Since the implementation of our new undergraduate core curriculum in Fall 2017 two new areas of the Core - Integration and DISJ (Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice) - have required further development and growth in our new Core. Each year a small group of faculty are selected to serve as Fellows, forming a community of experts to assist and further develop this area of our curriculum. A description of the two Fellows' programs and this year's esteemed faculty Fellows appear below. Please contact them if you have questions related to their area of expertise.
DISJ Fellows Program (Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice)
As we continue to build our DISJ course offerings in the Core the three new Fellows will assist the current Core Area Representative in working with faculty to align their courses with the various DISJ flags. The Fellows will also be assisting in the WSCUC reaccreditation process, highlighting the diversity related curricular initiatives implemented since our last accreditation.
Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice Fellows
Communication Studies
Antonieta Mercado, PhD
Dr. Mercado is an associate professor in communication and social justice. She teaches classes on Media and Conflict, International Media, Introduction to Media Studies, and Public Relations and Social Movements. Dr. Mercado studies the communication and citizenship practices of Mexican indigenous immigrants in the United States, and how those practices extend to the transnational public sphere, contributing to forms of world citizenship or “grassroots cosmopolitanism.”
Contact: antonietamercado@sandiego.edu
History
Channon Miller, PhD
Channon S. Miller, PhD joined the History Department as a Diversity Post-Doctoral Fellow in Fall 2017 and became an Assistant Professor in Spring 2019. Born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut, Miller received her BA in American Studies from Trinity College in 2011 and her PhD in American Studies from Boston University in 2017. She is an interdisciplinary Americanist and Historian that writes and teaches across various fields including African American History and Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, Critical Race and Gender Theory, African Diaspora Studies, Cultural Studies, and American Studies. She teaches a range of courses on African American History and Women’s History.
Contact:channonmiller@SanDiego.edu
Political Science and International Relations
Karen Shelby, PhD
Karen L. Shelby, PhD, has been teaching at USD since the Spring of 2009, and is the Assistant Director of the Institute for Civil Civic Engagement. She teaches a range of courses including Sex, Power and Politics, Feminist Theory, Comparative Social Movements and Political Theory: Ancient to Modern. Her past research examined Simone de Beauvoir’s engagement with the Algerian War and Beauvoir’s everyday ethics of freedom. Current topics of research build on this notion of an everyday ethics. Work with the Kettering Foundation focuses on the importance of democratic deliberation in creating a robust democracy premised on citizen participation and dialogue. Additionally, research on President Obama’s focus on empathy explores the idea of an everyday ethics of democracy.
Contact: kshelby@SanDiego.edu
Languages, Cultures, and Literatures
Leonora Simonivis-Brown, PhD
Leonora Simonovis, PhD, MFA, has been a member of the faculty since 2007. She teaches courses on Latin American and Afro Caribbean literature and culture, as well as all levels of Spanish language. Her most recent teaching and research interests explore bilingual representations of state surveillance and state sanctioned violence, and how these are documented through a variety of media in the Pan-Caribbean region and its diaspora.
Contact: simonovis@SanDiego.edu
Integration Fellows Program
The Advanced Integration Fellows will be working together to assist faculty in aligning their courses with the Advanced Integration learning outcomes. In Spring 2020 our First Year Integration Fellow will be coordinating a special group of students joining us for the first time in Spring 2020 who will complete their FYI requirements in an accelerated LLC, Inspire.
First-Year Integration Fellows
Communication Studies
Casey Dominguez, PhD
Casey B. K. Dominguez, PhD, joined the USD Political Science faculty in 2005. Her research interests include congressional elections, political parties, campaign finance, and the presidency. She teaches upper and lower division classes on American Politics, as well as an upper division class on research methods.
Contact: caseydominguez@SanDiego.edu
Mathematics
Jane Friedman, PhD
Jane Friedman, PhD, is also the coordinator for the approved subject matter program in mathematic which prepares future high-school mathematics teachers. She has current research projects in voting theory and in statistics.
Contact: janef@SanDiego.eduAdvanced Integration Fellows
Sociology
Julia Miller Cantzler, PhD
Dr. Cantzler was a member of the Integration Area Task Force since its inception and chaired the ATF during its second year. She has been serving as the Integration Core Area Representative on the Core Curriculum Committee for the past two years. Prior to the passage of the new Core, she piloted Advanced Integration through a linked cluster of courses on the topic of Sustainability and has since offered this class as a stand-alone integration course and as a linked course abroad. She has also attended workshops and presented at national conferences on the topic of integrative learning. She has significant experience helping faculty tailor their courses to meet the Integration learning outcomes at both the first year and advanced levels. She is available to provide feedback and help faculty brainstorm innovative ways to incorporate integrative experiences into their courses.
Contact: jcantzler@sandiego.edu
Theology and Religious Studies
Peter Mena, PhD
Peter Mena, PhD, joined the department of Theology and Religious Studies in 2017. A historian of Christianity, with expertise in Christian Late Antiquity, his interests in the literature and cultures of the late-ancient Mediterranean and in contemporary literary and critical theories, has furthered his work in considering Latinx theologies and Chicanx religious identities. He teaches courses in the History of Christianity as well as Catholic Theology.
Contact:pmena@SanDiego.edu
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Economics
Adriana Vamosiu, PhD
Dr. Vamosiu joined the department of economics within the School of Business in 2013. Her main research interests are the economics of higher education and industrial organization, particularly pricing theory, bundling and compatibility issues and. She will be teaching the capstone senior course in her department starting Spring 2020, where the students develop their own research project on a topic of their own interest using real world data. This course is CINT by nature.
Contact: adriana_vamosiu@sandiego.edu