Recent News
Who Were the African Californios? Researchers Uncover California's Untold Black History
Feb 7, 2024
By Larry Peña
When most people think of early California history, they might remember Spanish conquistadors, Indigenous tribes, missions or white American prospectors — but probably nothing about Black people. An interdisciplinary group of Cal Poly researchers is working to change that perception by unearthing the largely untold history of settlers of African descent in early California.
“In a lot of cases, people of African descent have been erased from the historical narrative,” says history professor Cameron Jones, coauthor of the book "At the Heart of the Borderlands: Africans and Afro-Descendants on the Edges of Colonial Spanish America." Jones is leading the project with the help of computer science professor Foaad Khosmood. “It's deep within our history, but no one talks about it. We're trying to reverse that erasure in talking about the American West and California specifically, by helping people understand the importance of these groups.”
In their day-to-day work on the project, Jones and a group of student researchers analyze records from a database called the Early California Population Project, a digitized set of birth, death and baptism records from the first decades of Spanish colonial history in California.
By developing digital tools to analyze early Spanish colonial records, Jones and his colleagues are building resources that will help shine a light on the history of people of African descent among the Californios — a multicultural group of people who populated the region between Spanish colonization and the annexation by the United States.
For example, in the colonial settlement of San Luis Obispo, says Jones, five of the six Spanish soldiers garrisoned there were of African descent. About half of the residents of the early village of Los Angles were Black. The Pico family, whose members included prominent Californio landowners, colonial governors, state senators, and the former owner of the property that became Hearst Castle, had African heritage as well.
Foaad Khosmood (left) and Cameron Jones (right)
presenting their research at a conference on
digital humanities.
A major challenge of the project is that race wasn't explicitly stated in many Spanish colonial records in California. People of African descent were treated as second-class citizens or worse in many other Spanish colonies — but in remote Alta California, where the Spanish government needed colonists to build their empire, race was kept ambiguous by using euphemisms such as "gente de razón,” or rational people.
“The Spanish were more likely to employ people from West Africa and other parts of the continent, to become conquistadors and help explore the New World — and in return those people might be rewarded with land and property and the chance to just live their lives. It’s a very different experience than what many people are used to hearing,” says Jack Martin, a history graduate student who was drawn to this project after taking a course from Jones focused on Afro-Latin American history. “The story that most people associate with the history of Black people in the Americas is connected with the trans-Atlantic slave trade, but that was not always the case.”
The quality of 18th-century colonial record-keeping presents another of the major challenges in the project — one that computer scientists are working to help address.
“We’re working with Spanish colonial records from the 1780s and ‘90s — mostly church parish records where names may have been spelled differently, or entries were recorded decades after the fact,” says Khosmood, who began working with Jones on the project after the two got to know each other through the Faculty Association. “The big challenge is to decide if two people with similar names might actually be the same person, or if two people with overlapping records might be related.”
Khosmood and his students are working to develop programs that can replicate the kinds of decisions and inferences a trained historian might make about incomplete records, and then use machine learning techniques to automate those processes to help fill the gaps in thousands of data points in the historical record.
“Working on this project has shifted what I want to do,” says Evan Witulski, a recent computer science graduate who helped develop those digital tools. “I really love sitting down with an interesting problem and building out a program to fix it. This project helps me get better at approaching tasks and problem solving.”
The project highlights one of Cal Poly’s biggest strengths: a polytechnic community where scholars of different disciplines can come together.
“We are uniquely situated in a place where we can bring liberal arts and computing together to do very interesting projects, and this has many benefits,” says Khosmood. “I'm personally interested in all these things that I'm not an expert on — history, philosophy, narratives. Being able to brainstorm with some of the brilliant faculty in the College of Liberal Arts is very exciting, and I just hope that we can do more of this.”
The next steps for the project will be to develop a publicly available online resource at AfricanCalifornios.org, where historians, researchers, or anyone interested in their family’s history can access records pertaining to Black Californios. The team is also planning to begin gathering stories to flesh out the data, and to work with teachers to develop interactive maps, guides and lesson plans that update the state’s ubiquitous fourth-grade California history courses.
“Part of social justice is to be able to correct the inaccuracies within historical narratives that erase African American communities here in the United States,” says Jones. “We're really hoping that this reshapes the way California history is taught.”
Top photo: An illustration of Juan Garrido, a Black Spanish soldier who accompanied Hernando Cortes on his expeditions in Mexico (left). A photo of Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of California and one of the most promient Californios of African descent (right).
Read the story in Cal Poly News
Rose Float History Blooms on Campus Thanks to a Senior Project
Jan 18, 2024
By Robyn Kontra Tanner // Photos by Joe Johnson
On New Year’s Day, millions of viewers around the world watched Cal Poly universities’ award-winning float, “Shock n’ Roll: Powering the Musical Current,” motor down Colorado Boulevard at the 2024 Rose Parade. Now, Mustangs can soak up some storied flower power on campus — thanks to a senior project that recently livened up a study space in the Julian A. McPhee University Union.
When Kennedy Library closed for renovations in 2023, amplifying a need for more computer lounge space on campus, Rose Float Vice President Collin Marfia saw an opportunity to partner with Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) to reimagine UU 221, also known as the San Luis Lounge.
“It was a sterile white room where I used to get my COVID test done during my first and second year,” Marfia said of the space before its reinvention. “Nobody really wanted to work there, and it was always empty, so we really wanted to push for life in that room.”
