Breadcrumb
CAHSS Newsletter - April 2025
Congratulations Cutcha Risling Baldy and Kaitlin Reed
In February, both Native American Studies professors received the 2025 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award, which recognizes innovative leaders whose breakthrough solutions to critical state challenges improve lives, create opportunity, and contribute to a better California.
The award of $350,000 was given to the Rou Dalagurr: Food Sovereignty Lab & Traditional Ecological Knowledges Institute to forward their important work on campus and in the community.

Journalism Students Win 26 College Media Awards
Cal Poly Humboldt Journalism & Mass Communication students took home 26 awards after a journalism conference and award ceremonies in Long Beach on March 8, including seven first-place state awards with the California College Media Association (CCMA) and four national awards with the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP).

Giving Day
Cal Poly Humboldt Giving Day is a 24-hour fundraising campaign on April 2 that brings faculty, staff, alumni, donors, friends, and family together in support of our students.
CAHSS groups participating in Giving Day include:
- Sociology Student Research and Community Action Program
- El Leñador
- The Studio School
- Dance Guest Artist
- The Theatre Arts Program
- Solitary Garden (Project Rebound)
- KRFH Student-Run Radio
- Journalism and Mass Communication
- Humboldt International Film Festival
- Environmental Studies Program
- Ballet Folklorico de Humboldt Club
- Cinema Club
- Career Pathway in Archaeology
- Politics Club
- Music Department Scholarship
- Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab
Please take a moment to share some of these funds with your contacts, and consider giving. Everyone's contrinution makes a difference!

Upcoming CAHSS Events
Featured Events
Undammed Exhibition
Presented by the Goudi’ni Native American Arts Gallery
Opening Reception April 3, 4:30-6:30pm
The exhibition, running April 3 - May 17, highlights community members, artists, and activists’ efforts, responding to the Klamath dam removals and the power of continued community action. It features works by Annelia Hillman, Bob Benson, Lyn Risling, Julian Lang, Jackie Fawn, Jaimoe Kibby, and more.

Jennifer Espinoza Poetry Reading
Presented by the Department of English
Monday April 7, 3-5pm in the Scholars Lab (LIB 302) or on Zoom: hum.link/JE2025 passcode 660563
Joshua Jennifer Espinoza is a trans woman poet. Her work has been featured in The Nation, Poetry, the American Poetry Review, Southeast Review, The Rumpus, Poem-a-day at poets.org, and elsewhere. She is the author of I’m Alive / It Hurts / I Love It (Big Lucks, 2019), THERE SHOULD BE FLOWERS (The Accomplices, 2016) and I Don’t Want to Be Understood (Alice James Books, 2024). She holds an MFA in poetry from the University of California, Riverside, and currently teaches creative writing.

12th Annual Hip Hop Conference: Power to the People
Presented by CRGS
April 17 & 18. Featuring keynote speaker Dre T, performances, student presentations, celebrations and more!
Events will take place at Fulkerson Hall, Siemens Hall and the D Street Community Center. See the CRGS website for more information.

Humboldt International Film Festival
Presented by the Film Department
April 24 - 27 at the Minor Theatre in Arcata. Admission is free for all current students!
Over 30 short films from all over the world, plus a talk with visiting guest judges, parties and more.

CouRaGeouS Cuentos Volume 8 Launch
On March 7 at the Goodwin Forum, CRGS celebrated their volume 8 publication launch with a retrospective exhibition, open mic, performances and celebration.
Ryder Dschida
History
On February 28, the Humboldt County Office of Education and the Cal Poly Humboldt History department ran the annual county-level History Day competition on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus. Well over 300 local school children, from 4th grade through high school seniors, present their History Day projects in numerous locations across the campus. The awards ceremony was held in Forbes Gym, where many of the projects were on exhibit for all to inspect. Cal Poly Humboldt has been hosting this event since the 1990s and is the only university that hosts a county-level event in the United States.
Dr. Amy Rock
Geography, Environment & Spatial Analysis
Minding the Gender Gap: Working Toward Parity for Women in U.S. Academic Geography (Mossa, J., B. Dixon, S. Sultana, A. Rock, and B. Kar, 2026) has just been released in electronic format. The latest release from the Status of Women in Geography Project, this piece examines 50 years of gender composition of Geography departments in higher ed, finding that while parity has been reached at lower ranks, female full professors still lag behind, even when compared with other social sciences. A map by Dr. Rock related to this project is currently hanging in Founders Hall outside the Geography Department. (Full article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2026.2621345)
Loren Cannon
Philosophy
Loren Cannon (Philosophy, Applied Humanities) was requested to present his work at the American Philosophical Association's Central Meeting, in Chicago, February 18-21. He presented his most recent essay, "Court of Supreme Contradictions: A Changing Legal Landscape for LGBTQ+ Americans," in the session on LGBTQ+ Philosophy of Law. His latest work explores the relationship between the pro-LGBTQ+ rights rulings in 2015 (Obergefell) and 2020 (Bostock) and how the arguments of several Supreme Court ruling since 2020 together present a much less optimistic picture, especially with regards to broad based social acceptance including the contexts of health care, education, and commerce. This changing legal climate has ramifications for LGBTQ+ persons and our intent to live flourishing lives as well as the stability of the Obergefell and Bostock rulings themselves.












