Sigrid Bathen, Communication Studies, was the guest speaker for the California Writers Club (Sacramento area chapter) on March 1, speaking on the topic, “Magazine Writing: Then and Now, Print to Digital,” describing her experiences “then and now” as a longtime journalist who has been a writer and editor for many local and state newspapers, magazines and other media, both print and online, including the Sacramento Bee, the Los Angeles Times, California Journal, Capitol Weekly, Sacramento Magazine, California Lawyer, the American Lawyer Newspapers Group, Comstock’s Magazine, California Medicine Magazine, the Sacramento Business Journal, the California Health Care Foundation, and many others . She also recently completed a major oral-history project – a 90-minute video interview with legendary former lobbyist Clay Jackson, who for many years was one of the most prominent, highest paid lobbyists in California, and later served more than five years in federal prison following a massive “ Capitol Sting” investigation of political corruption in which many legislators, staffers, and one lobbyist were convicted on federal corruption charges. The oral-history series is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the California State Library, and is posted on the Capitol Weekly website http://capitolweekly.net/oral-history-project-clay-jackson/ Jackson had declined all interviews since his release from prison in 1999, and he was last interviewed by Bathen in prison in 1995, for a lengthy article published in the California Journal, a magazine about state politics and government where she was senior editor. That article received a first-place award for “enterprise reporting” from the Society of Professional Journalists, Central California chapter, and is linked in the oral history. http://sigridbathen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Clay-Jackson-1.pdf And Bathen recently wrote an in-depth article for the California Health Care Foundation, which publishes a variety of online health-care media, about the accomplishments of the late Herrmann Spetzler, who for decades directed (and vastly expanded) the “Open Door” health-care clinics in rural Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, which have become a national model for effective rural health care https://www.chcf.org/blog/herrmann-spetzler-visionary-rural-clinics/ The article was recently cited by the foundation as one of its “top ten” 2018 blogs. Bathen has been an adjunct professor of Journalism and Communications at Sacramento State since 1988, and was also communications director for three state agencies.
Dr. Mya Dosch, Art, was awarded the 2019 Association for Latin American Art (ALAA) Biennial Dissertation Award, the most prestigious dissertation award in the field of Latin American Art, for her 2018 dissertation "Creating 1968: Art, Architecture, and the Afterlives of the Mexican Student Movement." The ALAA selection committee wrote: "In her meticulously researched and well-written study of the art of memory and response, she has created a complex intellectual framework for analyzing art, actions, and monuments not studied in particular depth before. She does so with an impressive interdisciplinary approach and in-depth archival research, all the while not forsaking the objects of study (such as the ephemera of protest art), which she attends to with compelling visual analysis…Dosch establishes an impressive authoritative voice, and posits models for other studies on monuments, public art, protest art, and collective action. We look forward to its publication in the near future."
Darryl Omar Freeman, Ethnic Studies, was a guest speaker and workshop presenter at the 18 Public History Conference, LibertyCon 2019; Seeking Sanctuary: Life Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness, March 29-31, at Siena College, Albany, NY. His PowerPoint research presentation was titled "Freedom Seekers Sanctuary Settlements in the United States Past and Present."
Dr. Samantha Hens, Anthropology, was the lead author on a paper titled: Iron deficiency anemia, population health and frailty in a modern Portuguese skeletal sample, published in the PLoS ONE, online, open-access journal on March 7, 2019 (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0213369). She and her co-authors (Dr. Kanya Godde - University of La Verne, CA, and Ms. Kristin Macak - Old Dominion University, VA) investigated the presence and severity of skeletal lesions attributed to anemia against known sex, age, and cause of death data to evaluate the risk of dying over time. Additionally, they tested whether individuals with higher frailty were more likely to die from known comorbidities to anemia. Results indicated that while some lesions increased in frequency over time, none were linked to cause of death. Although females had been documented to show higher levels of anemia globally; in this sample, males exhibited both higher prevalence and severity of anemic lesions. Interestingly, lesions did not represent a sign of poor health or increased frailty and were not significantly related to a younger mean age-at-death. Throughout the 20th century in Portugal, there was significant migration to urban centers with subsequent overcrowding and water sanitation issues. Males are at a higher risk of parasitic infection, and show a higher prevalence of anemia. Recent decreases in mortality in Portugal in the second half of the 20th century have been attributed to improved sanitation, nutrition and access to healthcare. This study was the first of its kind to use a documented skeletal collection to assess morbidity and mortality and link patterns of disease and dying in the past with modern public health data.
Maria Kochis, University Library, was awarded The Arkansas International Emerging Writer's Prize for fiction in 2018. My short story, "Seals are My Favorite Animal," has been published in issue 6 of The Arkansas International. Author Adam Johnson judged the contest.
