Highlights

Spotlight on the Humanities Research Fellows

We’re proud to feature the 2008-2009 College Research Fellow, Dr. Rick Mitchell, and the 2009-2010 College Research Fellow, Dr. Nayereh Tohidi. Professors Mitchell and Tohidi have generously agreed to share the details of their proposals with faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the College.  

Project: Anthropology: A Play

Rick Mitchell, Professor of English

Introduction and Objectives

The project that I will complete as a College of Humanities Research Fellow, Anthropology, a full-length play, will be, like my most recent work — Through the Roof (2007) — both topical and research-based. My main objective will be to create a sweeping, epic drama that theatrically examines, through the plight of an anthropologist embedded in Iraq, cultural differences and historical conflicts related to the Iraq War and, importantly, the battle over the control of knowledge. [full text of Professor Mitchell's proposal (.pdf)]

The Women's Movement, Islamism anti Democracy in Iran: A Glocal (Global/Local Perspective)

Nayereh Tohidi, Professor of Gender and Women's Studies

Description and Objectives of the Project:

This research project is about the women's movement under the Islamist regime in Iran and its role in the process of democratization and secularization of the Iranian society. The strategies and tactics of women’s activism in present Iran will be analyzed within the historical and geopolitical context of today's Iran. The socio-political significance of feminism, especially its contribution to and interactions with the broader political culture toward building civil society and democracy will be demonstrated. [full text of Professor Tohidi's proposal (.pdf)]

Recent Funding Successes

Private Foundations:

• The College of Humanities received $35,000 from Oprah’s Angel Network in support of its LSLA Fund (Literacy Scholars for the future of Los Angeles) for academic year 2009-2010. The fund provides stipends to encourage aspiring teachers to enroll in a specialized concentration which educates them in literacy training techniques for at-risk kindergarteners.
• $10,000 was granted by the "1939" Club to sponsor the spring 2009 graduate Jewish Studies course “The Holocaust and Genocide for Educators”.
• The College of Humanities has received $13,000 from the Zimmer Foundation in support of Service Learning in the Jewish Community.

Public Funding:

• CSUN received multi-year funding from the Department of Homeland Security Strategic Language Initiative (SLI). CSUN offers a Summer Russian Language Immersion Residential Program. The program is a six-week intensive for 12 students, with the goal of enhancing their professional language skills for future employment. Russian has been deemed a “critical language” by the federal government.