May 2015, the Pedant - Claremont Graduate University

the pedant
VOLUME 7 NUMBER 4
MAY 2015
\’pe-dant\: A scholar; one prone to ostentatious displays of learning; a learned academic; a nit-picker.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Little Libraries
It has always irked me that graduation ceremonies are referred to as
“commencements.” After all, when we trace the etymology of the word,
“commence” means “to begin.” Doesn’t graduation mark the completion of
something, the end point of one’s academic training?
In this issue’s feature story, “When the Student Becomes the Master,” we
explore grad students’ ongoing transition from protégé to professional.
In our research and interviews with established scholars, one point was
reiterated by all: One’s education isn’t culminated after they’ve finished
four years of college, written a thesis, or published a dissertation. On the
contrary, that’s when the real work begins. Seen this way, to refer to the
graduation ceremony as a beginning is to regard it as the jumping off point
for a life’s work: the moment when one can begin to apply their education
and training to real-world problems.
We’ve dedicated this issue of the Pedant to new beginnings. On page 4, we
introduce CGU’s new interim president and new programs and degrees. We
present the new executive board of the Graduate Student Council and info
for how you can get involved on page 5, and new CGU technologies on page
2. Of course, not all news is good news: We explore CGU’s 2015-2016 tuition
hike on page 3, but also show you how to have a good time on a budget this
summer in La Bonne Vivante’s travelogue of Bonelli Park (10).
During my tenure as editor-in-chief of the Pedant—interviewing students,
faculty, staff, and administration to hunt down stories relevant to your gradschool experience—I’ve had a unique perspective into the inner workings of
CGU. From realignments, to T-studies, to various programs and initiatives
aimed at making CGU a more perfect university, one thing has consistently
shined through: Despite not always getting it right, CGU is committed to
change and to new beginnings.
Along with many of my esteemed classmates, I will be walking in this
spring’s commencement and this will be my last issue as editor. It does
feel like the end of an era, but it’s also a chance to go be what I set out to be
seven years ago when I first arrived at the crossroads of Tenth Street and
Dartmouth Avenue. Rest assured, your trusty Pedant will be left in the highly
capable hands of its deputy editor, Emily Schuck, and will for years to come,
remain a voice for the students, by the students.
Cheers,
Rachel Tie
Editor, the Pedant
2 campus news
6 feature story
10 student achievements
Library late fees getting
you down? Try Claremont’s
Little Free Libraries.
If you, too, are prone
to aimlessly driving/
walking/segue-ing the
streets of Claremont in
existential angst over how
on earth you’re going to
finish that paper/project/
critical exploration of the
Segue, you, too, may have
noticed the charming
book boxes scattered
throughout Claremont’s
streets. Whence arose this
enchanting paraphernalia of Village life, and why?
About three years ago, Claremont business owner Anne Seltzer
set up a Little Free Library” in a nook on the side of the building
which houses The Press Restaurant, and since then, at least five
more have cropped up in front of local homes and businesses.
“This is in no way meant to compete with the library,” said Seltzer.
“It is just an added thing we hope latches on.”
The concept is simple: “Take a book, leave a book.” Not: “Dump
your statistics textbooks from last semester,” or “grab an armload
and see what you can make on Amazon.” And while CGU students
may already feel inundated with reading material, there is
something quaint about sharing a book with a neighbor, not to
mention the self-satisfaction that comes along with participating
in a project that promotes literacy for all.
So next time you’re meandering the Village streets, don’t be shy
about wandering into the yard of a resident with an enticing little
box out front; it turns out, that’s exactly what you’re meant to do.
For more information on the Little Free Library movement, visit
www.littlefreelibrary.org.
5 GSC update
8 la bonne vivante
12 calendar & more
the Pedant
Volume 7, Number 4 May 2015
Many thanks to Mark Pedretti; Shamini Dias; Manoj Chitre; Michael Thomas;
Patricia Easton; Gloria Page; Appy Frykenberg; Brittney Harvey; Sean
Dixon; Alfie Christiansen; Sheila Lefor (the Pedant’s web developer); Laura
Schlosberg; and the entire CGU Office of Marketing and Communications team,
who has always supported the Pedant.
Rachel Tie
Editor-in-Chief
Emily Schuck
Deputy Editor
Megan M. Gallagher
Contributor
For questions or comments, e-mail [email protected]
CGU Goes Mobile
Luddites begad, CGU has joined the twenty-first century.
In February, CGU launched the new myCGU app to better connect
students to the school while they’re on the go. The updated
programming boasts new features that allow students to access
information previously only available on the portal. If you felt like
you couldn’t get away from academic responsibility before, now
your bills, your enrollment status, and your grades can be right
there in your pocket wherever you go.
