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School of Arts and Humanities welcomes new faculty

Several new faculty joining university this year

By California State University, Bakersfield

August 30^th, 2022

For the 2022-23 academic year, the School of Arts and Humanities welcomes eight new faculty members, as well as a new faculty member in the Walter W. Stiern Library. Read more about each of the new faculty below.

School of Arts and Humanities welcomes new faculty

Dr. Moisés Acuña-Gurrola, Assistant Professor of History

Dr. Acuña-Gurrola comes to CSUB after having recently earned his Ph.D. at Texas Christian University. He is teaching U.S. history and Mexican American history this fall.

Dr. Acuña-Gurrola is a first-generation high school and college graduate from Corpus Christi, Texas. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in history in 2012 at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. In 2015, Dr. Acuña-Gurrola completed a master’s program at the University of North Texas.

“I am excited to work at CSUB! Although I am new to living in California, there’s a familiarity I feel in Bakersfield and at CSUB that has prepared me to work closely with students from diverse backgrounds,” he said. “I am just as excited to collaborate with my new colleagues who direct their professional focus toward empowering students and enriching students’ university experience.”

Dr. Shaheer Afaqi, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies

Dr. Afaqi is joining CSUB after receiving his Ph.D. in religious studies at Indiana University Bloomington.

His research explores the world of Islamic thought and culture. He studies medieval and modern religious ideas and practices in South and West Asia. Dr. Afaqi is also interested in interreligious relations, particularly Christian-Muslim encounters.

“I am excited to be a part of the CSUB community, where I seek to provide my students with the knowledge and equip them with skills to question and deepen narratives about religion,” he said. “I particularly admire the students’ humility, curiosity and passion for understanding how religion influences the world in nuanced and sophisticated ways.”

Dr. John Chen, Assistant Professor of History

Dr. Chen worked as a lecturer in CSUB’s History Department last school year. This year, he has been promoted to assistant professor of history and is teaching Chinese, East Asian and world history.

“I'm extremely happy to be joining the History Department at CSUB. My colleagues have been exceptionally supportive when I was a lecturer last year and now that I am tenure-track, going out of their way to answer questions and help me feel welcome,” he said.

Prior to working at the university, Dr. Chen held visiting or adjunct positions at institutions including CSU Long Beach, Whittier College and St. Joseph's College Brooklyn. He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2018.

Dr. Chen is a historian of Islam and Muslims in China. He is interested in mobility and complex identities as well as the relationships between religion, race, majoritarianism, and political power.

Dr. Fran Fairbairn, Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Dr. Fairbairn is joining CSUB after working for two years as a visiting assistant professor of philosophy at Colgate University in New York. In the 2019-20 academic year, she worked as a lecturer at Cornell University.

Dr. Fairbairn said she was nervous about moving to California from New York to work at CSUB but has had a great experience so far.

“It is abundantly clear to me that CSUB truly puts its students first,” she said. “The aim at CSUB is to create a place where students can succeed academically This is an aim which all universities surely strive towards, but CSUB strives towards this aim whilst recognizing the real obstacles its students can face and taking steps to assuage the difficulties posed by those obstacles.”

Dr. Fairbairn holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Cornell University in New York as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees in philosophy from Leeds University in England. Her research focuses on the intersection of epistemology, philosophy of science and metaphysics.

Dr. Fairbairn is particularly interested in previous philosophical efforts to define what it means to have a mental illness or disability. She has also studied the benefits of offering higher education in prisons and is interested in how higher education and transform the lives of incarcerated people.

Dr. Matthew Hanne, Assistant Professor of Music

Dr. Hanne’s areas of expertise include music education and choral conducting, with a specialization in the Kodály philosophy of music education. He teaches in summer training institutes for Kodály philosophy at CSUB and at Wichita State University in Kansas.

Dr. Hanne has also taught music at Newman University and the Independent School in Wichita as well as directed the choir at Pleasant Valley UMC. He also directed an all-volunteer community choir called the Wichita Broadway Singers.

