It’s a Dean’s Life Vol. 8

College of Humanities and the Arts

It’s a Dean’s Life
October 2015

Fall has begun, and with this new season comes a sense of excitement around the university and downtown San José.

I know many people around the region are curious about the university’s progress on the Hammer Theatre project. So here’s your update, hot off the presses: our partners at the city have been tremendously helpful in working through the necessary modifications and repairs to get the theatre up and running as soon as possible. We will be returning to City Council soon for final approval of the contract, and we hope to start hiring staff by the end of this calendar year. We are still aiming for a spring opening, and will post updates on the Hammer 2.0 site, where you can sign up for an email distribution list about the Hammer.

The College recently had the privilege of welcoming author Chang-rae Lee to campus. He gave a moving talk as part of the fall series sponsored by our Center for Literary Arts. Under Professor Cathleen Miller’s able direction, the CLA is also welcoming Mark Slouka, Claudia Rankine, and the current Steinbeck Fellows this fall. Don’t miss these amazing, free events!

Professor Robin Lasser has been tremendously active in public art projects. One project, “Our Lives in this Place,” was featured in the Metro and stands as a testament to the power of art to shape and improve communities. Lasser worked with two other artists, Trena Noval and SJSU alumna Genevieve Hastings. This powerful trio reminds us of the many ways our faculty and alumni carry the Spartan legacy out into the world. Along similarly inspirational lines, once again we take off our hats in honor of our Animation/Illustration program, which recently was listed among the Best in the West, coming in at #8 in Animation Career Review.

I am proud that we will soon be welcoming the world-renowned Sphinx Virtuosi to our School of Music and Dance on October 21, 2015, at 7:30 p.m. in the Music Concert Hall. This amazing organization identifies and nurtures the nation’s top Latino and Black classical soloists. This concert represents a tremendous opportunity for our students and our community members, and we very much hope you can join us. You can buy tickets here.

Many of you probably saw the Mercury News article highlighting Professor Gus Lease and his longstanding service to the university. To honor Professor Lease’s tremendous legacy, we are seeking to establish a $65,000 scholarship endowment, a goal that represents $1,000 for every year of Professor Lease’s service at SJSU. If you’re interested in supporting this effort, please visit our College homepage or contact our wonderful new Director of Development, Matthew Taylor Siegel (matthew.taylorsiegel@sjsu.edu).

We recently lost a visionary leader of our community: Martha Heasley Cox (1919-2015) passed away peacefully in September. Professor Cox had the foresight to found a center focused on her favorite author, John Steinbeck. Among its many contributions, SJSU’s Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies nurtures scholars and emerging authors and provides resources for teachers and students of Steinbeck around the globe. You can read an uplifting tribute to this truly generous woman on Steinbeck.Now.

Above all else, the Steinbeck Center provides a touchstone for students, faculty, staff, scholars, and community members to come together around the core values expressed by Steinbeck in his work: a commitment to social justice, access, equity, diversity, and environmental stewardship. In short, Martha Heasley Cox created a center that expresses our core values as people devoted to supporting public education. She also had the generosity and vision to give back to the university that she so dearly loved.

As we continue with the work of educating 33,000 students this fall, Professor Cox’s passing serves as a strong reminder of the power of legacy to do good in the world. With the support of donors, this year we have been able to offer more than $75,000 in scholarships to help deserving students and upgrade some of our facilities to improve educational quality. As you will read in this edition of Expressions, we have much to be proud of in the College of Humanities and the Arts. If you would like to learn more about ways to support our people and our programs, please feel free to contact me directly.

With gratitude,

dean signature
Lisa Vollendorf, Dean

College of Humanities and the Arts
humanities-arts@sjsu.edu