College of Arts and Humanities
2010 Department Nominees and Awardees
Undergraduate Nominees
Art and Design
Megan R. Bailey
Megan is an artist
and a scholar. She is a dual major, graduating with a
Bachelor’s of Art (Drawing and Painting emphasis) and Biology
(Ecology and Evolution emphasis) with a 3.96 GPA. She has received
numerous awards, some of which are: Patricia Gilles Memorial Award,
the International Travel Scholarship, Smittcamp Family Honors
College Scholarship and the Time Warner Academic Award. In her
creative endeavors, Megan has accumulated a robust selection of art
exhibitions that have shown at the CSU Honors Consortium, Gallery
25 and Phebe Conley Art Gallery. The department notes that
Megan’s service to the university and the community is a
valuable indication of her commitment to being a volunteer.
Communication
Jennifer Ervin
During
Jennifer’s undergraduate studies at Fresno State, she has
maintained a 4.0 GPA while working full time. She was elected
co-President of the student organization, Professional
Communication Association, which she says “has allowed me to
become involved in philanthropic endeavors like Light the Night and
help coordinate numerous fundraisers and volunteer efforts for the
Fresno Food Bank.” For these endeavors, Jennifer was
nominated for the 2010 Student Volunteer of the Year. Jennifer
plans to attend graduate school full time in the fall and to
eventually pursue a doctorate in communication.
English
Cameron Aveson
A native of
Southern California, Cameron moved to the Central Valley in 1994.
His academic career has been rather non-traditional in the fact
that he left school for over a decade before returning in 2004.
Last year one of Cameron’s poems was chosen by Philip Levine,
winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in poetry,
for a most prestigious honor, winner of the Academy of American
Poets competition. He has also received the Larry Levis Prize for
poetry in the spring of 2009. Cameron will pursue his MFA degree in
poetry this fall through the English department’s Creative
Writing Program.
Linguistics
Melissa M. Freeman
Melissa is a
double major, earning her degree in General Linguistics, with a
minor in Japanese, and an International Business Administration
degree. “As a Fresno native, it is very exciting to be
graduating from California State University, Fresno.” She has
been involved with various organizations and cheering on the
Bulldogs as a cheerleader for two years. One of Melissa’s
projects was the Chukchansi Language Revitalization Project: making
teaching materials for the tribal elementary schools and being
responsible for the dictionary that is being made for the tribe.
Currently she is volunteering as an assistant to the director of
Fresno State’s Centennial, ensuring a celebration to remember
for the entire campus. Professor Golston states “Melissa is a
talented and multi-faceted gift to the college and the
community.”
Media, Communications and Journalism
Amanda J. Fine
Amanda Fine is a
mass communication and journalism major with an emphasis in public
relations. An outstanding civic-minded scholar, Amanda was
President of Fresno State’s Public Relations Student Society
of America (PRSSA) Chapter in 2009-2010. She co-founded the
University’s first student-run firm (TALK) last year and is
currently serving as its Executive Director. She is active in
student government as a Justice on the ASI Student Court and has
completed seven semesters of internships for a variety of
organizations. Amanda earned the President’s Volunteer
Service Award for her work with SCORE and has volunteered for the
Susan G. Koman Foundation.
Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
Gonzalo Nava-Perez
Gonzalo
Nava-Pérez grew up in Northern California with a dual
heritage: He is the son of Mexican immigrants, and grew up speaking
Spanish and English, while being part of both Mexican and American
customs and traditions. As the first in his family to obtain a
college degree, Gonzalo has a double major in Spanish and
Sociology. Gonzalo’s will and desire to raise consciousness
and promote social change, following a lesson learned both in
Spanish literature and Sociology courses, has inspired him to work
towards the gradual elimination of inequality. In Gonzalo’s
quest for an improvement in the lives of the underprivileged, he
has heavily invested himself in CAMP and Upward Bound.
Music
Allison Nunez
Allison Nunez is
currently a senior at California State University, Fresno. She is
majoring in Vocal/ Choral Music Education and will be graduating
with a Bachelor of Arts this spring. In her years at Fresno State,
she has worked as the Choral Librarian for a year and as the Choral
Assistant for two years. Along with colleague Emily Broderick, she
helped establish and lead the Fresno State Vocal Jazz Ensemble. She
has also been a member of the Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, and
Opera Theater group at Fresno State. She has traveled with Dr. Anna
Hamre and the Fresno State choirs to Beijing and Shanghai in China
as well as Vienna, Prague and Salzburg in Europe. She is currently
the treasurer of the Fresno State Composer’s Guild. On the
weekends she contributes her musical talents to the local church
Family Word Fellowship. She has earned multiple scholarships
including the Gary Unruh Music Scholarship in 2007 and the Loretta
Anne Price Scholarship in 2009. She plans to pursue a career in
music education as a choral conductor and theater director.
Philosophy
Teresa Johnson
Born and raised
in Porterville, California, Teresa moved to Fresno in 2008 to
attend Fresno State. Teresa's upbringing as a member of a
non-denominational Christian church encouraged her philosophical
side to emerge. Teresa says, "I continue to be enthralled by ethics
(especially bioethics), ancient questions about nothingness, and
issues concerning the nature of God, canon, and the Bible." Arts
are a big part of her life. She enjoys playing the piano and
snapping digital photograhs of nature. Always wanting to be a
professional artist and perhaps illustrate children's books, Teresa
decided in fourth grade that she would rather be the one who wrote
the books. Her goal is to work as a full-time author, with a
special interest in the power of speculative fiction to deal with
the issues and realities of our own world.