“The mobile app is the mobile extension of CGU’s myCampus
portal. It is designed to accommodate the needs of today’s busy
students, faculty, and staff by offering myCampus portal features
directly on users’ smartphones or other mobile devices,” said
Manoj Chitre, assistant vice president of finance and information
Claremont Graduate University
campus news
technology. “As university life becomes more and more reliant
on mobile technology, it is increasingly important to stay
connected using these handheld devices.”
Other features include an updated news and events platform,
a to-do list, and an interactive map that allows users to get
directions to campus buildings. These new features were
added in response to students’ desire for a more diverse mobile
experience. Many complained that the previous app offered
limited functionality.
The Office of Information Technology will continue to update
and enhance the app and release new features, such as alerts
about account-status changes and transcript requests, with
student feedback driving this development.
“The app was designed to meet the students where they are,”
said Michael Thomas, media technology coordinator at CGU.
Faculty, staff, and students can download the new app in the
Apple and Android app stores by searching “myCGU.”
2015-2016 Tuition Hike
At the May board meeting, the board of trustees approved a
three-percent increase in tuition for the 2015-2016 academic
year, effective July 1, 2015. The student service fee and the
technology fee will not change.
The standard price per unit will increase from $1,741 to $1,792,
amounting to a difference of around $400 over the course of a
40-unit MA program.
According to an e-mail sent to students in April by Vice Provost
for Student and Enrollment Services Patricia Easton, “The
decision to increase tuition for the 2015-16 year was not made
easily . . . However, despite the three-percent increase in cost,
this university will remain among the best values in higher
education.”
For comparison, Amherst College, a private school of similar
size to CGU that is also part of a larger consortium, currently
costs $14, 273 per semester for 12 graduate units including all
fees; UCLA, a large public university, charges around $15,500 per
year to California-resident grad students and around $30,700
per year to non-residents; and USC, a large, private university
costs $23,781 per semester or $47,562 per year for full-time
graduate students plus fees. At the new tuition rate, CGU will
cost roughly $21,816 per semester to students taking 12 units;
totaling just under $44,000 per year, including fees.
“We know it’s tough for students and we’re doing all we can
to keep tuition as low as possible,” said President Freund in a
statement to the Pedant. “That includes finding ways to reduce
administrative costs in areas that will not significantly impact
the student experience. The financial aid office is also working
harder than ever to keep CGU affordable, and I hope every last
student is taking full advantage of that tremendous resource.”
Visit www.cgu.edu/finaid for more information, or e-mail
[email protected].
Strength in Numbers
While the problems facing writers are many, two among them are
wont to plague graduate students with an especial fervor: lack of
productivity and isolation. But hark, fair colleagues of the written
word, help is nigh, and one would behoove one’s self to consider
partaking of a scriveners’ conclave; or, in the vernacular, a writing
group.
“The aim of the writing-groups program is to create a peer-led
and structured space for writing,” said Shamini Dias, director
of the Preparing Future Faculty Program, who formerly worked
at the Writing Center and who has started and participated in
writing groups herself. “Research on writing groups has found that
most informal writing groups where friends decide to meet at a
coffee shop tend to be productive for a while and then lose steam.
But, creating an explicit structure for how time is used, having
a process, and [having] someone to take charge helps the group
sustain itself over time.”
The heyday of the CGU writing group is a vestige of the past. In
years prior, 10 or more groups were active at once. These groups
were either formed independently by students or were facilitated
by the Writing Center. But their diminishing presence on campus
need not spell their demise, and the Writing Center wants to
revivify the program and get new groups off the ground.
“[Writing groups] afford students the opportunity to forge
connections . . . and it breaks the isolation that comes along with
these large projects,” said Writing Center Director Mark Pedretti.
By working with colleagues, he notes, writing groups can also
reignite the passion that got students into academia in the first
place.
Students are welcome to form writing groups on their own;
however, the Writing Center is there to help like-minded students
form a new group, get room reservations, and even offers expert
advice on maximizing writing time and increasing productivity in
general.
For help getting a group started, e-mail [email protected].
The Writing Group Process
The writing group format is based on proven research about attention
spans, accountability, and ideal writing conditions.
1. Everyone states their goal (if they want, they can write these down
so they can log their process over time).
2. The timer is started and everyone writes for 90 minutes.
During this writing block there is no conversation, phones, Internet
etc. It’s purely focused on writing.
3. At the end of the 90-minute block, the group takes a 15-30-minute
break to check in, chat, stretch, etc.
4. Begin a second 90-minute writing block.
5. After 90 more minutes, members check in and talk about what
they accomplished. The focus is on how much writing was produced.
Students are encouraged to focus on producing drafts no matter how
rough and think about revisions and editing at a later time.