Each of the float photos has an ornate frame
that serves as a trophy from the Rose Parade.
Marfia combined his Rose Float know-how with his majors in history, anthropology and geography in a two-part project. For the first part, Marfia started by imagining a “trophy room” where Mustangs could gaze upon decades of float designs and grasp the program’s Learn by Doing legacy.
The vision was grand: photos of every float Cal Poly has built since 1949, a timeline of major program milestones, artifacts from previous generations of float builders, and a primer on the origins of the program.
ASI’s lead graphic designer Rayna Farkas, who is majoring in graphic communication, brought the ideas to life by designing the space and creating renderings of the new décor. She also designed custom wallpaper featuring illustrations of unique flora and a program timeline woven with the ornately framed float photos. The frame itself serves as the universities’ trophy from each parade.
San Luis Lounge now has custom wallpaper designed
by Rayna Farkas featuring floral elements used
on Cal Poly floats.
“We have 74 gold trophy frames that we ran out of space to display in the UU hallway,” Marfia said, adding that photos from the past 20 years had been sitting in storage.
Today, the photos, milestones, and memorabilia snake around the room in a chronological showcase of innovation, with more room to hang trophies from floats yet to come.
In the timeline wallpaper, Marfia chose to highlight float designs that pushed the envelope, like 1982’s “Way Out Welcome,” which marked the university’s first use of fiber optics, and 2014’s “Bedtime Buccaneers,” which included the first use of animated decorations. Cal Poly remains the parade’s only student-built float, and Marfia credits the fearless creativity of students for blazing new trails in front of an international audience.
“A lot of these big milestones — like the first use of hydraulics, the first use of computer-controlled animation — those were firsts for the parade as well, not just Cal Poly,” he explained.
While San Luis Lounge pays tribute to the floats, the second part of Marfia’s project celebrates the students who built them.
The room also houses unique Rose Float memorabilia,
including coveralls donated by alumnus Bob Pettis,
who led the program in the 1960s.
Marfia, with design help and photo restoration assistance from Farkas, created a 120-page coffee table book, titled “The Faces Behind the Floats: 75 Years of Cal Poly Rose Float,” which celebrates the creative spirits and core friendships that sustained the program from its early days to the present.
In addition to hours spent poring over old photos, documents, gas receipts, phone bills and hand drawings in the University Archives, Marfia conducted interviews with alumni and the program’s historian, Thomas Mutch, to assemble a “kind of running oral history” of the program. The process helped him build skills in archival organization and capture the spirit of the program through its artifacts.
“I did a lot of archival research as well as writing to pull all this together,” Marfia said. “I'm very happy with how it turned out.”
Marfia’s early involvement in the Rose Float program centered around construction and hydraulics — helping him learn more technical and artistic skills than he expected to gain as a student in liberal arts majors. In 2023, he was one of four float operators who drove the float in the parade. He calls that experience one of the defining moments of his life.
“It’s the personification of Learn by Doing,” he said of the Cal Poly Rose Float experience. “There are not many other programs that give you that type of experience in student leadership and hands on learning.”
He hopes his work on both the San Luis Lounge and the coffee table book will inspire more people on and off campus to appreciate the legacy of Rose Float. As he begins his last year of Rose Float leadership, he says he will remember the friends even more than the flowers.
“That’s pretty special: putting all these people together from different walks of life and seeing what happens,” he said. “There are so many different personalities merging together into one beautiful piece of art.”
Read the story in Cal Poly News
From Sketch to Stage
Dec 20, 2023
By Nicole Troy
Last summer, fourth-year art and design student Julia Neils and fifth-year interdisciplinary studies student Natalie Rathle spent eight weeks researching, dyeing and sewing costumes for Festival Mozaic productions as part of their Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP+) project.
The project, “Costume Design, Construction, and Implementation for Festival Mozaic productions: Appalachian Spring and The Soldier’s Tale,” marks the first time either student had participated in a SURP+ research project.
“I didn't know that the College of Liberal Arts did any kind of research and I think that's why I looked twice at the email from Theatre and Dance Department Chair Brian Healy,” Rathle said. “This project opened my eyes to what research can look like in the College of Liberal Arts and how it's not just a STEM-dominated area.”
Faculty Mentorship
Natalie Rathle.
Prior to the project, only Rathle had experience in costume design having taken both the department’s beginner and intermediate costume design classes.
To support the students throughout the eight-week project, Theatre and Dance Department Costume Shop Manager Laina Babb and Department Chair Brian Healy acted as faculty mentors.
Babb designed the costumes on paper while the students worked under her guidance to research techniques and build the costumes that were worn on stage.
“Laina was in the costume shop pretty much the whole time that we were in it,” Neils said. “I don't know if I've ever asked a teacher that many questions before. She was so helpful and supportive.”
Babb has worked with Rathle in the costume shop since her first year at Cal Poly and found that teaching students with different experience levels was highly rewarding.
Julia Neils. Photo: Neve Lin
“Working with Julia and Natalie was a great experience, and I don’t know how I would have done it without them,” Babb said. “They both brought their own unique talents and insight to the projects that really made the productions the successes that they were. Seeing how far Natalie has come as a costumer has been a real joy. And while this was my first time working with Julia, seeing her artistic eye and ability to pick up new techniques so quickly was inspiring.”
The Process
The first project the pair worked on was for the ballet Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copeland. Appalachian Spring tells the story of a preacher and the wedding of a young couple in early America.
