School of Art, Design and Art History

Undergraduate students Amberly Culley who works under the name Gaul and Regina Herod opened the Jackson Gee Gallery with an exhibit of printmaking, painting, sculpture, book art and encaustic paintings. The exhibition, “Foramen: Pathways between Human Conditions and Cerebral Mindscapes” highlighted the works of these promising artists. Regina is a Brooklyn, New York native and her work has been shown locally and nationally. Regina’s encaustic or wax applied painting techniques, has been shown at the Mixed Media Gallery, The Museum of the Living Artist and the Lyceum Theatre Gallery. Gaul’s work has been exhibited throughout San Diego and in June, she was showcased at the Athenaeum’s Rotunda Gallery as one of their promising young talents.

Tashima Thomas, 2nd year Master’s student in Art History will be traveling to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to present at the prestigious Latin American Studies Conference. Tashima’s thesis work, "Rethinking Images of "Mulatas" in Colonial Latin American Art" will be presented on June 11, 2009. Tashima received her undergraduate degree from the University of Houston in Texas.

School of Communication - Forensics

The SDSU Forensics Team attended one of the largest local speech and debate tournaments in November. Twenty eight schools from across the nation competed in both individual speech events and all divisions of debate at Grossmont College in El Cajon. Under the direction of Coach Eric Robertson, 50 SDSU students participated in this competition. SDSU placed 4th in the Overall Debate Sweepstakes Award, which recognizes the overall team achievement. In addition, the following individuals distinguished themselves in Novice Debate: Brad Ant & Alisa Feldman, Lawrence Cisneros & Evan Ware, Jessica Obrien & Jacklyn Miller, Chelsae Graue, Joshua Ruskin, and Katelyn Krebs. Mary Springer won 1st place in Novice After-Dinner Speaking.

Hospitality and Tourism Management

Nine students from HTM received a total of $36,000 from the Hotel & Restaurant Foundation (HRF), culminating in a scholarship awards luncheon held at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco on September 12, 2008. The HRF is one of the largest scholarship granting organizations in the country.

School of Music and Dance

Cecilia String Quartet Takes First Prize at Rutenberg Competition

The Cecilia String Resident Quartet at San Diego State University continued its stream of successes by taking First Prize at the Joan and Daniel Rutenberg Chamber Music Competition held at the University of South Florida in Tampa. In addition to first place, the quartet also won a special award for their performance of Canadian composer Kelly Marie Murphy's Another Little Piece of My Heart. The competition was part of a festival that also featured lectures, master classes, and concerts.
Violinist Min-Jeong Koh said, "Participating in the Rutenberg Competition was a great experience. The fact that we walked away with two prizes is just an added bonus to how much we benefited from this rewarding experience, the wonderful friends we made, and the beautiful places we saw.”

School of Theatre, Television and Film

The work of Andrew Hull was prominently displayed during The Greg Mortenson lecture on “Three Cups of Tea” for SDSU Family Weekend. Andrew, a second year MFA set design student, created and designed the approximately 10’ x 30’ mural that hung as a backdrop for the lecture.

Andrew began his design work in spring 2008 and created the piece over the course of the summer. Andrew’s work is not new to SDSU. He designed sets for the 2007 production of “Hamlet, Blood on the Brain” and this year’s , “Desire Under the Elms”.