CSUSB CAL Talks

Hats off to this homegrown lady! Penny grew up in Redlands and it's fun to hear what kind of things she did there as a teenager. Always drawn to radio, Lecturer Drake-Green achieved her Associate of Arts degree in Radio-Television from San Bernardino Valley College but there was some years in the carnival thrown in there! Miss Penny, as the students affectionately call her, made her way to Cal State San Bernardino where she earned both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Communication Studies (now called The Department of Communication and Media). Penny is a CSUSB veteran and continues to teach the radio practica course at the campus radio station, Coyote Radio. And when you listen to her podcast, you'll agree - she definitely has a voice for radio!

You'll enjoy hearing about Art and Design from the perspective of Dr. Scalissi. Discovering her love of and interest in art came at an early age in a home filled with artists. Andy Warhol plays a big part in her launch!

Nicole is a historian of contemporary art. Her research focuses on performance, intervention, and installation art that deals with issues of violence, Latinx/Afro-Latinx identities, and representation in the United States, in Aztlán, and at the border shared with Mexico. Her teaching extends to contemporary art of the Americas, modern and contemporary art in a global context, and histories of social practice art. Dr. Scalissi is a community-engaged scholar, and her courses often produce mutually-beneficial projects with local communities.

Nicole specializes in identity and representation, Latinx and Afro-Latinx art histories, art of the United States and borderland/la frontera, Contemporary art of the Americas, global Contemporary art, social practice, performance art, art activism and social justice.

I was delighted to spend time interviewing Dr. Kirk! His lively, easy-going disposition is contagious. From a Huntington Beach humble beginning to a world-class scholar, hear the engaging delivery of his story here on the CAL Talks Podcast Series.

From his CSUSB bio:

Dr. Kirk Kanesaka is an Assistant Professor of Japanese and Asian Studies. His specialty is in premodern Japanese literature and theater. In particular the emergence of early modern (1603-1900) popular fiction and kabuki/bunraku theater. In addition, because of his specialty in the performing arts, his research interests span beyond the premodern into the contemporary, examining fan culture and popular culture and their influences upon the performing and visual arts.

Outside of academia, Kirk is the first non-Japanese citizen to become a professional kabuki actor, Nakamura Gankyō, the first male to become a professional Japanese Classical dancer of the Bando School in the United States and the first male to become a professional kimekomi Japanese doll maker of the Kyugetsu Academy in the United States.

Join us for a listen to the brightly spoken podcast from one of our latest additions to the CAL family in our Philosophy Department.

Andrea Daventry tells us about her educational path from sunny and balmy Florida to the wilds of the Connecticut River valley in Amherst, Massachusetts. And she adds where she settled on living in the Inland Empire (great pick!).

The courses she teaches at CSUSB include Introduction to Ethics, Feminist Philosophy and Sexual Ethics. She talks about how our students react to and participate in these classes.

Dr. Daventry specializes in Ethics, Social & Political Philosophy and Feminist Philosophy.

Her research and teaching interests focus on understanding how having a sense of self-worth contributes to autonomous agency, and how things like oppressive socialization or gaslighting can undermine autonomy by undermining self-respect. She's also interested in the moral importance of self-expression and the ethics of workplace dress codes.

Professor Wasserstein is the latest addition to the wonderful Department of English at CSUSB. Is it something about people from the Midwest that makes them inherently nice and polite? I don’t know but she is both!

Izzy was born and raised in Kansas. She’s the author of two poetry collections, This Ecstasy They Call Damnation and When Creation Falls, the short story collection All the Hometowns You Can't Stay Away From (a Lambda Literary Award finalist), and the forthcoming novella These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart (Tachyon, 2024). My home includes a dog and two cats. I'm a queer and trans woman, a lover of bad jokes, and a nerd.

Her education includes a B.A., Washburn University in Kansas and a M.F.A., University of New Mexico.

Her interests include speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, supernatural horror, and related genres), queer literature, poetry, and film.

This is an entertaining and informative episode with Dr. Guillermo Aviles-Rodriguez. It's an understatement to say that Guillermo is colorful, intelligent, funny and a deep thinker. He is all that and more as he adds his depth and style to the Department of Theatre Arts here at Cal State San Bernardino.

Guillermo holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Utah, a Master of Fine Arts from UC San Diego and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. Guillermo grew up in Watts and holds the distinction of being the first Chicana/o ever to star in a main-stage production at the University of Utah. Some of Guillermo's directorial and literary highlights include two commissions from Center Theatre Group to write Student Discovery Guides for En Un Sol Amarillo and Culture Clash's Palestine, New Mexico.

Guillermo has collaborated with Spanish-speaking theatre groups in the U.S. including Grupo malayerba from Ecuador, Yuyachkani from Peru, and Teatro de los andes from Bolivia.

Not only is he a So Cal native but Guillermo's family lives in San Bernardino and his sister graduated from CSUSB!

During this episode on the College of Arts and Letters Podcast Series we spend time with Miriam Fernandez, PhD who recently received her promotion to Professor in the CSUSB English Department.

What is the difference between writing and composition? This expert puts it plain and easy to understand and practice. Her stance? Everyone can write!

