College of Humanities

Congratulations to the 2020-21 College of Humanities Dean’s Scholar, Tereza Abelian, who will graduate this Spring with a major in Honor’s English and a minor in Business Law.

During her tenure at CSUN, Abelian’s academic excellence served as a solid foundation for a myriad of notable accomplishments. In addition to maintaining a 3.9 GPA for every semester, Abelian worked as a supplemental instructor for freshman English students. The experience of helping others along their educational paths helped to more clearly define her own academic goals. “Looking back, the (supplemental instructor) position taught me how to lead a classroom, cater to various students’ needs, successfully teach critical thinking skills, and the importance of mentorship,” Abelian says. “And showed me that mentoring and serving is truly my passion.”

At the request of one of her Law professors, she also accepted a position on campus as a Business Law Tutor. Capitalizing on the skills developed there, she now volunteers in the Justice Corps program through AmeriCorps in Los Angeles where she provides assistance to self-represented litigants; predominantly those who cannot afford attorneys.

Abelian was awarded the Eva Latif Writing Prize for her essay, “Agency and Labor within I Was a Rat!” The annual prize is awarded to the best piece of writing, critical or creative, by a student on the subject of children’s literature. Professor Charles Hatfield responded to Abelian’s work, saying, “Thoughtful, complex, and elegantly written, the essay pulled together and synthesized various sources with aplomb. It was the kind of essay that Literature teachers long to read and discuss with students: a performance showing care, skill, and daring.”  Abelian was also selected as the 2021 Wolfson Scholar Candidate from the College of Humanities. 

In and out of the classroom, Abelian has an ever-growing love of literature and is also an accomplished artist. The future is undeniably bright for this year’s College of Humanities Dean’s Scholar, and we know that the world will benefit from her drive to succeed and her desire to give back. We are proud to add the name Tereza Abelian to our list of highly esteemed graduates.

Welcome to Humanities

As education becomes ever more focused on professional degrees and vocational training, employers increasingly report that what they seek is not necessarily more specialized degrees but rather people who can think, who can synthesize, who can analyze, and who can apply a broad base of thought to a wide variety of areas. The College of Humanities teaches students to read, write and think. Our graduates are prepared for a 21st-century workforce that advances those who have the power not just to achieve and innovate but to communicate their ideas to an audience beyond their applied field.

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