Barcos de Nazare Places by Alex Torres
Emily Silver, NCORE 2023 Equity and Social Justice Award, with SMC family
Robin Mitchell's "Spellbound" is on view at the Craig Krull Gallery in Santa Monica
Megumi Smith directed SMC's second annual Children's Concert
Pianist and dancer at the second annual SMC Children's Concert
Onde estao todos hoje People by Alex Torres
Carlos Rouzaud and Prof Jason de Leon at Fowler Museum UCLA
- The SMC Academic Senate announced the winners of the SMC 2023 Faculty Excellence Awards! SMC Social Committee Chair Sue Lee is pleased to share the names of the winners of the Full-Time Faculty Excellence
Award: Jamey Anderson, Physical Sciences; Andria Denmon, Life Sciences; Steven Sedky, Business. And the winners of the Part-Time Faculty Excellence Award: Margot Reiner, Emeritus; Vishal Solanki, Communications; Jessica Trachtenberg, Counseling. Sue Lee reported that a new record was set this year with over 200 nominations
from faculty and students for over 100 professors. Congratulations to all the winners
and everyone who was nominated!
- Math department chair Colleen McGraw is pleased to share several brags on behalf of the department: under the leadership
of Interim Dean Wendi DeMorst, Dean of Institutional Advancement and Foundation President Lizzy Moore and Math Lab Coordinator Judith Mosher, the Math Lab has also been able to provide food and personal hygiene products for students through
Bodega Bites and donations from Math faculty. In addition, an anonymous donor gifted
the Math Lab with two $10,000 academic scholarships and $10,000 for students in need
of access codes. The donor is an alumnus of SMC who credits their success to the help
they received from the Math Lab. The Math Lab has satisfied over 4,000 appointments
in person and over 1,300 appointments remotely this Spring semester alone.
- The first annual Ali Zakeri scholarship was awarded this academic year. Professor Zakeri was a beloved math instructor
who passed away from cancer in 2019. This scholarship was fully funded by math faculty.
- Under the leadership of Vanan Yahanian, Project Manager for STEM, and Math Professor Diem Nguyen, Canvas STEM modules were created to support students under AB1705. Currently, all students place into transfer-level math courses. The modules are intended to support students that have gaps in their learning. These modules are free and open to all.
- The first annual Ali Zakeri scholarship was awarded this academic year. Professor Zakeri was a beloved math instructor
who passed away from cancer in 2019. This scholarship was fully funded by math faculty.
- Emily Silver received the National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) 2023
Equity & Social Justice Award for excellent contributions as a change agent. The Equity & Social Justice Awards
were established to provide the conference with a way to recognize, acknowledge and
celebrate members of the NCORE community who demonstrate exemplary service in each
of three categories: Mentorship, Scholarship, and Change Agent. The award was presented
on Thursday, June 1, 2023 at the NCORE Conference General Session in New Orleans, LA.
- Art professor Robin Mitchell has an exhibition of recent paintings at Craig Krull Gallery in Santa Monica; the show, entitled “Spellbound” is on view until July 20, 2023.
- Music instructor Megumi Smith directed the second SMC annual children's concert. It included both community collaboration
and collaborations between several SMC departments, including the Music, Art, Dance,
and Digital Technology Departments. “We had special guest performers from El Marino Language School's Rainbow Taiko, Sarah Wright who is a Santa Monica singer-songwriter, and Lilly Aycud who is a Music Specialist for Grades 3-8/Multi-instrumentalist/SMC Community Member.
Over 150 people came to the concert, and all the SMC students' performers had a delightful
and wonderful experience!” Megumi wrote.
- Emeritus professor Sheila Laffey recently interviewed Atossa Soltani, founder of Amazon Watch and Director of Global Strategy for Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative. Laffey hosts "Is There New Hope for the Amazon?" which is streaming on TV. “Atossa updates us on her meetings with President Lula and new Indigenous leaders in the new Congress, why the Amazon is the ‘heart’ of Mother
Earth and shares the short animated film: ‘Amazonia 2041: The Vision for the Future,’”
wrote Sheila.
- Psychology professor Dorothy Chin has two brags! Her newest blog post for Psychology Today was selected as an "Essential Read" and is featured on the website: “Ask Your Kids for a Parenting Evaluation.”
- Dorothy was also invited to speak on a panel on "Critical Issues during the Pandemic
Era" at the Emerging Trends in Behavioral Health Conference at the UCLA Luskin Conference Center April 27-30, 2023. Her specific presentation was focused on race-based trauma during
COVID-19.
- Dorothy was also invited to speak on a panel on "Critical Issues during the Pandemic
Era" at the Emerging Trends in Behavioral Health Conference at the UCLA Luskin Conference Center April 27-30, 2023. Her specific presentation was focused on race-based trauma during
COVID-19.