Dr. Serge Lee, Division of Social Work, has been awarded the U.S. State Department’s most prestigious Fulbright Distinguished Chair to China. He is one of three U.S. scholars awarded this year’s prestigious award to China. The Distinguished Chair award composed of 12-presidential appointee reviewers, which is extremely rigorous. Dr. Lee will spend the academic year with Guizhou Minzu University in Guizhou Province, China on a variety of scholarly activities. He will serve as academic advisor to the sociology, psychology, and social work doctoral students, teach DSM and child welfare, and conducted lectures on the globalization of social work education and social services. He will also be working on the second edition of his statistics book Statistics for International Social Work and Other Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Lee is the first Hmong descendants worldwide that is awarded the Fulbright Senior Specialist (2007), the Distinguished Chair (2019-2020), and Guizhou Department of Education’s most valuable International Migratory Fellow (2010-2012). He had spent last 20 years conducted lectures, workshops, and seminars on social work education and social services and college attainment of Hmong to China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Portugal.
Cynthia Linville, English, appeared as a featured poet and photographer in Al-Khemica Poetica in March and in Medusa's Kitchen in July. Her poetry was also published in Ekphrastic Review in June and in Poetic Diversity in April, with more work forthcoming in Poetic Diversity in November. She gave a spoken-word performance with musician Victor Krummenacher in the Bay Area in April.
Erik Luvaas, Recreation, Parks & Tourism Administration, has been invited to speak at the World Conference on Forests for Public Health in Athens, May 8-11. His presentation’s title is “Nature Engagement For Health: Enhanced Methods to Improve Connection and Reduce Stress”. The conference will focus on how urbanization and modern lifestyle changes have diminished possibilities for human contact with nature in many societies. The aim of this conference is to bring together well-known scientists from different countries and disciplines to present research and state-of-the-art knowledge and theories on the significance of the role of forests and green spaces in improving the present and future health and wellbeing of a population.
The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams: New and Selected Poems 1974 to 2018 by Mary Mackey, professor emeritus, English, has won the 2019 Eric Hoffer Small Press Award. The Hoffer Award highlights salient writing, as well as the independent spirit of small publishers. Since its inception, the Hoffer has become one of the most important international book awards for small, academic, and independent presses and a platform for and the champion of the independent voice.
Dr. Kazue Masuyama, World Languages and Literatures, served as College Board’s AP Chief Reader (CR) for 2019 Japanese Culture and Language Exam and managed all aspects of AP Japanese Reading on June 7-19 at Duke Energy Convention Center, Cincinnati, OH. She also made two presentations at AP Annual Conference, July 18-21, Orland, Florida: “Results from the 2019 AP Japanese Language and Culture Exam” and “Developing Intercultural Competence for AP Classroom.” Her “Chief Reader Report on Student Responses: 2019 AP Seminar Free-Response Questions” will be published at AP Central website in fall.
On May 5, 2019, Dr. Kazue Masuyama was invited to present a half-day workshop on “Tokyo Olympic 2020: How to develop a lesson plan” at the Teachers of Japanese in Northern California Spring Workshop Program at University of San Francisco.
Dr. Abhijeet Shirsat, Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration, has been invited to speak at the Travel and Tourism Research Association International conference in Melbourne, Australia, June 25-27. The titles of his presentations are “From Fake News to Social Media Pop Culture and Climate Change: What Elements are Impacting the Tourism Industry in the Twenty-First Century?”, and “Thriving Habitats: Sustainability in Wildlife Tourism Destinations”. This conference brings together all travel and tourism researchers, and users and vendors of research, to discuss and share the latest studies and approaches to help understand the influence of the external global environment on international tourism trends.
Dr. Santos Torres Jr., Division of Social Work, and Dr. Debra L. Welkley, lecturer, Department of Sociology, presented at the Pacific Sociological Association's Annual Meeting, March 28 - 31, in Oakland. The presentation is titled, The Power of Vulnerability: Strongest in Our Broken Places. The session explores how in the role as faculty, often a tendency to focus on experiences that have made us feel at risk (e.g. course evaluations, classroom observations, disruptive behaviors, etc.) is generated. In addition to professional and personal challenges that faculty often face, strategies for overcoming such vulnerabilities are a central aspect of this presentation. Skills and strategies are explored for creating a new narrative relative to vulnerabilities faced.
Samuel Brett Williams, English, was the Grand Prize Winner in the WeScreenplay Feature Film Contest for his screenplay Trashed. He will receive $1,000 and a week of meetings in Los Angeles with producers, agents, managers and studio executives. Jennifer Gerber (The Revival) is attached to direct the feature film. (https://www.wescreenplay.com/blog/announcing-2018-wescreenplay-feature-contest-winners/?fbclid=IwAR3jXFgZe3NeVvZ-s6sgA-lTbMEUxNQR3RoSnk6WB4xnVBhP-S7pQEjnT9A).
Dr. Jian-zhong “Joe” Zhou, University Library, was the co-presenter April 17 at the 63rd Annual Comparative & International Education Society Conference. The presentation was titled: “Social mobility, higher education, family background, and rural household: which really matters to individual’s career development in China.” This is a working paper studying the impact of an individual’s birth place, original family background, and college degrees on socioeconomic achievement later in their lives.
Dr. JZ “Joe” Zhou, University Library, had a presentation titled “Ithaka 2015 survey at Sacramento State University: Teaching Faculty’s Perspectives of Future Libraries,” at the Beijing Normal University on June 5, 2019.