Leisure with dignity 3
Claremont Graduate University
student life
NEW at CGU
CGU Names Interim President
Creative Center Launch
CGU has named Robert (Bob) Schult
as interim president. Schult will step
in for current president, Deborah
Freund, who announced in December
she would not seek a second term.
As a collaboration between Sotheby’s Institute of Art, The Getty
Leadership Institute, and the School of Art and Humanities at CGU, the
new Center for Management in the Creative Industries (CMIS) at CGU’s
Drucker School of Management will offer two degree programs: an MA
in arts management and an MA in art business.
The CGU board of trustees voted to
approve Schult as president at its
quarterly meeting in March. He takes
office on July 1 and will work closely
with Freund and other administrators
until then to ensure a smooth
transition.
The MA in arts management offers concentrations in nonprofit
arts management; management for media, entertainment, and the
performing arts; and art museum management. The MA in art business
will offer concentrations in general art business; East Asian art and its
markets; and contemporary art and its markets. The difference between
the two programs, generally, is that art business focuses on the visual
arts with an emphasis on the for-profit side of the industry, whereas
arts management deals with the arts more broadly (theater and dance,
music, arts education, public- or nonprofit-arts organizations, media
and entertainment, etc.). Though both programs share a common core,
the arts management program has a strong emphasis on management
skills as they apply to the not-for-profit and public organizations.
Former president and chief operating
officer of Nestlé USA and a co-founder
and former managing director at VMG Equity Partners, Schult has
served on CGU’s board of trustees since 2011. He has also served on
several other boards, including The Times Mirror Company and UCLA’s
Anderson School of Business.
For more information, visit www.cmci.cgu.edu.
“Bob knows CGU well. Since late fall of 2013, he has supported Jacob
Adams, executive vice president and provost, in overseeing the
university’s internal operations, building a dedicated and effective
management team, and developing a strategic plan to position CGU
for long-term success,” said Michael Rossi, chairman of CGU’s board
of trustees. “We are fully confident that Bob is capable of ensuring the
university’s financial sustainability and furthering its commitment to
academic excellence.”
“My day-to-day involvement over the past 16 months as chair of the
business and finance committee has given me an extraordinary
opportunity to become acquainted not only with Jacob Adams and
the executive management team, but also with the intricacies and
challenges of the university,” Schult said. “I have a very hands-on, teamoriented approach, and I am excited to take the helm at this pivotal
moment in CGU’s history.”
Because Schult is already familiar with the university’s operations
from his work as a trustee, his appointment as interim president allows
CGU not only to stay the course on its current strategic plan, but to
accelerate its progress.
“Bob’s skills are exactly suited to our challenges,” Adams said. “The
management team and I have the utmost respect for him, and we are
confident that he will provide excellent and seamless leadership for the
university.”
The board of trustees has yet to publicly issue a timeline and plan for
the recruitment of a permanent president.
4 Otium cum dignitate
T-studies adds MA degree
As part of the revamping of the Transdisciplinary Studies program,
beginning this fall, students will be able to earn an interfield master of
arts degree.
“CGU already attracts students and faculty who like to work in more
than one discipline,” said Patricia Easton, co-interim director of
T-studies and vice provost for student and enrollment services. And the
new T-studies is “a place where we hope to bring all of the disciplines
together.”
The 40-unit MA will be comprised of two core areas of the student’s
choice in which they must take four courses each (for instance, English
and history or math and information science) as well as two elective
courses for a total of 10, four-unit courses. Students’ diplomas will
reflect the interdiscplinary nature of the work, listing, for instance,
a master of arts in philosophy and religion. For more information,
contact [email protected].
Claremont Graduate University
student life
First Impressions (idealism and activism
drive new GSC)
Imagine being asked to defend your dissertation
during your second year of coursework. You’d likely
be underprepared, frazzled, and without a clear
idea of what your topic is—which is a little bit like
meeting with the new GSC council before they’ve
had a chance to plan for the next academic year. In
our anticipation to meet the new executive board,
the Pedant did just this. Even though the details
weren’t quite fleshed out, we still got a good idea of
what they’ll bring to the boardroom table. Traversing
the razor’s edge between idealism and activism, the
new council seems prepared to balance lofty ideals
with the quotidian business of getting things done.
Like Moses standing before the Red Sea, ready
to lead his people to the land of milk and honey,
President-Elect Gloria Page (PhD, education), with
a staff in hand, seems poised to redefine what
leadership and advocacy look like.
“I keep [a walking staff] near my front door so I
remember that my journey in life, and getting my
PhD, is not done by hurrying, and getting burned up.
It’s walking and taking time to enjoy the journey. To
savor it,” said Page. “Some of the past boards have tried to do too much,
and things were not tended to as carefully as they could have been.”