To create historically accurate costumes from the 1900s, Neils combed through online museum archives in both San Luis Obispo and Atascadero for photos of citizens wearing casual, everyday outfits while Rathle visited the San Luis Obispo Historical Museum and spoke to museum docents.
“I wanted to try to get some basic visualizations of the early 1900s country and what people were wearing out in the fields to work in San Luis Obispo,” Rathle said. “After I got some of that influence going, I was able to focus more research on building the actual body of the dress.”
For the dyeing of the costumes, the students worked to create a “living landscape” of the Central Coast by conveying its crashing waves and rolling hills.
Shibori dyeing process. Photo: Julia Neils
“We spent about a week looking for different dyeing techniques for each of those, and that's when I came across Shibori, which gives this pattern that can look like both waves and grass,” Neils said.
Shibori is a Japanese tie-dyeing technique that derives from the word “shiboru” meaning to wring, squeeze or press.
Using PCV pipe and a piece of string on a needle, Neils rolled the fabric onto the pipe and scrunched it together so the ink would dye in a “random and organic way.” The Shibori-dyed pieces were used to represent the rolling hills and wheat fields.
Ice dyeing process.
Photo: Natalie Rathle
To showcase the ocean, Rathle tested out ice-dying to create the crashing wave effects. Laying fabric on top of chicken wire, she placed a tarp below for the water to seep underneath. She then laid ice on top of the dresses and shook powder dye on top of it. When the ice melted, unique and distinct designs appeared.
For the second production, “A Soldier’s Tale,” the students researched how to recreate historical Russian clothing including specific types of shirts and body warmers.
Creating the historical Russian pieces gave the students the opportunity to use tools from the costume shop that they had never used, or even heard of, before.
Process photo from A Soldier's Tale.
“One of the tools I used for the first time allowed us to put caps onto the boning in the corsets, so there weren’t these pokey metal edges jabbing the actors in the ribs,” Rathle said.
The Show
Dancers performing in Rathle and Neils' dresses
for Appalachian Spring. Photo: Heather Gray.
Choreography: Ryan Lawrence. Set Design: Sommer
Roman. Lighting: Zachary Hubbard. Costume Design:
Laina Babb.
After weeks of hard work, Neils and Rathle got to see their creations live on stage for Festival Mozaics' 2023 Summer Music Festival.
“The biggest impression left on me from this project was the first time that we watched Appalachian Spring on stage. Seeing the dresses in the context that they were designed to be seen in and seeing the translation from working on them in the shop, stagnant, to being onstage and flowing was a great experience. I loved seeing that transformation,” Neils said.
Photo: Heather Gray
Rathle agreed with Neils’ sentiments: “That's one of the amazing things about being a costume designer, or even just making costumes, is that transition period from staring at it in the shop to seeing it on stage with the lights, music and the whole ensemble all together. It feels very much like a success.”
What’s Next?
Inspired from her time on the project, Neils enrolled in a costume design class to learn more about the art.
“This project introduced me to a whole other community at Cal Poly and I’ve become more involved in the Theatre and Dance Department as a whole,” Neils said. “Laina Babb, though she’s not the costume class teacher, was also a big influence into why I chose to take a costuming class.”
Both students agree that the project was a fulfilling experience and encourage students to get more involved with undergraduate research and creative activity programs.
“The experience was just so fun, and more student involvement would help grow the program so that we can get additional creative activity research opportunities for students,” Neils said.
"This program confirmed two things for me: research is possible everywhere and I love costuming,” Rathle said. “I encourage students to keep an eye out for the CLA SURP offerings for next summer. I have a feeling they will further challenge the norms in research and widen opportunities for creative engagement."
Read the most recent CLA News stories
Alumnus Honored for Dedication to Supporting Hispanic Success in Higher Education
Dec 6, 2023
Eyole Mbongo
On Dec. 4, Eyole M. Mbongo (Political Science, '07), senior legislative assistant to Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas's 20th congressional district, received the Outstanding Congressional Staffer Award from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) in recognition of his exceptional dedication to advancing equity in education.
“For the last eight years, Eyole Mbongo has been a vital partner in my work to bring more funding and support to Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and the communities they call home," said Castro. “Over the course of his time with my office, he’s fought to bring hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding back to San Antonio schools and HSIs — helping them chart a path forward through the darkest days of the pandemic and fighting to close gaps in college attendance and completion. There is no one more qualified or more deserving of this award — and I’m grateful to HACU for recognizing the profound impact of his work.”
Mbongo joined Castro’s staff as an intern in his district office while completing his master’s degree in public administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) — one of twelve HSIs serving the city. After graduation, he joined the office as a full-time staffer, working on constituent services and helping federal agencies serve the people of San Antonio. He currently serves as Castro’s senior legislative assistant in Washington, D.C., where he has been a critical advisor in the introduction of several bills and resolutions, including:
- The Hispanic Educational Resources and Empowerment Act (HERE Act), which would authorize a grant program to support partnerships between HSIs and school districts with high enrollment of Latino students to improve college readiness and degree attainment.
- The Advanced Coursework Equity Act, which would authorize a grant program to address equity gaps in enrollment and performance in advanced programs and courses.
- A resolution to designate the week beginning on September 11, 2023 as National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week.
Read the most recent CLA News stories
A Place to Innovate
Nov 16, 2023
By Larry Peña // Photos by Joe Johnston and Dylan Head
This spring, Cal Poly dedicated the newest hub for learning on campus: the William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation. The new interdisciplinary research center features state-of-the-art laboratory and teaching spaces that enhance research and learning experiences for students and faculty in the Bailey College of Science and Mathematics; the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences; and the College of Liberal Arts.