- Spanish professor Alejandro Lee has several brags—on his own behalf, first:
- He presented "¿Chinolatinos en la clase de lengua heredada? Recursos para enseñar la diáspora asiática en Hispanoamérica" with Sybil Alexandrov (Yale University) and "Crowdsourcing to Inform HL Education" with María Carreira (CSU Long Beach) and Sybil Alexandrov at the 10th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language, Harvard University, on April 14, 2023.
-
- And alongside Nancy Meléndez-Ballesteros (Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles), Alejandro presented “Tarea Libre: A First-year Spanish OER Homework Ancillary”
at the spring regional conference of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish
and Portuguese (AATSP), Southern California Chapter, at California State University, Northridge, on April 29, 2023.
- And alongside Nancy Meléndez-Ballesteros (Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles), Alejandro presented “Tarea Libre: A First-year Spanish OER Homework Ancillary”
at the spring regional conference of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish
and Portuguese (AATSP), Southern California Chapter, at California State University, Northridge, on April 29, 2023.
- Prof. Lee also submitted the following brags on behalf of his SMC students, current and former:
-
- Greg Fried's "De músico, poeta y loco…¡Todos tenemos un poco" and David Rodriguez's "Hecho en México" were chosen for the Global Citizenship Symposium in the Spanish
papers category. Greg is a Spanish 4 student, while David Rodriguez is in Spanish
11. They were sponsored by professor Alejandro Lee. ¡Felicidades, David y Greg!
- Alex Torres, a Spanish 11 student, has won the first prize in the People category for his photograph
titled "Onde estão todos hoje?" in the AATSP 2023 Higher Ed Photo Contest. Additionally, he received an honorable mention for his photo titled "Barcos de Nazaré"
in the Places category. Alex was sponsored by Prof. Lee. ¡Enhorabuena, Alex!
- Hayley Farrell has accepted the offer from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) to pursue a master's degree in International Affairs. Her focus within the program
will be on Economic and Political Development, as well as Data Analytics and Quantitative
Analysis. Hayley graduated Summa Cum Laude from UCLA in 2020, majoring in International Development with a minor in African and Middle
Eastern Studies. She was awarded the department's highest honors and received a Thomas Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship.
- Ash Lopez has been accepted to the IDEAS Summer Institute that will be held at Northeastern University from July 24 – August 4, 2023. The IDEAS residential summer program provides an opportunity to undergraduates to learn from world experts on data science, ethics, computer science, philosophy, law, and more. Out of about 400 students, the overall acceptance rate was 10%. Congratulations, Ash, once again!
- Greg Fried's "De músico, poeta y loco…¡Todos tenemos un poco" and David Rodriguez's "Hecho en México" were chosen for the Global Citizenship Symposium in the Spanish
papers category. Greg is a Spanish 4 student, while David Rodriguez is in Spanish
11. They were sponsored by professor Alejandro Lee. ¡Felicidades, David y Greg!
-
- After a successful first year, Bill Cahalane will be teaching for a second year in Zaragoza, Spain as part of the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program (NALCAP). Congratulations, Bill!
- Brandon Alexis Sánchez was invited to deliver the keynote speech for the graduation of American Needs You (ANY) program on May 20, 2023. ANY is a non-profit organization that support first-generation
college students with career development, mentoring and teach career skills.
- Carlos Rouzaud co-organized the Hostile Terrain ‘94: The Undocumented Migration Project exhibition at the UCLA Fowler Museum with Professor Jason De León on May 25, 2023. ¡Enhorabuena, Carlos!
- After a successful first year, Bill Cahalane will be teaching for a second year in Zaragoza, Spain as part of the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program (NALCAP). Congratulations, Bill!
* * *
SMC in Focus Volume IX, Issue 3
Reclaiming Her Story
The trauma of a violent assault forced Monique Johnson to drop out of her university, but the support of Santa Monica College enabled her to love being a student again.Read Article
Red House Finches & Green Buildings on His Mind
First-gen student Ahmad Rizwan, an immigrant from Lahore, Pakistan , is transferring this fall to UC Irvine as a mechanical engineering major. He turned down offers from four-year colleges to attend SMC.Read Article
On Her Way Upward
Vershaun “Shawnni” Evans can’t wait to be a social worker. Life put many difficulties in her way, but Shawnni is “on fire” today, a freshman at Cal State LA and graduating from SMC with a second AA. Being a role model to her two daughters is her top priority.Read Article
Back on Track
Personal tragedy and an encounter with the justice system sent Jose Rosales’ life into turmoil, but SMC has helped him make a fresh start.Read Article
Bragging Rights
Academic Senate names 2023 Faculty Excellence awards. The Math Department helps every student succeed. An Art prof. wins a 2023 Equity & Social Justice Award from NCORE. SMC students rake in honors.Read Article
Without Dance, What’s the Pointe?
Mark Tomasic knows all about playing artistic catch-up. He grew up “in the boondocks outside Cleveland.” He took his first ballet class at the age of 18—at a community college. Which makes him especially well-suited to lead SMC’s dance department.Read Article