Appy Frykenberg (PhD, English), the vice-president elect of the
council, who comes to the GSC with several years of experience at the
Queer Resource Center, sees activism, diversity, and inclusion as the
cornerstone of her tenure. Specifically, one of Frykenberg’s goals is
doing leadership training in line with CGU’s diversity statement as well
as other support for clubs and organizations on campus.
Rep
GSC executive officers elect (from left to right): Gloria Page, president; Britney
Harvey, treasurer; Sean Dixon, secretary; Appy Frykenberg, vice president.
new council seems to understand the tenuous balance between waxing
poetic and real action.
“We want to support the CGU community in the best manner that we
can,” Page added. “I think that’s a personal goal for all of us.”
“[Diversity training] can look like faculty speakers, and just
highlighting certain voices; it can look like support events where
students come together and share their experiences; or polling clubs
that already do work in student experiences on campus and asking how
we can help to bring about more awareness,” said Frykenberg.
For more information, visit www.cgu.edu/gsc or like them on Facebook
at www.facebook.com/GSCCGU.
One idea includes a student-leader organization dinner where students
can work with one another and collaborate towards mutual goals that
would otherwise be pursued individually.
Along with the executive board, the GSC is comprised of representatives
and delegates. Each of CGU’s schools elects two representatives and
a number of delegates proportional to the student population of the
respective schools. Representative elections for the 2015-2016 school
year have already taken place; however delegate elections will take place
in the fall.
“[We want] student leaders to see the GSC as a resource to go to—as
something that is helps to support their events and accomplish their
tasks,” Frykenberg said.
Page and Frykenberg are joined by Brittney Harvey (MA, positive
psychology) as treasurer and Sean Dixon (MA, religion) as secretary.
Just as your early coursework years are too early to get your
dissertation proposal approved, it is too early for predictions or
promises from the new GSC. But from where the Pedant is sitting, the
Get involved this fall
Representatives and delegates share basic rights and responsibilities,
however only representatives are allowed to vote on items relating to
elections and constitutional amendments.
Council members are required to attend GSC meetings, join GSC
committees, and inform their constituents and department heads of GSC
events and activities.
For more information, visit www.cgu.edu/gsc or e-mail [email protected].
Leisure with dignity 5
Claremont Graduate University
when the
Student Becomes The Master
Managing the transition from student to scholar
If the path to a PhD wasn’t onerous enough, the path to putting that PhD into action can be a battle unto itself. As
those who have been here a few years have probably started to figure out, passing your classes is only half the battle;
the real bête noir of graduate school is positioning yourself for the academic career that lies ahead. We’ve culled the
best advice from scholarly professionals and Jedi masters alike to find out what you can do now (and what you need to
be prepared to do after graduation) to make the transition from student to scholar.
It’s Already Happening
As the title to this story suggests, the crux to becoming
a master lies in the transition: “It’s a becoming
throughout your career. It’s a process,” said
Patricia Easton, vice provost for student
and enrollment services. Coursework
is a chance to experiment with styles
of writing and start forming your
scholarly voice. Use this early time
in your graduate career to explore
your discipline from different
angles in the hope that by the time
you start your real research, your
methodology and topic will be more
clearly defined and your unique
voice will start to emerge. But when
is this magic moment?
The Next Step
“I typically see [this transition] in my
students when they start really engaging
in a field,” continues Easton “and take [the
research] somewhere where it advances the
discussion.”
This advancement tends to be most acute at academic conferences.
Less advanced students who present tend to focus primarily on their
own presentations and performances: whether their paper holds water,
combatting performance jitters, and thinking about the new line on
their C.V.s. But a scholar sees a conference as a chance to engage
with his or her colleagues. Feedback from the audience feels less like
a challenge and more like a discussion among people with the same
interests and aims working together to advance the field.
“One of my first conference papers had visual aids, Beardsley
diagrams,” recalls Easton. “Presentation skills are an art, and now I’m
much more deliberate [in what I bring to a presentation].”
6 Otium cum dignitate
Take Your Act On The Road
Consider the feudal guild system: On the journey
to becoming a master of any trade, such as
blacksmithing, cobbling, or carpentry,
the student of the trade must serve as
an apprentice for seven years—the
average amount of time it takes to
get your PhD. But a seven-year
apprenticeship does not a master
make. The student must have
a three-year traveling period,
known as the journeyman phase.
During this period they are
required to prove their worth to
the outside world and further
develop their skills. Much like
our carpenter, a rising scholar
must take their act on the road
after completing their degree to
gain a wider perspective of their
field and academia at large.
“My advisor told me if you’re pursuing an
academic path, don’t stick around where you
got your PhD,” said Easton. “Your professors will
never see you that way, and your students will see you
as someone who hung on.” After all, could we have possibly expected
Master Yoda to have seen Luke Skywalker as a master when he left
the swamps of Dagobah?