“This cutting-edge facility is an investment in the education and future successes of our students,” said William “Bill” Frost, a biochemistry alumnus whose generous gift made the building possible. “I look forward to this space being used to further enhance the Learn by Doing experiences that define Cal Poly for generations to come.”
The building is the new home for several important university research centers and facilities. The Center for Applications in Biotechnology and the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences have labs in the building. The Food Science and Nutrition Department has essential new spaces dedicated to culinary development, nutrition and food studies, sensory analysis and food safety in the building’s Boswell Agricultural Technology Center, and the Experience Industry Management Department has an Experience Innovation Lab to design unique user experiences. The Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies program has an impressive new facility in the Cashin Expressive Technology Studio.
And surrounding all these labs and research facilities are connected spaces for student collaboration; beautiful new offices for the interdisciplinary faculty associated with the labs; a stunning central atrium and event space where students can lounge and study; a rooftop garden that doubles as a learning lab; and a bright, appealing design overall that draws people together in the process of discovery.
Over the summer, Cal Poly Magazine got a chance to explore some of the center’s cutting-edge facilities and learn about what students will being doing there. Learn more about how faculty and students in the CLA are studying innovative storytelling techniques.
The Future of Storytelling
Student Alyse Murray tests out the studio’s virtual reality gear.
The theater is silent and dark. The sound- absorbent tiles that cover the walls like a sprawling cityscape are barely visible, but they’re doing their job — the room is quiet enough that you can almost hear your own heartbeat.
Suddenly a 20-foot projection screen flares to life with the trailer for a sci-fi blockbuster. Your ears track the motion of the laser blasts flashing past you and spaceships scream overhead as the Dolby Atmos sound system kicks into action, projecting bone-shaking surround sound.
It’s not a Hollywood screening room — it’s a cutting-edge studio dedicated to teaching liberal arts and engineering (LAES) students the latest techniques in immersive audio and visual storytelling, and it’s on the ground floor of the Frost Center.
The space is already slated for lots of student and faculty research over the next few quarters.
Music professor Julie Herndon and computer science
professor and LAES co-director Michael Haungs work
with the studio’s new sound mixing board.
Music professor Julie Herndon and computer science professor and LAES co-director Michael Haungs work with the studio’s new sound mixing board.
Music professor Julie Herndon is using a research grant to develop a new musical interface that allows a performer to generate unique notes and sounds by touching everyday objects around them. The Theatre Department is using the studio’s Wi-Fi-based motion capture system to add live monster special effects to its winter production of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. And a group of students are using the studio’s virtual- and augmented- reality equipment to create an immersive 3D virtual reality experience designed to transport elementary school students from the classroom to an undersea environment off the California coast.
The studio’s assets also include a projection room outfitted with a professional-quality digital projector; digital editing bays set up to handle traditional video editing or more complex virtual reality projects; and the upcoming installation of a customizable lighting grid that students will use to learn professional theater lighting.
But the most important thing the space provides to students is less tangible.
“These kind of production spaces are usually designed specifically for commercial use and are very hard to access unless you’re part of that whole system. You don’t just hand it over to people and let them play with it for months at a time and see what they can come up with,” says professor David Gillette, co-director of the LAES program. “But that’s exactly what we’re trying to create — an open space for students to experiment and try things. The tools are important, but tools are just tools. What they really need is the time and space and the freedom to experiment.”
Learn more from Cal Poly Magazine
Wanna Hear a Ghost Story? Here's Why We Love Them, According to Professors
Oct 27, 2023
As we get closer to Halloween (and bulk-buy candy at Costco and Target), many folks are also dusting off ghost stories to tell at parties, cracking open a Stephen King novel, or frantically Googling which streaming service has their favorite scary movie for a good seasonal watch.
But what draws us to these chilling tales? Cal Poly News spoke to three English professors who have studied horror in film or literature to learn more.
Doug Keesey is a professor of film and literature who has published a book on 21st century horror films. Professor Regulus Allen, who created a course on Gothic monsters, has extensively studied Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” as part of her specialty in British literature from 1660 through 1840. Professor Brenda Helmbrecht is researching the impact of ghost stories in the California missions and will teach a class next quarter on horror and film.
Their answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Why do you think people are fascinated by the creepy, spooky and macabre?
Professor Doug Keesey. Courtesy photo
Keesey: People love horror for different reasons. For some, it’s about taking risks and surviving shocks, a “dare to enter that haunted house” moment: see “Hell Fest.” For others, it’s less about outright terror and more about those pleasurable, spine-tingling moments that come from a slow-building creepiness: see the alien-abduction chiller “Communion,” starring Christopher Walken.
Allen: I feel like there's two main reasons. One is when people are bored and they kind of want something to jolt them into a pleasing state of anxiety.
But then, ironically and inversely, when people are anxious about something, they sometimes like a scary story to help them examine the fears at a distance and possibly manage them. I feel like both of those explanations come into play for Mary Shelley's particular story. “Frankenstein” originated as both a desire to relieve boredom and a way to allow Mary Shelley to work out her anxieties.
