Insight Magazine
Get a new perspective on the College of Arts and Letters at SDSU. Discover news about CAL students, faculty, donors, and alumni. This new magazine highlights the stories of the people within our academic community. It gives you insight into the breadth of activities and achievements that have impact locally, nationally, and internationally.
Spring 2026
Throughout 2025-26, CAL continued to engage directly with some of today’s greatest challenges. Together, CAL enables “community impact” precisely because we build relationships and speak to the full range of what human beings need to flourish.
Along with the work detailed in the stories below, this commitment lies at the heart of our new R-Next initiative, which is designed to support collaborative faculty teams pursuing socially impactful research. Through this initiative, three faculty received funding to lead research that collectively encompasses at least six SDSU colleges and a host of local, national, and international partners, all of which you’ll hear more about in future CAL communications:
- Africana Research & Cultural Renaissance Center | Taharka Adé leads the new research home for Africana cultural restoration, cultural rectification, and cultural property
- Documenting Data Center Development | Dustin Edwards will create a repository for data and research associated with ongoing AI data centers across the U.S.
- Global Border Nexus Initiative | Haley Ciborowski leads this interdisciplinary project designed to connect, amplify, and expand border-related research taking place across San Diego State University
CAL faculty and students are also leading our campus in critically examining the impact of new technologies in learning and society. Along with the debut of our B.S. in Artificial Intelligence and Human Responsibility (which is SDSU’s only undergraduate AI degree), CAL hosted, through its HŪMTECH series, lectures and workshops on topics including the tech workforce, new pathways for medicine, AI data centers, and the history and future of digital literature. Together these programs gave audiences a glimpse at how real-world issues in sciences and technology involve deeply human questions and demand human-centered solutions.
Our greatest strength in all this work lies in our students. On May 15, more than 1,500 undergraduate students, more than 200 master’s students, and five Ph.D.s graduated from CAL ready to put their knowledge in service to others. They join more than 70,000 CAL alumni who represent the good that those engaged in humanities and social sciences can bring to the world.
Congratulations to them all, and happy reading!
Todd Butler, Dean
College of Arts and Letters
Congratulations to CAL Outstanding Graduating Seniors
The CAL overall Outstanding Graduating Senior is Isabella Victoria Marine, a rhetoric and writing student who chose Assistant Professor Consuelo Salas as her Most Influential Faculty.
"In my time at SDSU, I've repeatedly been faced with the passion that makes up the RWS program. I’ve had the opportunity to learn from so many dedicated and intelligent professors in my time as a student and a Writing Mentor for the program, which in turn has only made me even more enthusiastic about pursuing my own rhetorical work further through the master’s program. Rhetoric can be found and analyzed anywhere and in anything, but I couldn’t imagine continuing my studies anywhere but here."
— Isabella Victoria Marine
Double Happiness: Mother and son earn matching sociology degrees in CAL
Second and third generation SDSU grads excelled in their studies and supported one another to foster growth and academic achievement.
On Mother’s Day 2026, this mother and son posed on the steps of Hepner Hall for graduation photos — in matching academic regalia. Carina Hernandez-Carrillo and Matthew Carrillo both graduated from San Diego State University College of Arts and Letters with degrees in sociology on May 15.
More Student Stories
- International business student Dean Benner wins Congressional internship | Learn more about the internship.
- Quest for the Best awardees include political science student Jasmin Zeis-Khalil | Learn more about the award.
Ted Adams, co-founder of IDW Publishing, brings comics industry experience to SDSU classroom
History Lecturer Ted Adams shared 30 years of comics knowledge with students in his spring History of Comics course.
Ted Adams understands comics. He’s been a voracious reader of books since he was a child. His introduction to comics took place in a barbershop in Grants Pass, Oregon, where the eight-year-old Adams picked up a copy of "Spider-Man" — and the rest is history. His lifelong love of the genre was piqued.
