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College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

The College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (CAHSS) is an artistic, creative, and intellectual community. It is an equitable partnership of staff, faculty, and students who are devoted to teaching, learning, and collaboration. The many fields within CAHSS provide the greatest breadth for service-learning, creative engagement, and professional opportunity within a diverse and changing society.

Hands-on Experience

Our programs and majors offer many unique opportunities to extend learning beyond the classroom including student performances, studios, laboratories, newsrooms, internships, and more. Hands-on learning enriches the student, the university, and the community, tying academic study to real-world experiences.

fours theatre students acting on a stage

Study Abroad

Studying abroad is an exciting way to enhance an undergraduate experience through exposure to different cultures, languages, and communities. Travel, explore, embrace new environments, all while making progress toward graduation.

group of traveling abroad students

Personal Attention

It’s the difference between sitting through a lesson and playing a role in creating it. Feel challenged by faculty who expand students’ worldview and supported by departments that pride themselves on personalized attention.

students sitting in a circle with a professor

Achievements

Faculty

Rachel Samet

Music

Rachel Samet, Conductor of the Cal Poly Humboldt Choirs, has been selected as the 24/25 Music Educator of the Year by the North Coast chapter of the California Music Educators Association.  Rachel will receive her award at the All-State Music Educators Conference in January.  

Faculty

Eliseo Casiano

Art + Film

Paintings by Assistant Professor Eliseo Casiano are now on view at the Morris Graves Museum Museum of Art in Eureka.  The exhibition - How to Draw Fire - will be open until December 15th. The Morris Graves is open Wednesday- Sunday 12:00 pm- 5:00 pm. 

 

Faculty

Vincent Biondo

History

Vincent Biondo presented his paper "Baseball Religion in the United States" at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in San Diego on November 23, 2024.

Faculty

Gina Tuzzi and Eliseo Casiano

Art + Film

Paintings by Art + Film Lecturer Gina Tuzzi and Assistant Professor Eliseo Casiano are now on view at Lake Tahoe Community College's Haldan Gallery. The exhibition "Troubadours" will be open through December 7th. Go check out these amazing works if you happen to be in the South Lake Tahoe area!

Faculty

Paul Michael Leonardo Atienza

Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies

CRGS assistant professor Dr. Paul Michael Leonardo Atienza publishes “Feeling Failure: Appnography and Its Affective Ties to the Ethnographer’s Life" in a special issue of Ethnoscripts. The special issue considers the impact of dating apps beyond dating, moving past the narrow milieu of intimacy to interrogate their impact across other spheres. Atienza reflects on their research among queer Filipino men in Manila and Los Angeles to examine how feelings of failure permeate various aspects of the researcher’s life, influencing writing, thinking, and self-perception, and his study underscores the enduring nature of these emotions. Open Access at https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/ethnoscripts/issue/view/116 

Faculty

Eliseo Casiano

Art + Film

Paintings by Assistant Professor Eliseo Casiano are now on view at the Morris Graves Museum Museum of Art in Eureka. Casiano's exhibition "How to Draw Fire" will be on display until December 15th. The Morris Graves is open Wednesday- Sunday 12:00 pm- 5:00 pm. 

Faculty

Joshua J. Frye

Communication

Dr. Frye was solicited by the leadership of the National Communication Association in Washington D.C. to provide a case study for the preservation and protection of the foundational course in oral communication in the context of the recent structural and political challenges in California and the CSU for the GE subarea A1 course in the Golden Four statewide requirements. The case study is based on the experience and strategic responses of the Department of Communication at Cal Poly Humboldt and is available on the NCA website as an advocacy resource for disciplinary colleagues across the U.S. facing similar challenges.

Student

Melody Walker

Music

Music Alumna, Melody Walker, has received a Best American Roots Song Grammy Nomination for "American Dreaming" written with Sierra Ferrell.  

Faculty

Gina Tuzzi and Eliseo Casiano

Art + Film

Paintings by Lecturer Gina Tuzzi and Assistant Professor Eliseo Casiano are now on view at Lake Tahoe Community College in the Haldan Gallery. Through December 7th. Check out these amazing works if you happen to be in the South Lake Tahoe area!

Faculty

Michael Bruner, Professor Emeritus, Communication

Communication

Michael Bruner, Professor Emeritus, Communication, recently published in the Journal of Communication and Media Research the article, "A comparative analysis of public discourse in and outside of Nigeria on the right to water."

Alumni Updates

Tim Beals

Geography, 1973

Tim graduated in 1973 with a BA in Geography and was immediately hired by Sierra County, California. Tim and his wife Marcia live in Sierra City (Sierra County) and they have two sons and seven granddaughters, ages three to twelve, all living in Chico. Tim retired in June 2023 after fifty years of public service as a County Official/Administrator overseeing the County Planning and Land Use, Building Inspection, Public Works and Roads, Emergency Services, and Parks and Recreation departments within the County. Now his time is filled with hiking, fishing, travel, granddaughter sports games, wine tasting, concerts, and good friends!