Helmbrecht: I’ve had multiple people tell me they like to watch scary movies to relax, which seems counterintuitive, right? But I think that’s because it’s a fully immersive escape from our daily lives, where we’re looking at things that scare us, but there’s not much at stake — whereas in the world around us, there are a lot of things that scare us and so much more at stake. In a weird way, there’s something kind of empowering in knowing that the anxiety and tension you’re feeling is temporary and you know it’ll be over when the movie is done.
Professor Regulus Allen speaks at a reading of
“Frankenstein” at Kennedy Library in 2018.
Courtesy Photo
Different horror movies explore different kinds of social and cultural anxieties — including around gender, race and sexuality. They can help you process things going on in your own life and make it more manageable in a sense — horror films are uniquely capable of portraying our experiences.
What do you think the things we fear in our stories say about the things we fear in society?
Keesey: I see horror as a way of exploring our fears, a place for confronting them and figuring out what, if anything, we should really be afraid of. I define a progressive horror film as one that leads us toward overcoming our fear of difference, enlarging our understanding of and sympathy for “othered” persons. By contrast, regressive horror solidifies old fears and refortifies the boundaries between us and “them,” confirming and even exacerbating phobic responses. Most horror fiction and film are actually some combination of progressive and regressive, since horror is all about blurred lines and ambivalent feelings.
Allen: There are a lot of anxieties of the early 19th century represented in “Frankenstein,” including the predominantly white readership’s fear of the racialized other, since some critics interpret the creature to represent people of African or Asian descent. But we also see climate anxiety: the story was written in 1816, which was called the year without a summer. A volcano in Indonesia, Mt. Tambora, had erupted in 1815 and caused all these climate disruptions throughout the world — the downturn in weather led to lots of crop failures, mass starvation and disease. Geneva, Switzerland, was filled with climate refugees that contemporary accounts likened to the walking dead. You can see how that would inspire something like the creature. This was also an age of troubling technological innovation and experiments with galvanism, which in the book is what animates the collected corpses that become the creature.
Professor Brenda Helmbrecht. Photo by Joe Johnston
There are also personal anxieties: Mary Shelley’s first child was born prematurely in February 1815 and died a month later. As she’s writing this novel, she’s dealing with having lost her child, and a lot of maternal anxiety comes out in the story. “Frankenstein” is very much about what responsibility a creator owes to its creation. It’s a story about parenting, and the source of the monstrosity is that the creature was never sufficiently cared for.
Helmbrecht: We live in a society right now where I think we’re encouraged to be afraid, and there are bad actors out there who are banking on us being afraid of things that are not actually scary. Horror films create a different kind of artificial fear, but one I think we can derive our own meaning from, as opposed to someone else telling us what we’re supposed to be afraid of.
There are great films that deal directly with xenophobia, like “His House,” and Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” addresses racial anxiety very well, and I would argue that a lot of horror films, like “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies,” deal directly with gender and gender representation. There are so many different focal points for fear in our lives, and so many different kinds of horror films. What’s horrific to one person isn’t necessarily horrific to another person, and I think everyone has a specific kind of horror they’re most interested in engaging with. For example, I avoid all slasher films because I’m not in it for the blood and guts. I’m in it for the suspense and for trying to think through my own fears and anxieties in different ways.
Do you have a favorite scary or scary-adjacent piece, and are there any you think everyone should check out?
Keesey: One of my favorite horror films is still the original “Candyman” from 1992. It has a high creep factor, some good jump scares, an iconic performance by Tony Todd, and a score by Philip Glass! It also makes excellent points about race and class, without getting too preachy. I would recommend people watch “Under the Shadow” for its spooky storyline, its strong but fallible female characters, and its unusual focus: religion in Persia. Not only does the film have some good scares, but it leaves you with a better understanding of what it's like to live in another part of the world.
Allen: My favorite spooky story is Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” as you can probably guess. And the reason I connect to it is that when I was a kid, my mom’s favorite movie was Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein.” I saw that movie before I saw the original “Frankenstein” movie from 1931 that it was spoofing. I was just primed to enjoy that story. And when I went to college, and read the original novel, I fell in love with it.
Helmbrecht: It changes constantly for me. I love “The Descent,” “The Witch,” “Midsommar” and “The Relic.” “The Descent” resonates for me because it’s about female friendships at its core. “The Relic” is about three generations of women and how they relate to each other. I think “The Witch” is a gorgeous film and it’s about this young woman who’s placed in a situation where she has no control over her fate and future and she goes to the dark side, which offers her a kind of freedom from social constraints. I still think back to the scene in “Midsommar” where the main character, played by Florence Pugh, is with that group of women after she realizes her partner has been dishonest with her and she’s screaming and emoting. I’ve never seen a scene like that in film, and I thought it was very powerful. But each of the women in these films is dealing with their own identities and anxieties in a way I think people can relate to, with a scary edge to it.
I recommend people watch “The Descent” because I think it's terrifying. It’s about cave exploration, so it hits a lot of marks for me in terms of a claustrophobic setting. It’s dark and you literally don’t know what’s around the next corner, so there’s a fair amount of jump scares that I think are handled really well. But beyond the scares, it’s a complex story about the relationship between friends — and we get to see strong women fight back against the darkness and the creatures who live there.
Read the story in Cal Poly News
Q&A with CLA Lead Academic Advisor Sabrina Canady
Oct 12, 2023
By Nicole Troy
Canady has led the CLA’s team of
academic advisors for more than
a decade.
Each year, National Transfer Student Week (NTSW) is recognized across the nation on the third week of October to celebrate transfer students and support them through their academic journey.