The Final Frontier
A long time ago in a PFF workshop far, far away, a mentor told
us that “the dissertation was just the opening act.” Rather than
thinking of your dissertation as the capstone of your ideas, a
true scholar sees it as the first step in a lifetime of work that will
define their scholarly career. Herein lies the true mark of a scholar:
tenacity over time.
CGU graduate Benjamin Marsh receiving his doctoral hood at the 2014 commencement ceremony.
“Use the force (read: an honest appraisal of your own ideas) mindfully, or the Emperor of your ideas could lead you to
the Dark Side.”
“[At the beginning of your career] you’re not sure what you can
contribute, it’s a confidence factor,” says Easton. “[But] persisting with
your idea and playing it out to the end can be invaluable.” Of course,
as with all good advice, there is the other side of the coin: Along with
persisting in your own ideas, you must remain a student. Follow similar
research in your field and engage critically, lest this tenacity lead to the
type of tunnel vision that distinguishes the madman from the critical
scholar (as such, the line is already quite fine). Use the force (read: an
honest appraisal of your own ideas) mindfully, or the Emperor of your
ideas could lead you to the Dark Side.
And by seeing the dissertation as the first step rather than the
culmination of your ideas, it can also aid you in finishing it in a
timely manner. As the aphorism goes, “a good dissertation is a
done dissertation,” and there is no such thing as a great unfinished
dissertation.
In an April article from The Chronicle of Higher Education, columnist
Professor David Perlmutter says that successfully climbing a
mountain isn’t just getting to the top, but getting back down again
safely. “So it’s not actually a dissertation until it’s finished, defended,
and deposited. Yet so many doctoral students keep climbing year after
year even when they have already reached a very good summit and
need to wrap up the journey back at base camp.”
There are innumerable professionalization tips on the road from
student to master. But start from somewhere, you must. Here’s a
Jedi-mind trick even the most basic Padawan learner can master:
never, ever, wear sweatpants to seminar. May the Force be with you.
Leisure with dignity 7
student achievements
Neil Patel
David Isaacs
School of Arts and Humanities
PhD, Cultural Studies
Last October, Isaacs presented a paper entitled “‘Be Some Other
Name’: Naming and Supernatural Intervention in Gene Lien Yang’s
American Born Chinese and Saints” at the Pacific Ancient and Modern
Language Association conference in Riverside. The paper was part of
a panel that explored religious imagery and ideology in young-adult
literature, focusing on graphic novels.
School of Community and Global Health
and Drucker School of Management
MPH/MBA
Patel, who currently serves as the secretary
for the GSC as well as vice president for
the SCGH-SA and DSSA, was awarded the
C.V. Starr Foundation Fellowship for the
2014-2015 academic year and recently,
along with students April Moreno and Ariel
Reyes, a Hillcrest Transdisciplinary Award
for research in EHR.
Laureen Adams and Paul
Treesuwan
School of Educational Studies
Adams is a PhD candidate in education
with a focus on teaching, learning, and
culture. Treesuwan is a PhD student
in education with a focus on urban
educational leadership
Adams and Treesuwan presented their
research at the December 2014 Oxford
University Educational Research
Symposium in the renowned Rhodes
House in Oxford, England. Titled “Arts as
Safe Haven,” the presentation explained
how an integrated-arts program at the
School of Arts and Enterprise (SAE), a
Title I middle and high school in Pomona,
significantly contributes to a physically
and emotionally safe learning environment.
Adams and Treesuwan presented data that
suggests the SAE’s integrated-arts program
promotes respect and appreciation for selfexpression, which leads students to safely
collaborate and problem solve with other
students despite differing opinions, beliefs, cultural backgrounds,
socioeconomic status, learning differences, and sexual orientations.
Brian F. McCabe
School of Arts and Humanities
PhD, English
McCabe presented his paper, “All Stories
Are Love Stories: Writing Reconciliation
Across the Genres in Irish and Northern
Irish Literature,” at the annual meeting of
the American Conference for Irish Studies
(ACIS) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in March.
A version of this paper was nominated as
“paper of the conference” at the ACIS-West
regional meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico
in October, 2014.
8 Otium cum dignitate
Francesca Gacho
School of Arts and Humanities
PhD, English
In November 2014, Gacho presented her
paper, “Female Storytelling and the Fallen
Woman: A Case for Gaskell’s Ruth” at the
“Victorians Like Us” second international
Conference at the University of Lisbon.
In March, she also presented a paperin-progress titled “From Paratext to
Hypertext: The Interactive Don Quixote”
at the “What is A Book?” Symposium at
Scripps College. The symposium was sponsored by The Andrew Mellon
Fellowship of Scholars in Critical Bibliography at Rare Book School,
with additional support from Scipps’ Denison Library, and Scripps
English Department.
