Author Archives: Melissa Anderson

October 2018 Newsletter: Beethoven Center Celebrates Rare ‘Score’ with Concert

The Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies and the School of Music and Dance celebrated its acquisition of a rare first edition of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony that contains a personal inscription from the composer himself to Antonie Bretano with a performance of the piece at the Hammer Theatre Oct. 6. Incoming Director of the Beethoven Center Dr. Erica Buurman started the event with a pre-concert lecture at 2:30 p.m., followed at 3 p.m. by a performance of the piece by the SJSU Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Director of the School of Music and Dance Dr. Fred Cohen. The score and several other items will be on display Oct. 8 through Dec. 15, Monday through Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays, from 1 to 5 p.m., in the Beethoven Center, Room 580, in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library.

SJSU was able to bring this extraordinary musical artifact to campus after Patricia Stroh, curator and interim director of the Beethoven Center, learned that the first edition was part of a private collection. Working with the American Beethoven Society, SJSU’s Beethoven Center launched a fundraising campaign and purchased the item, bringing the score permanently to San Jose in September 2018.

The piece is especially important because the inscribed score directly relates to an original manuscript letter in SJSU’s collection from 1817; it has a handwritten inscription that translates as “For my highly esteemed friend Antonie Brentano from the author,” the woman who is beloved to have been the composer’s “immortal beloved”; and this particular score was previously unknown until the private owner contacted the Beethoven Center. The inscription has been authenticated by Beethoven Scholars and was vetted by a well-established music antiquarian.

Video: Engineering Students Gain Global Perspective on Technology

It’s a fun, intense, fascinating three-week multi-cultural experience across the Pacific that can change a San Jose State University student’s life. Students who traveled on the Global Technology Institute’s summer 2018 trip to Taiwan kicked off the Charles W. Davidson’s College of Engineering’s Silicon Valley Leaders Symposium on September 13 with a pitch to attract 2019 participants.

The program aims to educate college students on issues of the global economy, technology,energy and the environment while also providing them with a research or entrepreneurial experience. The most recent cohort shares highlights about their lectures and seminars at Chung Yuan Christian University in Jungli, Taiwan, as well as their cultural immersion. Students visited Taiwanese companies and government facilities, art museums, amusement parks, aboriginal villages, night markets and national scenic areas.

Watch the student’s presentation, videos of recent speakers and view upcoming lectures on the Silicon Valley Leaders Symposium website.

Study Finds Tech-Savvy Students May Still Lack Cybersecurity Sense

Abbas Moallem

Abbas Moallem

By David Goll

Though HCI, or the study of human-computer interaction, is widely offered at dozens of American universities, its application in the rapidly growing field of cybersecurity is far less studied, understood or even recognized. Abbas Moallem, an adjunct professor in the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering’s Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, is on a mission to sound the alarms and raise the profile of the human component in cybersecurity through his undergraduate and graduate courses.

In the middle of the world’s high-tech hub, Moallem regularly surveys swaths of college students to help him research the issue of public awareness of online privacy, cybercrimes, cybersecurity and the importance of user knowledge of those issues. Silicon Valley tech companies hire more SJSU graduates than students from any other university so awareness of cybersecurity is especially pertinent to graduates.

Moallem said because there are no large-scale studies determining the level of HCI/cyber security awareness in the general public, his 180 students provide an excellent sample audience. About one-third exhibit a strong familiarity with the subject.

“It’s very hard to sample a large swath of adult consumers, so my students provide lots of information,” he said. “They’re a young, tech-savvy demographic group.”

The early results of his surveys found that despite their ease with using technology, students have a relatively low HCI/cybersecurity consciousness and don’t always practice “safe” online behavior.

“We must do more to educate students and the larger population about the importance of cybersecurity and its human element,” he said. “Most organizations, whether private companies, public agencies or universities, still approach cybersecurity from the technical side. And there are lots of technical solutions out there. Human factors is still not considered anywhere near as important as technical concerns and solutions. There’s a huge disparity in the amount of money most organizations spend on technical solutions over HCI solutions.”

Moallem recently edited a book, Human-Computer Interaction and Cybersecurity Handbook that provides insight into how understanding human factors could change how companies invest their resources in what is currently a $101 billion industry. Moallem’s book will be among the dozens of works recognized during the annual Author & Artist Awards, Nov. 2, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., in the Grand Reading Room on the eighth floor of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. The gathering is sponsored by the library, the SJSU Office of the Provost, the SJSU Office of Research and the Spartan Bookstore.

“Cybersecurity has become such a key issue and not only from a coding and technical point of view,” said Jacob Tsao, associate dean of the Extended Studies in the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering. “The focus needs to be on the human role played in cybersecurity, but there is still so much more time and money spent on the technical level.”

 

Faculty Early Tenure and Promotion: David Schuster

David Schuster Photo Credit: Karl Nielsen Photography

David Schuster
Photo Credit: Karl Nielsen Photography

David Schuster

Early Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor

Years at SJSU: 5

Department: Psychology

RSCA focus: How complex sociotechnical systems support or hinder people, with a particular focus on decision making among cybersecurity professionals

Associate Professor David Schuster received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program Award in 2015 that is helping to fund his research on human cognition in cyber defense. In 2017, he received SJSU’s Early Career Investigator Award, and he has co-authored more than 30 papers in journals, edited books and conference proceedings. He manages the Virtual Environments, Cognition and Training Research Lab, in which he has mentored almost 50 students.

“Seeing students present their research is always a great moment,” he said.

Schuster is a co-investigator on an NSF-funded technology pathway program that led to a minor in computer programming for College of Social Science majors and is also co-advisor for the Human Systems Integration minor.

“There are so many opportunities for interesting, important and lucrative careers in my field but sometimes they are in unexpected places,” Schuster said, noting that students should “keep exploring the field and learning about the diverse research being conducted.”

Note: Congratulations to the 43 faculty members who received tenure and/or promotion for 2018-19. We have invited each faculty member to participate in a series of posts profiling their teaching, service, and research, scholarship and creativity activities. Those faculty who opted to participate will be featured throughout the fall semester on the Academic Spotlight blog and the digital sign in the Administration Building lobby.

Faculty Tenure and Promotion: John Delacruz

John Delacruz

John Delacruz

John Delacruz

Tenure and Promotion to associate professor

Years at SJSU: 6

Department: Journalism and Mass Communications

RSCA focus: High-impact learning and teaching strategies, experiential learning spaces, service learning and mentorship, specifically focused on pedagogy as it relates to creative disciplines.

Associate Professor John Delacruz balances his scholarly research on learning and teaching in creative disciplines with his own creative work in photography and printmaking. He has published articles in print and online journals such as the Mentoring Society, the Journal of International Higher Education Teaching and Learning, and Design Incubation.

In his advertising courses, he brings environmentally-focused small businesses and nonprofits into the classroom so students can work with them on developing campaigns and storytelling. The highlight of his time at SJSU is seeing students at the beginning of the process unaware, or having little engagement, with the environmental issues and at the end of the semester realizing that they work they do with clients has a real impact on the world.

“Be curious—about everything,” Delacruz advises students. “Be interested—in everything. Read, listen, learn, discuss all manners of subjects—from current affairs to tech to science to soap operas. Explore the world outside your comfort zone.”

Note: Congratulations to the 43 faculty members who received tenure and/or promotion for 2018-19. We have invited each faculty member to participate in a series of posts profiling their teaching, service, and research, scholarship and creativity activities. Those faculty who opted to participate will be featured throughout the fall semester on the Academic Spotlight blog and the digital sign in the Administration Building lobby.