In celebration of NTSW, we sat down with Sabrina Canady (Psychology, ‘07; Master of Science in Counseling and Guidance in Higher Education, ‘08), lead advisor for the College of Liberal Arts’ Advising Center.
Canady shared her experience as a transfer student and gave insight into how she is helping the College of Liberal Arts become more transfer-friendly.
Where did your college career begin and how did you find yourself at Cal Poly?
I went to Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria. I grew up in the area, so it was easy to go to a local community college. I was there for five years and after I figured out what I wanted to do as far as a major, I didn’t know how to get to the next step of actually going to university.
For personal reasons, I needed to stay in the area, so Cal Poly was my only option. All I ever heard was how hard it was to get into Cal Poly, so I took every class I possibly could thinking that was going to help my chances of getting in. And initially, I did not get in.
I had to appeal my denial and petition to get in because I literally couldn't go anywhere else. If I wanted to continue my education, it had to be at Cal Poly.
What was your experience like as a transfer student at Cal Poly?
It was lonely. I think that was partly my fault because I was local and working full-time to pay my own bills and pay for my own college; so, I would go to class and go to work. I didn't engage the way I should have.
But also, looking back now, I don't remember Cal Poly really trying to engage me during summer advising or WOW. A lot of what I saw back then was very freshman focused.
Now, there is the onboarding and orientation of new transfer students, the Cal Poly Transfer Center and faculty-staff advisory groups that are working really hard to address the needs of transfer students. I think it’s so much better, but there's still much more room for growth in that area.
How/why did you navigate into a career of working with students?
Honestly, I stumbled into it. My undergraduate major required an internship, so I ended up doing an internship with orientation programs at Cal Poly, particularly the summer advising program. However, I was doing event planning; and while I enjoyed it, that's not what I wanted as a career. But through that experience I got to see academic advising happening.
I should have known what academic advising was by that point, but I just didn't because I was a first-generation student and my family had that “pull yourself up by your bootstraps and figure it out yourself” sort of mentality.
Once I saw academic advising happening, I was like “That is so cool. I want to do that.” I saw the students go in stressed out and uncertain and walk out relieved. And I thought, “How can I make sure more students feel that way?”
Tell us about your work to make the quarter to semester transition more transfer-friendly.
On a college-wide level, we are working to align our semester curriculum to accommodate associate degrees for transfer (ADTs). ADTs allow students to follow a path at a community college to complete their lower division general education courses and complete at least 18 semester units of a major. When the students transfer, the ADT guarantees them admission to a CSU, and they will only have two years remaining — 90 quarter units or 60 semester units.
This is amazing for so many reasons because we're serving more students, we’re serving more California residents and we’re helping students access a clear and concise degree path.
What are some skills you think transfer students have that will lead to success?
Transfer students are amazing, and they come from so many different paths in life and so many different eras of life. We need to appreciate the life skills and the life experiences that they bring to the table. Not that our first years don't have amazing experiences to bring to the table, but transfers have a unique path that they've been able to navigate and learn from. They have tenacity. It’s hard work to get here and it can be very confusing to transfer.
What advice would you give to transfer students at Cal Poly?
Ask questions and ask for help. Ask the advisors, mentors, faculty and counselors that are there to help you. Don’t expect to do it on your own.
Unfortunately, there are far more of them than there are of us. Proactive advising is not always a realistic option, but as faculty and staff we always work to figure out how to develop more opportunities for that. But it really requires the students to engage with us (and read our emails!).
Any final thoughts?
Every transfer student should check out the events hosted by the Cal Poly Transfer Center. Transfer Center Assistant Director Heather Domonoske has done so much for this campus and these students. I admire the work that has been accomplished there and I hope to continue to work with her on ways to make this campus more transfer friendly.
Join the NTSW celebration and check out the Cal Poly Transfer Center’s event schedule.
Read the most recent CLA News stories
Learn by Doing Research Will Be On Display at the 2023 SURP+ Symposium
Sep 28, 2023
Faculty, staff and students are invited to learn about student research within the College of Liberal Arts by engaging with 15 student-faculty research and creative activity projects completed in summer 2023 as part of the CLA's Summer Undergraduate Research Programs (SURPs). The 2023 SURP+ Symposium will feature more than 100 university-wide projects across five colleges.
The event will be held in the Engineering Plaza, between the Advanced Technologies Lab (No. 07), Bonderson and Building 192 on Friday, Oct. 13 from 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Sophia Velasquez presents her poster at
the 2022 SURP+ Symposium.
Poster presenters worked alongside faculty members and community partners throughout the summer, resulting in student-faculty co-authored publications and university-industry-and-community collaborations.
Students will present their research findings during the event that is jointly organized by the Bailey College of Science & Mathematics, the College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences, the College of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts, the Orfalea College of Business, and the Office of Student Researchin collaboration with LSAMP B2B California Central Coast Community College Collaborative (C6).
Forty-six community college researchers from C6 campuses, Allan Hancock College, Cabrillo College, Cuesta College, Monterey Peninsula College, Moorpark College, Oxnard College, Santa Barbara City College and Ventura College — will share their research as part of this event.
Additional support is provided by the Division of Research and CSU Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) in STEM Program at Cal Poly.
This event is co-located with a Mini Graduate School and Research Opportunities Resource Fair. Light refreshments will be provided.
Stop by anytime between 1:30-3:30 p.m. to support student research and creative activity at Cal Poly. No RSVP is required.
Learn more about the 11 CLA projects that will be on display below.