Meghana A. Rao
School of Social Science, Policy and Evaluation
PhD, Positive Organizational Psychology
Rao recently published an invited article for the inaugural issue of the
Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology, titled “Positive Psychology
Research in the Middle East and North Africa,” along with Dean Stewart
Donaldson and doctoral student Kathryn Doiron. JungJa Joy Yu
School of Arts and Humanities
PhD, Women’s Studies in Religion
Yu’s book, Breaking the Glass Box:
A Korean Woman’s Experiences of
Conscientization and Spiritual Formation
(foreword by Rosemary Ruether), was
recently published by Wipf and Stock.
Additionally, she was one of three speakers
on the topic of “Feminist Issues of Today’s Young Women,” in the Women’s Perspective
Forum at Pilgrim Place on Feb 27. She
was also invited to be a guest lecturer to teach her book at California
Lutheran University in February.
Kevin Riel
Donna Phillips
School of Arts and Humanities
PhD, English
Riel has had poems accepted by Beloit
Poetry Journal, New Madrid, and for Split
Lip Press’ new annual anthology Utter
Foolery: Best Global Literary Humor
2015. In addition, his paper “‘I do not love’
Rethinking W. B. Yeat’s Elegies of Major
Robert Gregory,” is coming out this summer
in the Journal of Modern Literature.
School ofArts and Humanities
MA, English
This past April, Phillips presented her paper, “Gentle Violence: Female
Transgression and Proto-Feminism in Horace Walpole’s The Castle
of Ontranto,”at the Humanities Education and Research Association
(HERA) conference in San Francisco. This was her first conference
presentation and it went well; a success she attributes to the CGU
Writing Center (specifically, she notes, to the feedback she received
from Writing Center consultant Megan M. Gallagher).
Lisette Davies Ward
Jeff Fajans
School of Social Science, Policy and Evaluation
PhD, Positive Organizational Psychology
Fajans was recently awarded the Society of Consulting Psychology’s
small research-grant award to support his research on leveraging
smartphone technology to facilitate employee and team learning and
creative performance. Fajans will use the grant to create professional
data-visualization reports of rich learning and performance analytics,
which will be collected via smartphone app for the organizations,
teams, and employees who collaborate with him on his research.
Robert Courtney
School of Educational Studies
PhD, Education
Courtney recently had his paper, “Looking at Racial Segregation: An
Exploratory Case Study of a Predominantly Somali Charter School,” in
Multicultural Education, volume 22, number 2.
Daniel Lanza Rivers
School of Arts and Humanities
PhD, English and Cultural Studies
Rivers will present research from the first
chapter of his dissertation at the Biannual
Association for the Study of Literature
and the Environment (ASLE) conference in
Moscow, Idaho, in June. ASLE remains the
flagship US organization dedicated to the
environmental humanities.
School of Arts and Humanities
PhD, Cultural Studies
In April, Davies Ward chaired a panel entitled “Cultures of Media
Expression” at the Humanities Education and Research Association
(HERA) conference, in San Francisco. She also presented a paper on
the panel called “The ‘Grey Areas:’ Beyond Binary Oppositions of
Stereotypical Gender Roles in The Bachelorette and The Bachelor.”
Matthew Zaro Fisher
School of Arts and Humanities
PhD, Philosophy of Religion and Theology In November 2014, Fisher had an article
published as a chapter in Religion and
Transhumanism: The Unknown Future
of Human Enhancement, edited by Calvin
Mercer and Tracy Trothen titled “More
Human than the Human?: Toward a
‘Transhumanist’ Christian Theological
Anthropology.” The chapter articulates
an evolutionary-aware understanding
of theological anthropology and asks whether or not the idea of
personhood as “image of God” ought to be extended to those who
would take part in the hypothetical “upload” scenario advocated by
transhumanists as well as non-human animal species and artificial
intelligence capable of interpersonal relationships. To share your recent
achievement of the academic
or vocational variety, e-mail
[email protected] with your
name, department, degree
seeking, and a brief desription
of your achievement (see
achievements on this page
for examples). Professional,
high-resolution headshots
welcomed; please, no other
attachments or press releases.
“Piled Higher and Deeper” by Jorge Cham
www.phdcomics.com
Leisure with dignity 9
You might not be able to go on your dream vacation, but that doesn’t
mean you shouldn’t let yourself take a few staycations this summer.
If you ‘re looking for a place nearby with a little charm, picnic areas,
hiking trails, and even a lakeside beach, look no further than our own
backyard: Bonelli Park.
Nestled between the 10 and the 57 freeways you will find the middleclass oasis that is Bonelli Park. This park is the Central Park of
the Inland Empire. There are freshly manicured lawns (“droughtschmought!” I say), a large lake, clean restrooms, and little touches of
civilization—like the sign warning you not to commit arson while in
the park. Visit the park’s website, www.bonellipark.org for upcoming
events and shift your eyes six inches right to the black box for a list of
recommended activities (hello food trucks).
