PSFA E-CONNECT - January 2009

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

Happy New Year! A new year is the time for making resolutions and plans for the future, and we hope that in 2009 you will make SDSU a priority – whether it is joining us on campus for a theatre performance or gallery opening, re-connecting with a valued professor, or signing up for a class through Extended Studies – SDSU and the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts has something for everyone.

I hope your 2009 is full of happiness and health, and I hope to see you soon.

Joyce M. Gattas, Dean
College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts

In the News

Join PSFA on Campus during SDSU Month, March 2009

SDSU Month offers a wonderful opportunity to recognize the critical link between the university and the greater community, as well as the innumerable achievements of the university’s faculty, staff, students and alumni, and PSFA has a strong presence at this year’s celebration. Events include

• Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14: The 12th annual Theatre of the World Festival. As part of this cultural celebration, an outdoor festival will showcase interactive arts and crafts, food, street performers and a giant puppet parade.
• Saturday, March 21: Explore SDSU: Open House. This year’s open house will feature information booths, free exhibits, tours, live entertainment and a Family Zone, including some of KPBS’ most popular characters.
• Friday, February 27 and Saturday, February 28: Second annual Student Research Symposium. This two-day event provides a public forum for SDSU students to present their outstanding research, scholarship or creative activities.

More information on SDSU Month 2009, including events, sponsors, media partners and special offers, will be available in February at www.sdsumonth.com

PSFA to Have Strong Showing at 2009 Monty Awards

First given out in 1971, the Monty is a symbol of achievement and success presented to distinguished alumni from each of SDSU's seven academic colleges, SDSU - Imperial Valley Campus, and Library and Information Access. Distinguished service awards also are given to an exceptional alumni volunteer and an outstanding university employee.

At the 2009 Monty Awards PSFA will be honoring Larry Thomas (’70, journalism), with a Monty award, and the Alumni Association has chosen two individuals from PSFA as its distinguished service recipients:

Bill Trumpfheller (’87, journalism), is the 2009 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Service Award. Bill is president of the public relations firm Nuffer, Smith, Tucker, Inc. and is a consensus-building visionary who twice served as president of the SDSU Alumni Association. In his first term he was instrumental in developing a strategic plan for a proposed on-campus alumni facility that culminated during his second term with last year’s groundbreaking for the new Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center.

Dean Joyce Gattas will receive the Distinguished University Service Award. Dean Gattas has served the University by her active and visible roles in the community chairing important arts, tourism, and other professional organizations. At the same time, she has led a transformation of the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts by, among other things, attracting private philanthropy, establishing new programs such as the nation's best regarded School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, and repositioning academic programs be more closely linked to the community.

Heartpower Performances Serve At-Risk Students

Heartpower Performances feature SDSU students acting as role models for at-risk students by demonstrating to them how music and dance is a vehicle for redirecting energy toward positive change. Sponsored by the SDSU President’s Leadership Fund and Innovative Employee Solutions, Heartpower Performances currently serve the students of the Juvenile Justice Department’s Breaking Cycles program and the Monarch School for homeless youth.

The School of Music and Dance is pleased to include the following student groups and individuals as providers of this valuable community service: the Bassett Bros., Maria Lozano, soprano, Leonard Patton Jazz Trio, The Cecilia String Quartet, Ho-Asogli: African Drum and Dance, Ebony Fourest: Clarinet Quartet and Artemis Duet.

PSFA Announces International Minor for Students

PSFA is pleased to announce university approval of a new minor in International Studies beginning Fall 2009, the first such minor on the SDSU campus. As a university, SDSU is very committed to international study and is ranked second nationally for sending students abroad.

PSFA believes that an international minor provides great opportunities for our students to engage in an academically meaningful international experience, and the diversity of our college provides endless options for international study. The minor requires 18-units and is flexible, allowing students to study abroad for as little as three weeks up to one year.

Potential study abroad experiences may include studying the differences in organizational culture and communication between Japanese and American companies, experiencing the London theatre scene, or exploring the art on the US Mexican Border.

Alumni Highlights

Communication Alumnus Published in Top Journal

Congratulations to recent MA graduate, Jennifer Scarduzio and School of Communication and professor Dr. Patricia Geist-Martin for their publication, “Making Sense of Fractured Identities: Male Professors' Narratives of Sexual Harassment” in Communication Monographs, Volume 75 Issue 4.

Communication Monographs is one of the top scholarly journals in the country and this publication is a great accomplishment.  Jennifer is now a doctoral student at Arizona State University.

Student Spotlight

PSFA Students Among New SDSU Ambassadors

The SDSU Ambassadors have selected their Rookie Class for spring 2009. These students serve as the official student representatives, tour guides and orientation leaders of San Diego State University. The following PSFA students join the 27 other new recruits: Christianna Bashian, Kinesiology, April Chu and Nicole Gervais, Hospitality and Tourism Management, and Rachel Williams and Jessica Yount, Public Relations.

Faculty Focus

PSFA Faculty Receive over $59,000 in Awards from the University Grant Program

The University Grant Program (UGP) at SDSU is designed to support the scholarly research and creative activities of SDSU’s outstanding faculty. Each year faculty from across the campus are invited to apply for these competitive awards and during the current funding cycle PSFA received nine UGP grants totaling $59,917. These grants highlight some of the exciting and cutting edge work done by our faculty:

• Meeyoung Hong, Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, received funding to conduct research on the susceptibility of the small and large intestine to cancer as well as the effects of green tea as an anti-inflammatory on these organs.
• Paul Kaplan, Public Affairs, for his ongoing research in the Capital Jury Project, a national research project focusing on jurors who have served on capital trials and the constitutionality of their final sentencing decisions.
• Kathleen D’Ovidio, Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, for her study on zearalenone in corn and corn products and the health risks it poses to the Hispanic population.
• Kevin Delgado, Music and Dance, received support for a fieldwork project in the Cuban city of Sancti Spiritus and his research on the performance rituals of the Iyesá people.
• Patricia Cué Couttolenc, Art, Design and Art History, for her investigation of indigenous, hand-painted advertisements for local bands in rural Mexico.
• Maurizio Antoninetti, Public Affairs, was awarded a grant for his research into the virtual villages being created by North American senior citizens that will allow them to age in place.
• Eric Smigel, Music and Dance, received funding for his examination of the life and works of American experimental composer and music theorist James Tenney.
• Salvador Espinosa, Public Affairs, for his study on the fiscal decentralization of the government of developing countries, specifically focusing on Mexico and using the state of Baja California as a case study.
• Louisa Stein, Television, Theatre and Film, for her research focusing on the noir elements in current television programming focused at the 18-34 year-old demographic, specifically Gossip Girl, Veronica Mars, and The Wire.
• D.J. Hopkins, Television, Theatre and Film, received support for the third phase of his Performance and the City project, an investigation between social performance and urban space. This grant will allow the project to expand globally.