Adams is the spring 2026 Visiting Comics Professional-in-Residence for the Center for Comics Studies and teaches History of Comics (HIST157) in the College of Arts and Letters.
CAL Faculty Awards
The Faculty Excellence Awards honor outstanding contributions from faculty members in research, teaching, and service. These prestigious awards recognize the dedication and achievements of tenure-track, tenured faculty, and lecturers who enhance our academic community through their innovative scholarship and engaging teaching methods.
Congratulations (L to R): Cheryl O'Brien, political science; Justin Bissell, geography; Isaac Ullah, anthropology, Zamira Abman, comparative international studies. Not pictured: Marie Draz, women's, gender, and sexuality studies, and Amanda Kearney, anthropology.
Faculty Global Engagement Awards go to two in CAL
The Faculty Global Engagement Symposium showcases innovative and impactful work taking place across SDSU. Through dynamic, short-format presentations, award recipients will share how their work has influenced global communities, strengthened transborder collaboration, and enriched global perspectives within our university community.
Zamira Abman, assistant professor of history and European studies and Erin Riley, anthropology professor received the award that celebrates faculty and international scholars whose work advances SDSU's global mission.
SDSU geography students track how fire alters ecosystems, rainfall and climate through field research in Botswana
On the savannas of Botswana, fire is a constant presence, and understanding its impact has brought Robert Collins, a San Diego State University master’s student, to the country for a third time as part of a NASA-supported grant.
Led by geography Associate Professor Fernando De Sales, the research team includes Ibisia Jack, an SDSU doctoral student in geography, and collaborators from UCLA, UC Berkeley and the University of Virginia. Together, they’re studying how fire reshapes savanna vegetation and rainfall through land-atmosphere interactions.
CAL Microgrant winners discuss the importance of project funding
The College of Arts and Letters awarded microgrants to 21 faculty members support research projects and educational resources across CAL departments.
SDSU alumnus Paul Yett expands opportunities for CAL IB students
Paul Yett's $1 million gift creates an endowment that provides SDSU international business students with internship opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach.
CAL double alumnus builds creative life and advocates for social change
Declan Halloran ('16 sociology, '24 MALAS) wears many hats. He is a production rigger and he's an ocean-qualified lifeguard for the City of San Diego among other things.
CAL staff awards 2026
- Jaime Lennox, Anthropology
- Candra Young, Geography
- Michelle Lenoue, Student Success Center
- Susy Di Norcia-Bassi, Dean’s Office (not pictured)
Better Food Futures // Pascale Joassart-Marcelli, professor of geography, director of the Urban Studies and Food Studies programs and the BFF Center's co-director, was featured in "Earth Day at SDSU."
Economics // Lecturer Cristina Pintado's economics course goes beyond monetary theory to prepare students with career-ready communication skills.
Geography // Associate Professor Daniel Sousa and doctoral student Megan Ward-Baranyay, were featured in "SDSU-led study with NASA JPL collaborators finds pre-fire fuels shaped severity 2025 L.A. fires."
ISCOR // ISCOR student credits international conference with fostering different perspectives and student connection.
Center for Latin American Studies // Ramona Pérez was featured in a Q&A "The hidden links to Aztec culture in the new Padres City Connect uniforms."
Linguistics // Graduating linguistics major Jaime Antoshak won a Graduate Research Fellowships Program (GRFP) award from the National Science Foundation. The GRFP will fund her first three years in the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders, where she will conduct research on grammatical processing in heritage Spanish speakers.
Political Science // Alumnus John Fiske was honored with an SDSU Alumni Award of Distinction. And, featured in an article, "Fiske Changemaker."
Center for Skateboarding, Action Sports, and Social Change // Legendary photographer Atiba Jefferson visits SDSU for Black History Month. Shaping the past, present, and future of skateboarding and media, Jefferson’s retrospective talk highlights Black excellence, creative impact and career trajectories.
Sustainability // Alumna McKenna Avery was featured in an article with other students who are business founders.