La BonneVivante
by Megan M. Gallagher — writer, teacher, epicurean,
PhD student in English
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CGU. This month: Thinkin’ and drinkin’ in Claremont.
about town; 3) a pleasure-seeking hedonist.
As part of the Pedant’s mission to enhance student life, La Bonne
Vivante features goings-on about town outside of the moated ivory
tower that is CGU. This month, Bonelli Park: Central Park of the
Inland Empire.
Quand on a pas ce que l’on aime, il faut aimer ce que l’on a.
“When one doesn’t have the things that one loves, one must love what
one has.” — French proverb
Ask anyone where they would go on their dream summer holiday and
you will get answers like Fiji, Maui, and the Virgin Islands. What
do all these places have in common (besides a history of horrific
colonization)? Beaches. You know what won’t make that list? Places
like Lake of the Ozarks, Lake Michigan, and Salt Lake City; basically
anything containing the word “lake” in it. Let’s face it, landlocked
bodies of water are never the dream vacation—they are the obtainable
vacation—but at this point in our graduate programs anything
obtainable seems worth holding on to.
This summer all of your friends with degrees in things like finance
and accounting are going to fill your Instagram and newsfeeds with
pictures of their feet in the sand, jumping off a yacht into pristine,
cerulean waters, an airplane window pic of the wing (we get it; you’re
in a plane), and a beach sunset with a foregrounded $15 tropical
cocktail. Meanwhile, you’ve just cracked open a lukewarm Bud Light
after signing up for a language exam prep class that doesn’t qualify
for financial aid and are considering the pros and cons of a third job
to help with that three percent tuition hike that awaits you this fall
(see page 3 for details). In graduate school summer is just a shorter,
hotter, and more expensive version of the other three seasons.
10 Otium cum dignitate
Bird watching is a big attraction at this park. Yes, you read that
correctly. I tried it while I was there; the concept is simple enough: you
watch for birds to come nearby, then when they are nearby you watch
the birds. It’s a lot like people watching but without the fun of passing
judgment. After you have had all the fun you can bear watching birds
you might check out one of the many trails the park has to offer. There
are several of varying degrees of difficulty and length so you will want
to check the website’s trail map ahead of time to choose the one that is
right for you. The trails are similar in topography to the Claremont loop
but with less Lululemon and fewer (no) bears.
But before you can watch those birds or walk those trails you need to
decide if you are willing to contribute to the betterment of the park
and pay the parking fee or if you are saving your money and getting
an earlier start to your hike. Those in the know know that if you aren’t
feeling the $10 parking fee (or $16 limousine parking fee) you can park
in the commuter lot east of the 57 and walk to the park entrance (it’s
about a half-mile walk to either the picnic area or beachfront—doable if
you pack light and don’t have small children/whiney comrades in tow).
Upon your entrance at the park you will have the option of going left for
the beachfront or right for grassy knolls and halcyon picnicking.
Should you choose to go left you will see one of the last remaining
bodies of water in Southern California. You might see some kayakers
or boaters out and you will definitely hear the screams of children
swimming at the lifeguarded beach. Bonelli Park is strictly BYOBoat,
though rumor has it that once the summer months pick up there is a
jet-ski rental option on the weekends, and with the lifeguard-patrolled
waters, it seems like a good place for the novice jet skier. Technically
you can fish catch-and-release style (if you have a license) and the “DO
NOT EAT FISH” signs makes the dictum that much more foreboding.
While I would not recommend physically going into the water (with all
the mercury-filled sushi we eat what could possibly be in this lake that
makes the fish too dangerous to eat?) it is a lovely spot for a blanket, a
book, and an afternoon nap.
If you, like your Bonne Vivant and Pedant editors Rachel and Emily,
choose to go right at the fork for some time under a shade tree on the
grassy knoll, prepare yourself for a most enjoyable afternoon picnic.
We prepped for the day with a trip to the Claremont farmers market for
some fresh vegetables and a quick trip to Stater Bros. for some chicken
kabobs and charcoal for the grill. We opted to use the commuter lot
(though I was the aforementioned grumbling comrade carrying a lot
of stuff) and set up our camp at one of their picnic tables and charcoal
braziers. There is plenty of open space for some lawn games and Frisbee
(ultimate or plain), but fight the urge to bring a kite—low flying aircrafts
will thank you.
Whether you choose to sit lakeside or picnic on the lawn this park will
meet your reasonably set expectations of a park in San Dimas—and
with the right filter, Bonelli Park offers the staycationer a picturesque
summer selfie sure to inspire jealousy even in the jet set.