Art & Design
LGBTQ+ augmented reality wayfinding and identity system for galleries and art museums
Faculty Advisor: Prof. Linh Dao
Student Researchers: Chenin Gelera (Art and Design); Elise Coatney (Art and Design)
Project Description: A queer augmented reality learning system to enrich visitor experiences in galleries and art museums. The experience consists of an identity and wayfinding system which consists of physical signage and a digital archive in the form of a mobile application or website. The experience blends seamlessly into the physical museum settings as part of the traditional project descriptions prints next to artworks on the gallery wall, suggesting related or similar works created by a queer artist and/or about the queer experience. A range of queer artist identities and queer artworks are available in the archive for wayfinding onsite and offsite exploration, reimagining the gallery and museum space which have remained relatively static and lacking especially for queer audiences or those interested in queer artwork.
Communication Studies
Exploring Learning Quality and Challenges in Virtual vs. In-Person Classrooms
Faculty advisor: Prof. Anuraj Dhillon
Student researcher: Kendall Baebler (Communication Studies)
Project Description: Zoom and similar videoconferencing services have become a common addition to professional and educational processes since their rapid implementation over the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although previous research has determined that students’ report greater satisfaction in virtual learning environments, the prevalence of “Zoom fatigue” and decreases in educational success among students engaging in online education offer a contradicting perspective on the effectiveness of virtual classrooms. Therefore, this project aims to examine the factors that contribute to learning satisfaction in virtual classes and how these compare with that in in-person classes, as well as discover potential factors that negatively impact student satisfaction from learning and academic success.
English
Student Writers' Experiences of the Flow State in Academic Writing
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Krista Sarraf
Student Reseachers: Claire Sakelson (English); Claire Chan (English)
Project Description: Have you ever become deeply immersed in a project and lost track of time? That experience is called the “flow state” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). When people enter the flow state, they report generating more and better creative (new and unique) ideas. This research project explores if and how student writers engage in the flow state in the writing they compose for school.
Ethnic Studies
Counter-Mapping as Decolonization: Creating an Indigenous Walking Tour of the Cal Poly Campus
Faculty Mentors: Lydia Heberling and Becca Lucas
Student Researchers: Amy Contreras (Ethnic Studies); Sophie Martyrossian (Computer Science)
Project Description: The goal of this project is to produce an Indigenous Walking Tour of the Cal Poly campus that can be used by a diverse range of campus and community groups. Producing an Indigenous tour of the Cal Poly campus expands on the practice of the land acknowledgment by employing the tools of counter-mapping and Indigenous research methods to center Indigenous presence in our everyday lives. An Indigenous Walking Tour would map the Cal Poly campus by places, artworks, plants, names and histories central to the yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe. By creating this walking tour, we will make visible, amplify, and celebrate living Indigenous traditions and knowledges. Counter-mapping is a process of cartography that challenges the dominant views of the world. It can allow for marginalized voices to communicate their stories and reveal histories of their land. Counter-mapping creates multiple ways of knowing places and lands through diverse cartographic practices.
Graphic Communication
Promoting Inclusivity in User Experience: Updating Paso Robles Children’s Museum’s Photographic Contents with Ethnically Diverse Photographic Assets
Faculty Mentor: Hocheol Yang
Student Researchers: Erika DeAnda (Graphic Communication); Meilan Wong (Graphic Communication)
Project Description: The primary objective of this proposal is to undertake an empirical investigation into the psychological impact of incorporating ethnically diverse photographic assets to foster more inclusive and culturally diverse experiences for the local community. Specifically, this study endeavors to establish the effects of inclusive UX design practices on social presence and self-esteem. By conducting this research, it is anticipated that the findings will inform individuals designing interactive communication systems that cater to diverse cultural backgrounds, while also providing support for the Paso Robles, CA community.
Philosophy
Thought Experiments, Introspection, and Modal Intuitions
Faculty Mentor: Eleanor Helms
Student Researcher: Hayden Macklin (Philosophy)
Project Description: What is the ground or basis for taking something to be possible or necessary? We will review existing proposes in the philosophical literature on intuitions for how we gain “modal knowledge.” We will determine to what extent introspection (that is, knowledge of one’s own mental states) or some kind of first-personal placement within a situation matters for modal knowledge. To what extent does knowledge of modalities depend on experiences stored in memory? Can imagination provide knowledge beyond retrieving existing knowledge?
Removing the Mask: Former Undocumented Student Hopes Sharing Her Background Will Help as Coordinator of the Multicultural Business Program
Sep 11, 2023
By Pat Pemberton
Having grown up undocumented in Guadalupe, Calif.,
Yesenia Beas thinks she will be able to relate and
empathize with students as the head of the
Multicultural Business Program. (Photo: Jack Sann)
As an undocumented child in Guadalupe, Calif, Yesenia Beas was afraid to tell friends or school staffers about her status, unsure whom she could trust.
“I don’t even think my teachers in elementary or junior high really understood the level of stress you would feel even trying to open up to them and sharing your story a little,” Beas said. “Because you think, ‘Is this person going to be supportive or not? Are they going to hurt me, or are they going to help me?’”
While she kept her secret until she was in college, Beas, now a resident seeking citizenship, said she is happy to share her experiences with students as a new academic advisor and coordinator of Cal Poly’s Multicultural Business Program (MBP), which provides students with professional support and resources to help them persist toward graduation.