Theatre Arts
Matthew McGee
While at Fresno
State, has performed in a dozen theatre productions, designed sets
and puppets for others, and has been recognized for these
achievements, earning many notable scholarships and awards. With
his eye for performance and design, Matthew created his own
business—McGee Entertainment. Through it, Matthew has
designed, built, and produced numerous puppet shows, performing for
children of the central valley over forty times since 2008. In
addition he has produced a series of short Internet films with his
puppet characters, which have garnered fans from all over the
country.
Graduate Nominees
Art and Design
Leslie D. Batty
Leslie Batty is
graduating with a Master of Arts (studio art emphasis) with a 4.0
GPA. Leslie has received numerous awards that include the Graduate
Student Research and Creative Activities Merit Award, the Tokalon
Ina Gregg Thomas Memorial Scholarship, the Provost Scholarship, and
the Artist In Residence from the Fresno MET. Leslie’s work
has been enthusiastically received and has enjoyed a number of
exhibitions that include Fitting the Subject/Object: Graduate
Exhibition, CSUF Grad Student Juried Invitational at the Corridor
Gallery, and A Vision Unfolds at the Fresno Art Museum.
Communication
Hagar Attia
Hagar states,
“As a Muslim American woman of Egyptian decent, education is
a privilege I do not take for granted.” Maintaining a GPA of
3.9 as an undergraduate, she was nominated by the Sociology
department for the Dean’s medal in 2008. At the graduate
level she has been able to maintain a 4.0 while teaching two
classes every semester. In addition to school, Hagar volunteers at
her local mosque by teaching a weekend class. “Staying in
touch with my community is the very reason I am pursuing a
master’s degree in the first place. This degree, and
hopefully a Ph.D. in the future will allow me to represent the
voices of Muslim Middle Eastern women in the academy.”
English
Andrea Mele
Andrea Mele grew up
in Fresno, CA and attended UC Berkeley from 2002-2005, where she
earned her B.A. in English Literature. Her scholarly interests
include women’s rhetoric/lesbian writing, queer theory, genre
studies, and literary theory. Andrea held a two-year Teaching
Assistantship in the First Year Writing Program. In addition to
teaching, she participated in data collection about the
program’s effectiveness and subsequent revision of its goals,
outcomes and curriculum. She has also been a reader for Fresno
State’s Upper Division Writing Exam. Last year, Andrea worked
as an editorial intern for Fresno State’s highly acclaimed
literary magazine, The Normal School, and was contributing editor
for The Jay Z Critical Reader (forthcoming). She led a workshop at
the annual Young Writers Conference and read her own nonfiction
work as part of the San Joaquin Literary Association’s
reading series at Fresno’s Rogue Festival. Andrea hopes to
continue her studies in nonfiction writing in Fresno State’s
M.F.A. program.
English
Rachel Jackson
Originally from
Austin, Texas, Rachel earned her B.A. in English from the
University of Texas in 2001. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa
during her senior year and served as Managing Editor of the Texas
Travesty. In 2004 she married her husband Ross who flies F/A 18
Super Hornets for the US Navy. During her time in the M.F.A.
program she was Editorial Assistant to The Normal School, and
served as President and Treasurer for the San Joaquin Literary
Association. She has helped to plan and organize the Rogue Festival
and the AWP Conferences in Chicago and Denver. “Outside these
roles, I also co-coordinated and publicized numerous literary
events on and off campus, and have been an active performer at
public readings.” Rachel is currently at work on her first
book.
Linguistics
Dasha Victoria Henderer
“My
journey with Fresno State began in Spring 2005 when I took
prerequisite classes for the M.A. in Linguistics.” After a
two-year detour teaching English in the Middle East, Dasha has
successfully completed her master’s degree in Linguistics
with an option in Teaching English as a Second Language. Her
accomplishments include three presentations based on her
master’s project, “Phonological movement in Colloquial
Russian,” in collaboration with Linguistics faculty, Dr.
Agbayani and Dr. Golston. Other awards include a Travel Grant and
the Provost's Scholarship. Dasha’s plans to pursue doctoral
studies and teach. “My deepest gratitude to my loving
husband, Brian Henderer, and my professors: Dr. Brian Agbayani, Dr.
Chris Golston and Dr. Jidong Chen.”
Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
Daniel Calleros Villarreal
Daniel
Calleros Villarreal pursued a career in broadcast journalism, but
along the way became motivated by the social value he saw in
Spanish classes. During the last 7 years, he has been juggling
three activities: working over 40 hours a week, attending school
full time, and devoting time to his wife and two daughters. His
research aims to explore the concepts of ‘otherness,’
cultural hybridism, and the effects that globalization brings upon
subjects. Daniel has been accepted to the University of Arizona,
where he is the Spanish and Portuguese Department’s nominee
for the prestigious Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Graduate
Fellowship. He will be pursuing a Ph.D. in Spanish Literature.
Music
Bryce Cannell
Despite receiving
little training in music as a youth, Bryce worked diligently to
achieve his academic and artistic aspirations. This dedication
resulted in a 4.0 GPA and a mature compositional voice that has
received national recognition. One of his works was selected for
performance at the 2010 NACUSA National Conference in Portland, OR.
Bryce held a Teaching Assistantship in the Department of Music
teaching Music Fundamentals and is currently teaching music theory
to children ages 6-12 at a local music school. At Fresno State,
Bryce co-founded the Composer’s Guild (a student
organization) in 2007 that brought several recognized artists to
interact with music students on campus. “I believe graduate
school is what you make of it, and I can say with confidence that I
have made the most of it.”
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