CSUSB CAL Talks

Dr. Girshin earned his PhD in Composition and Rhetoric from Binghamton University. His research focuses predominantly on composition pedagogy, writing assessment, and the rhetoric of exile. His current research project analyzes the rhetorical strategies of Soviet Gulag prisoners in their letters home. Before coming to CSUSB, Dr. Girshin was Assistant Professor of Writing and Director of First-Year Writing at Ithaca College in upstate New York.

Tom is the author of the book published in April 2024: The Creative Argument: Rhetoric in the Real World, with Readings. In this podcast he talks about how he came up with the idea and what he hopes students can glean by having it be a part of their curriculum. 

Both of the links below to order the book feature a two-minute video description by Dr. Girshin. The author knows best!

https://hackettpublishing.com/the-creative-argument-rhetoric-in-the-real-world-with-readings

https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Argument-Rhetoric-World-Readings/dp/1647921651

I know you'll enjoying hearing this captivating interview with Dr. Terry Smith. He's an actor and director, after all! Oh, but that's just a little bit of his story. His education path spanning a couple of decades is quite compelling. Look at this:

Ph.D. Dramatic Critical Theory and Theatre History - University of Washington School of Drama, M.A. Theatre Arts (With Distinction) - CSU, Northridge B.F.A Acting - Virginia Commonwealth University

The interview starts with Terry chronicling his many moves and hotel stays as an Air Force military brat. You'd never expect a swimming pool to be a large part of that story but it is.

And when he talks about his passion for cycling, you'll be wanting to travel along the path with him and his wife, Julie.

Dr. Smith is a treasure in the College of Arts and Letters at CSUSB. How lucky we are to have him as the lead actor in our Theatre Arts Department.

Maxine Van Doren is a linguist and licensed speech-language pathologist. She obtained her PhD in Linguistics from University of California, San Diego. Her clinical and research interests include voice disorders and phonetics. Prior to joining CSUSB, Professor Van Doren was serving as an adjunct lecturer at San Diego State University's Global Campus and Emerson College's Speech@Emerson.

Maxine is an Inland Empire native having grown up in Rialto.

Since her favorite subject is speech it's fun to know that Professor Van Doren is fluent in French.

Folks from the Inland Empire mostly associate Barstow as a stop on the way to Las Vegas. But for Professor Getman, this is her hometown where she began her musical journey. During her time at Barstow High School Jessica became a musician on what instrument - guitar, piano? Listen and find out! It's an extraordinary thing to play.

As a professor, Dr. Getman is a film musicologist, with emphasis in television studies and science fiction media. Her PhD dissertation at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, was on music and social discourse in the original series of Star Trek, and she has recently published a co-edited collection of essays on music in that franchise for the publisher Routledge. She is excited to share her interests in screen media, popular music, amateur music, critical editing, historically-informed performance practice, and twentieth-century American music with her CSUSB students and community. 

During this interview you'll learn about an upcoming program being established by the Department of Music at CSUSB. It is the Music Therapy Program. Jessica is at the helm of this project which debuts in Fall 2025.

In closing, if you or someone you know is a Trekkie, you'll love her information about the musical scores wrapped around this popular television show.

Talk about filling the room with light and energy! Dr. Bibiana Diaz-Rodriguez does exactly that. She'll fill your ears with excitement, too. Bibiana joined Cal State San Bernardino in 2012 and has continued to expand her profile, passion and teaching reach and has recently been promoted to full professor at the most senior level.

Listen as she describes her native Colombia all full bloom of roses and coffee. She takes us down the path of transitioning from college in Colombia to the North America. She spent time in Canada and Michigan but did not find her ultimate landing place until she came to Southern California.

Dr. Diaz-Rodriguez has a great love of the theater and has been able to meld that with being a Spanish Language Professor. It's her perfect mix!

She received a great honor in 2020 by being named CSUSB's Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award for 2019-2020.

There's lots of laughs in this upbeat interview! I hope you enjoy it.

Dr. Mumma is now in his 13th year in the Department of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Letters at CSUSB. He teaches the department's logic courses. His research is in logic and the philosophy of mathematics. He received his PhD from Carnegie Mellon University for a dissertation on the logic of geometric diagrams. He has since moved on to the connection of the logic of elementary arithmetic to counting. John is very athletic in his spare time playing pick-up soccer in his hometown of Claremont.

Alicia Escobedo, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a graduate of the San Diego State University/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders. Her research focuses on typical and atypical language development in bilingual children through community-based research methods. Alicia recently completed her Certification of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology. Her dissertation work was funded by an NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award.

When we get to her hobbies, you'll love what she does in her free time!

Mr. Duffie is an exciting addition to our Department of Art & Design at Cal State San Bernardino. Wait until you hear about his background and work projects before he landed at CSUSB. Very impressive! Rafael graduated with an MFA in Animation & Visual Effects from the Academy of Art in San Francisco. His MFA focus is on 3D modeling and sculpting characters for feature films and video games. Professor Duffie held positions at Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Los Angeles prior to joining our university. Adding to his resume he also worked at The Institute of Creative Technology at the University of Southern California, Research Laboratory as a digital technical artist. Find out what he has planned for our students and campus with a listen to his interview.

Dr. Shafiq Rahman is an esteemed member of our tenured faculty at Cal State San Bernardino. He is an expert in communication studies and has done research, writings and teachings on international communication. He describes his time in his native Bangladesh and the educational path that led him to the United States. It is delightful to hear about his journey from tropical Southeast Asia to the cold, rain and snow of Nebraska. Why did Dr. Rahman chose international communication as his life's work? Find out with a listen to this interview with our Communication & Media professor.

Dr. Julie Taylor is not an idle person! She teaches many courses in Communication & Media with a specialization in Organizational Communication. She is also the Department's Faculty Advisor. In addition, Julie is the Co-Director at The Speaking Center at JHBC (the CSUSB business college).

During our interview you learn about her upbringing in lovely Colorado. Does that make her "outdoorsy?" Listen and she'll go over that fun fact. 

For someone who didn't like school, Dr. Taylor stayed on through her Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral degrees with encouragement from advisors. That's why she believes faculty advisors are crucial to a student's success. And perhaps it's why she was awarded the "Outstanding Faculty Advisor" for the 2023-2024 academic year at Cal State University, San Bernardino. What an honor!

To learn more about Dr. Julie Taylor, here's an excerpt from her bio on her research and teaching interests:

As a teacher and scholar, my role is not that of an expert but one of a guide, mentor, and facilitator. My duties in the classroom are several -- to reveal alternatives; embrace difference and dialogue; engage students and guide them where I can; figure out the tough stuff together, and finally, bring them to a place beyond where I can go with them and give them courage to go there. Journeys in class are therefore infused with three central commitments – rigor, creativity and compassion. To this end, I operate a ‘fully informed’ pedagogy. Students have assignments and evaluation criteria in advance, as well as access to me as a draft reader, learning resource, study skills developer, confidante, mentor, and guide. All work is work in process and progress; however, I believe that every student is capable of producing excellent work if they remain committed to rigor, creativity and compassion.

Broadly, my research interests include organizational communication, discourse, interdisciplinary studies, and gender. One area of research is dedicated to questions of social justice and issues concerning meaningful work for humanity. A second area of research is around interdisciplinary studies with a focus on communication instruction. This research line explores how instructors could be more purposeful and effective teachers in creating life-long learners and critically engaged citizens in various disciplines. In all, my focus is in exploring and conceptualizing ways to make a learning experience more beneficial to students and their world by preparing engaged thinkers.