Bonelli Park Attractions at a Glance
Hot Tubs
Privately owned and operated, the Puddingstone hot tub resort boasts
private changing rooms, candlelight, and a radio auxiliary port all in
the comfort of your hot tub (which is available to rent by the hour)
overlooking the Pomona valley. Visit
hottubsresort.com for more information.
Golfing
If your father-in-law comes to town and you want to impress him
with your handicap, the Mountain Meadows Golf Course offers a full
regulation game. More information at
www.mountainmeadows.americangolf.com.
Raging Waters
If bugs and grass aren’t your cup of tea, Raging Waters water park
offers water of the chlorinated type: an infinity pool and a variety of
water slides makes this a great family outing.
Hiking Trails
With routes throughout the nearly 2000-acre park (all around the
glorious length of one mile), Bonelli offers a dozen hiking trails sure to
satify your natural bent (but without leaving you huffing and puffing
like Claremont’s five-mile Mills Loop). Check out
www.bonellipark.org/trails.html for a trail map.
Photos (top to bottom): Sun setting over
lake; La Bonne Vivante takes barbecuing to
new extremes.
Leisure with dignity 11
Claremont Graduate University
calendar
April 28 Economics tells us that there’s no such thing as a free lunch,
but the Division of Politics and Economics hosts a series of talks where a
complimentary lunch is provided. Join Jana Grittersova from the University
of California Riverside for this week’s talk from noon to 1:00 p.m. in
Albrecht Auditorium (925 N. Dartmouth Avenue).
Turning a conference paper into a publishable article is a bit like sculpting a
statue from a block of marble. CISAT offers a workshop to make yourself a
veritable Michelangelo of the written word from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. in Burkle
22 (1021 N. Dartmouth Avenue).
EVENT IN FOCUS
May 8:
End-of-Year Party
The famous—and at times infamous—GSC end-of-year
party is one of the biggest events of the school year. It gives
you a chance to reward yourself for your successes or to
wallow in your sorrows, to libate or gyrate, or just to see
everyone again before summer takes us on our separate
paths.
This year’s soiree will be a block party in and around
DesCombes Quad from 7:00 p.m.-midnight. Rumor has it
that there will be various food vendors, enchantments, and
and a DJ that just won’t quit.
April 29 There’s no rest for the wicked in the ivory tower. The Office of
Career Development will offer a workshop on how to fill your summer days
with professional-development activities from noon to 1:00 p.m. at the
Student Success Center (131 E. Tenth Street).
May 1 Take a break from the end-of-the-semester grind at a study-break
party to fuel your intellectual fire with snacks and drinks at the Student Life
and Diversity House (1257 N. Dartmouth Avenue), taking place throughout
the day.
May 3 Each year, the art department’s MFA students open their studio
doors to showcase their work and their philosophies. Combat your philistine
tendencies and meet the artists behind CGU’s artwork from 11:00 a.m. to
5:00 p.m. in the Art Department building (251 E. Tenth Street).
May 8 GSC end-of-year party (see Event in Focus to right)
May 11–15 Final exam week; don your writing/stressing/crying/thinking
caps.
May 15 Commencement forum on transdisciplinarity and big data. Hear a
panel of experts, and stick around to see the work of CGU students working
at the cutting edge of big data and transdisciplinarity. The forum begins at
4:30 p.m. in Albrecht Auditorium and is followed by a reception for studentresearch winners and poster presentation in the Harper courtyard.
May 16 Last day of spring semester and commencement; congratulations
to the 2015 graduates! Commencement begins at 9:00 a.m. in the Mudd
Quadrangle and will include school-specific receptions for the graduates
following the ceremony. See cgu.edu/pages/4915.asp to find your school’s
reception location. Arrive early to ensure you get seats!
May 18 Summer module 1 classes begin.
May 25 Memorial Day holiday, campus will be closed.
July 3 In honor of Independence Day, campus will be closed.
July 6 Summer module 2 classes begin.
August 31 Summer lovin’ happened so fast, but a new semester begins
today. Shed your summer skin and gear up for fall.
12 Otium cum dignitate
graduate tips
CGU Professor David E. Drew
and the late Professor Paul Gray,
authors of What they Didn’t Teach
You in Graduate School: 199
Helpful Hints for Success in Your
Academic Career, have been kind
enough to allow us to publish one
helpful hint from their book in
each issue. This is so that one day
you don’t raise your fist in the air
and curse CGU for not teaching you
that . . .
19. TO GET A JOB (AND LATER, TO GET TENURE) you will
need references beyond your dissertation committee. Build a
reference pool. That is, identify people who will say nice things
about you. They needn’t be famous or distinguished, but they
should hold impressive titles or be employed at prestigious
places. References from abroad are particularly desireable
since they show you to be a person with some international
reputation in your field.