Insight Magazine
Get a new perspective on the College of Arts & 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.
Fall 2024
In this end-of-the-year newsletter, we share CAL news, accolades, and achievements to showcase the rich and diverse experiences that shape our communities and our future. Those commitments are central to our college’s identity as the heart of San Diego’s publicly committed research university.
Most immediately, I’m delighted to announce that our college continues to grow, adding eight new tenure-track faculty this year. These new colleagues join an existing faculty that last year (2023-24) taught more than 4,700 students and secured $10.7 million in external funding through 63 grant awards.
We’re also continuing to evolve as a college, most recently via the renaming and reimagining of two college units. The Department of Women's Studies is now the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. And, the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies is now named the Charles Wei-hsun Fu Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, thanks to a generous donation from the Charles Wei-hsun Fu Foundation and Sandra Wawrytko, Fu Foundation president and professor of philosophy.
As part of our commitment to our students, we've also begun a concerted effort to develop curricula in Career Readiness that reaffirms and enables their desire to make a difference in the world. For a sense of how this is already paying off, take a listen to what some CAL students learned about themselves and their next steps via our CAL 400 course.
These are just some of the highlights of our college’s work. Read on to learn more about how our students, faculty, and alumni engage in impactful ways with the local community, the nation, and the world.
Warm regards,
Todd Butler, Dean
College of Arts and Letters
Big Data Hackathon Hosts 300 Students at Competition Tackling Health Disparities
San Diego State University’s fifth Big Data Hackathon event challenged participants to create cutting-edge ideas, solutions and apps with a theme of: “Enhancing Healthcare’s Digital Front Door.” Student innovators worked during two weekend sessions to create novel solutions to improve health care access and tackle health disparities.
Indigenous Mask Collection Showcases Artistry and History of Mesoamerica
Irene Gonzalez, a master’s student in Latin American Studies at San Diego State University is leading a significant project to digitize a collection of Mexican folk art mask artifacts. More than 300 items represent the rich cultural history (from the 1940s–90s) of artists from regions of Mexico such as Oaxaca, Michoacán, Guerrero, and Puebla.
Olivia Chilcote Named SDSU Presidential Research Fellow
Each presidential fellow received $25,000 to further support their research, scholarship and creative activities.
Eight New Tenure Track Faculty Join CAL in 2024
CAL is pleased to welcome eight new faculty members this fall, each bringing a wealth of international experience and expertise. Joining us in fields ranging from linguistics and geography to history, economics and political science, these assistant professors are set to enrich our academic community with their innovative research and dynamic teaching methods.
SDSU Shares Equitable AI Alliance Award of $1.5 Million
The alliance allows the three campus networks (SDSU, UC San Diego, and San Diego Community College District) to share survey data, educational resources, and new and existing artificial intelligence tools for all students, faculty and staff.
Elisa Sobo, professor of anthropology and director of CAL undergraduate research, is a co-PI on the grant.
Making Chicana/o History Available Around the World
A new grant allows for digitization of materials from the Chicana/o education movement. Natalie Santizo, assistant professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies and Erika Esquivel, Latin American and Indigenous Communities Archivist at the University Library received a $300,000 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) to digitize the Chicana/o Archive.
Alumna Sophia Rodriguez receives Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program Award
Community-centered work is at the heart of Sophia Rodriguez’s research in environmental and medical humanities.
Will Beall, English alumnus, crafts a career in Hollywood
After a stint as an LAPD homicide detective, Will Beall’s writing passion produces a viable second career trajectory.
Why We Give: Keith Behner and Cathy Stiefel
SDSU Aztecs for Life and philanthropists J. Keith Behner (’71) and Catherine M. Stiefel (’92) focus their philanthropy on education, environmental sustainability and social justice.
MFA Scholars Celebrated at Sarah B. Marsh-Rebelo Tea
Dean Todd Butler and Sarah B. Marsh-Rebelo ('12) invited MFA in creative writing poetry students to a celebration tea and reading in honor of their scholarships. Rebelo is recipient of the 2024 SDSU Alumni of Distinction Award.
Charles Wei-hsun Fu Center for Asian and Pacific Studies
An afternoon tea was held to celebrate the naming of the Charles Wei-hsun Fu Center for Asian Studies.
A planned gift supports scholarships, events and programming for the center.
- Director Oliver Stone leads lecture on impacts of Vietnam War 50 years later | SDSU NewsCenter
- San Diego farmers tackle climate change challenges | KPBS
- English professor’s picture book adapted for musical | SDSU NewsCenter
- SDSU’s Department of Women’s Studies gets a new name | SDSU NewsCenter
- Every Witch has Magical Hair — And There's a Reason Why | Vogue
- Common ground: SDSU global seminar examines grassroots peacebuilding in Colombia | SDSU NewsCenter