“After having taught for several years at the CSUB Kodály Institute, I am familiar with the passionate and talented teachers in the area, and I am so thrilled to be able to do my part to add more musicality to the lives of children throughout the Central Valley,” Dr. Hanne said. “I believe my experience in K-12 education and youth theatre gives me valuable insights to share with the teachers of tomorrow.”

Dr. David Melendez, Assistant Professor of Theatre History and Literature

Dr. Melendez earned his Ph.D. in theatre historiography from the University of Minnesota, where he studied representations of the California missions in literature, theatre and performance. He has taught classes there in theatre and in Chicano and Latino Studies and was a graduate writing consultant at the UMN Center for Writing.

In Minneapolis, Dr. Melendez was a performer in productions for the Penumbra Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, the Guthrie Theater and the Alliance of Latinx Minnesota Artists. He was also an actor in the 2019 short film “Men Among Men” and published research in the Polish Theatre journal “Pamietnik Teatralny” in 2021.

Dr. Melendez is a U.S. Navy veteran and is excited to be back home in Kern County, where he graduated from Rosamond High School.

"I feel at home here at CSUB, and I think it's because people here are so genuine and generous,” he said. “What I love most about CSUB is it is welcoming to first-gen and transfer students. As a first-gen student that transferred to a university from a community college, I know how tough that change can be, and a warm welcome can make all the difference. As new faculty, I am excited to welcome more and more students to a life in the arts."

Dr. Adam Schuster, Assistant Professor of English

Dr. Schuster received his Ph.D. in English from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. His research focused on how race, literature and sound intersected during the Cold War.

While in Madison, Dr. Schuster taught courses in composition and literature and also worked in the Writing Center and with Madison Writing Assistance, which offers writing support to community members through the local library system.

“As someone who actually lived in Bakersfield as a child, I am very excited to return to Kern County and be a part of an institution that is so embedded in the community it serves,” he said. “As an instructor, I’ve always put my students first, and I am very fortunate to work at a university that does the same.”

Dr. Andrea Smith, Assistant Professor of Communications

Dr. Smith holds a Ph.D. in mass communication from Syracuse University in New York, a master’s degree in communication studies from Cal State Los Angeles and a bachelor’s in communication from Cal Poly Pomona.

Dr. Smith’s research examines how social media messages influence audiences’ perceptions of health-related issues. Her research has been published in journals such as Communications Studies, Violence Against Women and Human Vaccines & Immunotherapies.

Dr. Smith has taught at both Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State LA and also previously worked for K.I.T.H. Studios in Santa Monica, where she assisted with researching, booking and writing interview questions for experts in the field of adolescent development.

“I’ve always wanted to return to the CSU system that I’ve long admired for giving me the foundational tools to succeed as a student and educator,” she said. “I was immediately drawn to CSUB because of its vibrant community of diverse students, faculty and staff and its commitment to helping Kern County thrive.”

Luz Villarreal, Temporary Archives Librarian

Villarreal works in the Historical Research Center at the Walter W. Stiern Library and is involved with planning and designing upcoming exhibits with library staff, in addition to providing instruction, reference and research help.

“I've very happy to be back in California and giving back to the California State University system as a faculty member and an academic librarian,” Villarreal said. “The CSU system awarded me my first degree, and I strongly support the model of affordable education implemented at CSU Bakersfield and across the state.”

Villarreal, a San Joaquin Valley native, has worked in a variety of archival positions over the past five years, including in academic libraries, local history museums and academic archives.

Their work in archives includes the arrangement, description and preservation of records relating to anthropology, archaeology, political and internet history. They have worked as a reference librarian and a digital archivist throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Villarreal received their Master of Library and Information Studies and Master of Archival Studies with a concentration in indigenous curriculum from the University of British Columbia in Canada. They earned a bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies from CSU Long Beach.

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Footnotes

Story by Joseph Luiz, writer/marketing and communications specialist; feature photo by Aaron Wan, public affairs specialist for the President's Office

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FootNotes

Story by Joseph Luiz, writer/marketing and communications specialist; feature photo by Aaron Wan, public affairs specialist for the President's Office