is their blog. (Note: posts are added with most recent at the top.) ¡Saludos, Tumbes! Dated: June 11, 2014 Posted by: Jerry D. Moore This phase of the research is nearly done. We leave for Guayaquil tomorrow and fly the next day back to LAX. We finished the last bit of fieldwork yesterday morning. Over the last weeks we have conducted ground penetrating radar and magnetometer ... Read More
McNair Scholar Gabriel Jones: In his Element in Environmental Research
It would be fair to say Gabriel Jones wants to help save the world. But he's not doing it wearing a cape. The senior majoring in anthropology with a minor in geography at California State University, Dominguez Hills is working toward making positive changes in environmental justice and policy based on research. A lofty goal to be sure, but with the opportunities that being a scholar in the Ronald E. McNair Program at CSU Dominguez Hills provides him, he is well on his way to the education he will need to ensure his ability to attain that goal. Named after the late African-American physicist who perished in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, the post-baccalaureate ... Read More
Alumna Alexxandra Salazar Immersed in Cambodian Culture
Alexxandra Salazar, 24, has come a long way since graduating magna cum laude as a Ronald E. McNair Scholar in May of this year with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from California State University, Dominguez Hills. In fact, the California native is about 8,000 miles away immersed in Cambodian culture. Salazar was selected in spring by the nonprofit Teach Cambodia, Inc. to serve for a month as a volunteer and intern in Cambodia. Within days following commencement, she arrived at the South-East Asian village of Wat Bo in Siem Reap to assist Sambour Primary School with the undertaking of an international Peace Pals project, which teaches children about peace through various art ... Read More