Her current research focuses on Chicanx rhetorical practices and the rhetorical uses of Llorona storytelling. One of her research projects looks at the uses of epideictic rhetoric among Chicanas in the 1970s and 1980s as they reshaped the meaning of a Chicana feminist identity and claimed a feminist heritage going back to the colonization of Mexico. Another project she is currently working on analyzes the rhetorical purposes of Llorona storytelling. This project is an oral history project that records Mexican and Chicanx people's memories of hearing the Llorona story and analyzes the reasons why people choose to retell the story or to stop sharing the story with new generations.

One of her teaching interests is in the structure and writing of researched arguments. Dr. Fernandez likes to work with students as they analyze how arguments are structured in academic and public or popular texts and guide them as they write their own arguments. My second teaching interest is in the intersection of rhetorical studies and public sphere theories.

Link to La Llorona and Rhetorical Haunting Essay: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26878003.2021.1881310?scroll=top&needAccess=true

The Art and Design building at CSUSB is an enormous and finely equipped space for students to learn and practice their craft. One of the leads in the department is the guest you'll listen to on this episode. Andrew Oakes is an Art and Design Professor who loves the world of branding. He describes how he has successfully run his own branding design company for decades while also teaching multiple disciplines in Art and Design on campus.

Mr. Oakes is an Inland Empire native through and through. Born and raised in San Bernardino, you'll enjoy hearing how many generations of his family were also born here (SB). His family has been instrumental in his desire to achieve an artist's and teacher's life. It's a fantastic story!

On our final question together he describes what he hopes students will take away with them after spending time in on of his classes. It really made me think!

I'm Kelli Cluque from Coyote Radio & Advertising at CSUSB and your host for the CAL Talks Podcast Series with Andrew Oakes.

Newly promoted Professor of Communication Studies, Dr. Thomas Corrigan discusses his research and teaching which examines the relationship between wealth, power, and the media. This area of Communication Studies is also known as the Political Economy of Communication (PEC). He shares the focus of two of his Fall 2023 courses which are Digital Media and Society and the Political Economy of Communication.

His research specifically focuses on the business of sports media, the news ecosystem in California's Inland Empire, the 'hope labor' of digital creatives and interns, and critical realist epistemology and methodology. His work has been published in peer reviewed journals, such as International Journal of Communication, The Political Economy of Communication, and tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique, and his 'Hope Labor' concept (coined w/ Dr. Kathleen Kuehn) has been discussed in Fortunemagazine. His research is cataloged on Google Scholar and on Academia.edu. He is also a steering committee member for the Union for Democratic Communications.

Dr. Corrigan – or T.C. – also talks about this family’s love of outdoor activities, what tamales mean to him and what he hopes his students take with them after spending time in one of his courses.

Here's another engaging episode in the CAL Podcast Series on Mental Health and Well Being.

Dr. Neal Malik (Dr. Neal) has worked in higher education since 2007. He is currently an Associate Professor within the Department of Health Science and Human Ecology and Program Director for the Master of Science in Health Services Administration the Program Coordinator for the Bachelor of Science in Health Services Administration programs. Prior to his current position, he has served as Department Chair and Assistant Professor within the Department of Nutrition and Basic Sciences at Bastyr University California. His roles have also included serving as the Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Occupational Wellness Specialist for the University of California, Riverside, and as a Lifestyle Educator at Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Neal has also held adjunct teaching positions at Crafton Hills College and California State University, Fullerton.

As an instructor, Dr. Neal is involved in numerous pedagogical seminars and trainings, as both a presenter and attendee. He has led seminars for faculty addressing best teaching practices. Some of these topics have included: "Inclusive Practices in Pedagogy", "Fostering Students’ Sense of Safety, Belonging, and Community in Your Classroom", and "From Good to Great: Great Teaching Can Be Learned".

As a scholar, Dr. Neal's research areas include adult and adolescent weight management, health behaviors among college students, and appetitive hormones. He also serves on numerous editorial boards. He was also nominated by a peer to be featured in the 2022-2023 edition of Who's Who in America due to his dedication to teaching, scholarship, and service.

In the media, Dr. Neal has been featured as a nutrition and wellness expert in over 70 media outlets including CBS local radio in Los Angeles, CA, as well as a number of online and print publications including eHow.com and Men’s Fitness Magazine. He hosts a free, daily health education podcast for the public titled, Optimal Health Daily which averages over 700,000 monthly plays (175,000 downloads each week) and has been downloaded over 30 million times. On August 8, 2019, Prevention Magazine ranked the show as one of “25 Fascinating Health and Fitness Podcasts to Get Obsessed With in 2020” and ShapeScale.com included his podcast on their list of, “25 Of the Best Fitness Podcasts of 2020”. According to Listen Notes, the podcast ranks in the top 0.5% of global podcasts (https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/optimal-health-daily-dr-neal-malik-optimal-xltjqo7K-zN/). On April 3, 2020, Dr. Neal was quoted in the Los Angeles Times for his expertise on stress management during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research and Teaching Interests

Google Scholar Profile at: https://scholar.google.com/citations?authuser=1&user=rjwZ_swAAAAJ