“All of the identities I carry definitely help in terms of being able to relate to a lot of student struggles,” said Beas, noting that each student will have their own unique challenge. “My hope is that I can gain students’ trust so that they too can open up to me and share things that maybe they wouldn’t share with others so that I can help them out.”
Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Beas and her family moved to Guadalupe when she was five years old. Her father worked as a handyman, and her mother cleaned houses.
“I think Guadalupe is very similar to Mexico in the sense that it’s poorly funded and it’s a very small town with very few people,” Beas said, “which is nice because you kind of get to know everyone in the town.”
While her parents didn’t speak English, they would sit at the dinner table with her and try to help her with homework they didn’t understand. Her school staff was supportive, but Beas was always cautious about revealing too much about herself.
“Your parents teach you when you’re very young, ‘Don’t disclose,’” she said. “’Don’t share with anyone unless you really have to – or come talk to me before you say anything.’”
When her seventh grade class visited Washington, D.C., Beas stayed home, fearing she would be discovered as undocumented and deported. And in high school, she didn’t think she could attend college since out-of-state tuition would apply.
Yesenia Beas, at the Matter Belong Persist Conference,
put on by the Multicultural Business Program last spring.
(Photo: Pat Pemberton)
While the 2011 California Dream Act allowed undocumented students to receive financial aid and pay in-state tuition, many high schools lack resources or training to help eligible undocumented students apply for college. As a result, only 14 percent of undocumented students in the state receive any form of financial aid for higher education, according to the California Student Aid Commission.
Eventually, Beas attended Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, where she and three other undocumented students shared similar stories and decided to pursue a dream center that would support students like themselves. Eventually, AIM to Dream, partially modeled after Cal Poly’s Dream Center, would advocate for undocumented students who want to pursue higher education.
After two years at Allan Hancock, Beas transferred to Cal Poly, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology and then a master’s degree in higher education counseling and student affairs.
“My hope is that I can gain students’ trust so that they too can open up to me and share things that maybe they wouldn’t share with others so that I can help them out.”
YESENIA BEAS
As a transfer student, Beas didn’t feel as connected to campus as her peers who had already attended Cal Poly for a couple of years. And she didn’t always feel she fit in.
If white friends asked her what her favorite TV show was, she didn’t tell them about the Spanish shows she regularly watched. Or if her boyfriend (now husband) picked her up while playing Spanish music in the car, she would hide her face.
“Now it’s really funny, but in the moment, I felt a sense of shame, which I had never felt in my entire life,” she said. “Most of my friends at Cal Poly were white, and I had to put on that mask.”
Spending time at Cal Poly’s Dream Center and the Educational Opportunity Program helped her be her authentic self, she said, as did working as a resident advisor. She would also work as a graduate assistant for the Dream Center before joining the Orfalea College of Business as a graduate assistant in the Career Readiness Center.
At the Multicultural Business Program, she replaces Yovani Alexander, who oversaw the program for the three years.
Yesenia Beas, far right, speaks with volunteers
from the Multicultural Business Program.
Pictured with her are, left to right, Ben Reyes,
Vanessa Leigh Gawad, Alan Villanueva, and
Sheenah Jesubalan. (Photo: Jack Sann)
Alexander said Beas’s passion for helping students from different backgrounds – along with her empathy and understanding — make for an excellent fit.
“She is very kind and giving to those around her,” Alexander said. “Her values align with MBP’s mission.”
Alexander has helped maintain MBP’s strong connection with industry while overseeing increased funding for the program itself.
“It has been such a joy to be part of this community, and I know Yesenia will continue to move the MBP forward,” Alexander said.
While it took some effort to end up at Cal Poly – first as a student and now an employee — Beas said the journey was worthwhile.
“Reflecting back on it now, I think I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” she said. “Because the path I took to get my degree was a really beautiful one, and I learned a lot along the way.”
Read the original story from the Orfalea College of Business
Political Science Student Selected for 2023 Panetta Institute Congressional Internship Program
Aug 24, 2023
By Keegan Koberl
Danielle "Dani" Bello
Danielle “Dani” Bello, a fourth-year political science student from San Carlos, CA, will serve as Cal Poly’s 2023 representative to the Panetta Institute Congressional Internship Program.
After a two-week training period at the Panetta Institute at CSU Monterey Bay, Bello will work in the capitol office of a California congressional representative in Washington, D.C., for 11 weeks in the fall.
“Since my first day at Cal Poly I’ve wanted to embody Learn by Doing and pursue hands-on opportunities, especially in the policy sphere,” said Bello. “I’m excited to learn more about the intricacies of public policy and be in the spaces where the important conversations are happening.
“In my time at Cal Poly, I’ve felt encouraged to seek out opportunities and learn beyond the classroom – I’m excited to bring this mindset to Washington.”
Bello previously interned for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the San Luis Obispo Legal Assistance Foundation (SLOLAF) and the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office.
Bello is the 23rd Cal Poly student to participate in the Panetta Institute program since 2001. She will join 24 other students, all nominated by the presidents of California State University campuses, as well as Dominican University of California, Saint Mary’s College of California and Santa Clara University. The program is open to all academic majors and is recognized as one of the leading internship courses in the nation because of the rigorous training it provides.
The Panetta Institute covers program costs, including course registration fees, campus services during orientation, air travel and housing in Washington, D.C. By covering these expenses, the institute can make the program available to interns from all socioeconomic levels. Cal Poly awardees are supported in part through the Ed and Jan Slevin Congressional Internship Endowment.