April 8, 2018
It was a lovely, sunny morning at the Explore CSUN event on April 8, 2018. Vanessa Martinez, Graduation and Retention Specialist for the College of Humanities and the College of Education waits in front of Sierra Tower to greet the crowds of incoming students and their families. Explore CSUN is an annual event organized by the Division of Student Affairs and by Student Outreach and Recruitment. Students who will be joining the CSUN family in the Fall (both incoming freshman and incoming transfer students) visit the campus on a spring Saturday to learn about campus life and resources. Each year, a variety of workshops are offered to get students up to speed on such topics as housing, financial aid, advising, Disability Resources and Educational Services, the student health center and the student recreation center. Students also take campus tours, hear talks on special events and resources in their home department, and learn about other potential majors and minors.
Over the course of the day at this year’s event, Ms. Martinez was joined by College of Humanities faculty Adrián Pérez-Boluda (Chair, Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures), Sharon Klein (Professor, English and Linguistics), Scott Kleinman (Professor, English) and Jackie Stallcup (Professor, English). They chatted with more than 100 students and family members who were so excited to be getting their first look at their new campus. Professor Kleinman welcomed visitors to the College of Humanities Research Lab to discuss the variety of on-going projects, including the Mellon-funded WhatEvery1Says Digital Humanities project. Students who had already declared a major in the College of Humanities were welcomed enthusiastically and given a t-shirt to show off their affiliation proudly, while students from other colleges got to hear all about the benefits of a second major or minor in the Humanities. All of the faculty and staff who participated agreed that it was a fruitful and uplifting day spent with our brand-new students.