Daniel Gardner

Anthropology, 2013

Daniel completed his Ph.D. in Informatics at UCI in 2021. He served as a Grand Challenges Postdoctoral Fellow at Chapman until June 2024 and now has an appointment as a Lecturer in Computing and Game Design at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, UK. Currently, Daniel's research examines inequitable interactions with digital media and games, and community-driven co-/counter-designs.

Steven Jehly

History, 1974

Steven graduated with a BA degree in History and earned a state Elementary and Secondary teaching certificate. He was immediately hired by the Greater Sitka Borough School District to teach K-8 at a remote logging camp at Corner Bay, Tenakee Inlet, Alaska. He transferred to Sitka after three incredible years. He taught 4th-8th grade elementary and retired from GSBSD in 2001. He took up metal sculpting and in 2005 moved to Orcas Island, Washington.  He likes island life. 

 

Victor Hernandez

Art, 2007

Victor Hugo Hernandez ('07), inventor of the ErgoFlex Desk, is excited to announce the upcoming launch of his Kickstarter campaign for the first AI-powered ergonomic desk. The ErgoFlex Desk, designed to sit, stand, tilt, and glide, was inspired by Victor’s passion for innovative design, which began during his time at Cal Poly Humboldt. After moving back to Southern California to care for his mother, Victor returned to school to refine his idea, leading to a patented design that enhances health and productivity. Recently featured on How I Built This, Victor’s journey showcases the impact of Cal Poly’s hands-on learning approach.

Bradley Sabelli

Theatre, 1970

Sabelli recently was elected President of the Arts Council of York County SC. The second largest in the state. Along with this position Sabelli is a Lead Advocate in the South Carolina Alliance government program. He also is the immediate past president of the Catawba River Art Guild in York County. Sabelli serves as a theatre consultant at  George Washington University where he holds the position of Professor Emeritus. Brad is still active in designing productions for National touring companies and regional theatre companies. In addition, his studio artworks are on exhibition in several east coast galleries.       

Heather Sundblad-Rhoade

Journalism, 2003

Heather Sundblad-Rhoade moved away from journalism and public relations and entered the world of business ownership. She purchased a retail business in August 2022 and has now been the owner and operator of a gift shop - Willow & Ash - in Forest Grove, Oregon, for two years. 2024 has been a year of milestones: She celebrated her 20-year anniversary with her husband and watched her daughter graduate from high school and move on to college to work on completing a degree in welding technology.

Jerry Von Dohlen

Geography, 1998

Jerry helped design, map, and, build the first nationwide wireless internet with Metricom INC. in San Jose, California. Moved back to Humboldt County in 2003 and worked with Center Arts Entertainment (CalPolyHumboldtEvents), the Mateel Community Center on Reggae on the River, and, the Black Oak Ranch coordinating parking and traffic at Pignic, Earthdance, The Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival, and currently Ten Mile Creek Revival.  Currently serving as GIS Coordinator for the County of Humboldt, http://gis.co.humboldt.ca.us, providing data and internships to students with the Geospatial Certificate Program. Coordinator of the North Coast GIS Users Group. e-mail ncgisug@googlegroups.com to join. 

Kenneth Norris

Journalism, 1989

With his beautiful wife of 30 years, TJ, Ken is spending his "gap years" between a 40-year career in journalism and retirement serving in the Peace Corps in Thailand. At a rural South Thailand community, Trang Province, he teaches English to the grade equivalents of American Kindergarten to junior high. Additionally, he is helping train Thai teachers to be better English speakers and teachers, to promote a better understanding of Americans in Thailand, and to promote a better understanding of Thailand to Americans, specifically family, friends, and social media followers.

Ira Goldstein

Geography, 1991

Ira has been a watchmaker for 30 years in Idaho and loves his career although he says he will always be a Geographer at heart.  He resides in Boise, ID. with his wife Barbara (whom he met at Humboldt). He owns Timekeeper Watch Repair & Sales in Eagle, ID.

Harris Fogel

Art Master of Arts, 1982, 1984

Harris Fogel is a staff writer and photographer for Copper Magazine in Boulder, CO. Fogel has authored a monograph called "The Wonder Years 1988–1991, Photographs by Harris Fogel," published in 2017 and revised in 2024, and "Helmut Remiorz, Color 1969–1974, Photographs by Helmut Remiorz,” released January 2023. He presented a lecture on the exhibition "About Who? Andy Warhol" at the Passagen Linköping Art Gallery in Sweden in March 2024. Additionally, he is the publisher of Mac Edition Radio and participated in "Plutonium & Silver - The Atomic Photographers Guild (APG)/Imaging The Nuclear Condition" in Vancouver, Canada, in April 2024. 

 

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