Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (RSCA)

What is the intent of this initiative?

The College has made it a priority to set aside funding each year to provide reassigned time, mini-grants, or additional travel support to faculty members engaged in research, scholarship, and/or creative activity (RSCA) that will represent a significant contribution to the profession. The expectation is that, once completed, this work will be peer reviewed according to the personnel procedures of the appropriate department. The goal is to incentivize faculty in the College to carry out substantial projects that raise the visibility and RSCA productivity of the College. Any unique aspects of the projects should be emphasized in the proposal.

What are the awards?

There are three types of MCCAMC RSCA Awards: 

• Reassigned time: typically 3 weighted teaching units but up to 3.9 when that is a typical course for a faculty member; 
• Mini-grant: up to $5,000 and may be used for student assistants, travel to conduct research, materials and supplies, and/or equipment; 
• Additional Travel Support: up to $2,000 for travel needs that go above and beyond what is usually supported.

Who is eligible for these awards?

All probationary faculty in their third year on campus or beyond as well as all tenured faculty are eligible (not including faculty in the FERP program). The rationale for the exclusion from this initiative of probationary faculty in their first and second years is that they are already receiving reassigned time to launch their RSCA agendas.
This reassigned time may be used in conjunction with other awarded reassigned time provided that it is for clearly different work.
Faculty may apply for the additional travel funds for use during a sabbatical semester.
Two faculty members may apply as a collaborative team in which each would receive reassigned time for one course.

For reassigned time, when should the work be accomplished?

A significant amount of the work should be carried out during the semester in which reassigned time is given, though the work may be started prior to the semester and/or completed after the semester is over.

For mini-grant, for what and when should the funds be used?

Awards given should be used in the fiscal year. The college spending deadline is May 30, 2021. Expense items may include student assistants, travel, supplies & materials, rentals, equipment (excluding printers), editorial contracts, or other categories appropriate to the research. Please note that the awarded funds may not be used for hospitality, food, and payments of salary to faculty members.

For travel support, when should the travel take place?

Awards given may include travel in the summer, fall, spring and summer. For any summer travel, eTravel Travel Approvals must be completed by May 30 (no retroactive approvals)

Who will decide who gets the awards?

The Department Chairs or their designees will serve as the review committee, although they will not have a vote when reviewing applicants from their own departments. Their rankings will serve as a recommendation to the Dean.

Additional Requirements

Faculty receiving an award will be required to submit a short activity report including peer reviewed outcomes early in the following semester and present their work at a college research colloquium.

MCCAMC Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Awards for 2024-2025:

• Daniela Gerson (Journalism) – Reassigned time to support project “My Father, A Dreamer” short radio documentary
• Liviu Marinescu (Music) - Reassigned time to support project “In Rhythm, A Composition for Percussion Ensemble and Electronics”
• Jose Luis Benavides (Journalism) – Mini-grant to support the film project “Hope and Dignity: The Farmworker Movement”
• Melissa Wall (Journalism) – Reassigned time to support project “Gender, Social Media and Mis/disinformation in Southeast Asia”
• A.J. McCaffrey (Music) – Mini-grant to support the recording project “Murmurations and Doppelgänger: New Recordings of Original Works for Chamber Ensembles"
• Melissa Tindage (Communication Studies) - Reassigned time to support the study “Memorable Messages as Motivation for Student of Color Success”
• Kristin Taylor (Art & Design) – Reassigned time to support the art project “Expanding The Art Education ColLab: Mentoring to Reduce Art Teacher Attrition in California

MCCAMC Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Awards for 2023-2024:

• Aimee Carrillo Rowe (Communication Studies)— Reassigned time to support publication project “Decolonization Across Communication Contexts”
• Paula DiMarco (Art & Design)— Reassigned time to support exhibition design project concerning histories of LGBTQ Latinx communities in LA at the Museum of Social Justice
• Peri Klemm (Art & Design) — (Mini-grant to support the film project Siique: Oromo Women’s Scepter of Power
• Elizabeth Leister (CTVA)— Reassigned time to support the art installation project The Sybil Prophecies
• Sun Lin (Communication Studies)— Reassigned time to support the publication project The Business of Mediated Nationalism
• Dmitry Rachmanov (Music)— Mini-grant to support recording project of music by 20th Century women composers from Russia and Ukraine
• Tina Raymond (Music)— Mini-grant to support Divinations recording project

MCCAMC Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Awards for 2022-2023:

• David Blumentrantz (Journalism) - Participatory Photography Project to Empower Girls Experiencing Urban Poverty in Kibera, Kenya
• Daniela Gerson (Journalism) - Travel and research for Zamosc, a migration memoir
• Candice Greathouse (Art) - Portraits of Imelda Marcos, A Documentary Project
• Julia Heinen (Music) - "Fantasy Voices in White I" - Solo Recitals of Divergent Composers using Fantasy at the 2022 European Clarinet Festival
• John Kephart (Communication Studies) - Violence Against Women and the Limits of Acceptable Protection: Public Arguments Over Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act
• J'aime Morrison (Theatre) - Bodies of Water - an Experimental Documentary Film
• Kristin Taylor (Art) - CSUN/CSULB Art Education ColLab: A Mentoring Community of Practice for Beginning Visual Arts Teachers
• Melissa Wall (Journalism) - Misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories: Rethinking journalism as social practice art to reach audiences
• Meiqin Wang (Art) - Two Cases of Eco-Public Art in Taiwan

MCCAMC Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Awards for Spring 2021:

• Elizabeth Leister (CTVA)—Beatrice
• Alexandra Monchick (Music)—Reviving Non-Canonical Opera after #MeToo

MCCAMC Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Awards for 2019-2020:

• David Blumenkrantz (Journalism)—Homeless Initiative Phase III
• Patsy Cox (Art)—Japanese Ceramics In Context
• Aimee Carillo Rowe (Communication Studies)—A Long Walk Home: Decolonizing the #MeToo Movement
• Melissa Wall (Journalism)—Social Inclusion and the Information Practices of Syrian Armenian Refugees
• Samantha Fields (Art)—Solo Painting Exhibition at E.C. Liná
• Stephanie Bluestein (Journalism)—Book Project: The Newspaper Career of Agness Underwood (1902-1984)
• Yue Zheng (Journalism)—Can Artificial Intelligence Change Journalism Research?

Additional travel funding:

• Lynette Henderson (Art)—Presentation of “Teaching from the Left: Visual Literacy and Social Transformation in the 21st Century” at the Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society
• Julia Heinen (Music)—“Oceans and Earthquakes: Forever Sounds” — Solo Recitals of California Composers at ClarinetFest and the European Clarinet Festival

Awards from the University’s RSCA competition:

• Paula DiMarco (Art)—Emergency Preparedness Guide App for the Los Angeles Fire Department
• Owen Doonan (Art)—Creating an interactive VR historical interface with the city of Sinop, Turkey
• Monica Gallegos (Communication Studies)—Examining the Impact of a Faith-based Parenting Program in a Women’s Prison: Implications for Relationships and Health
• Liviu Marinescu (Music)—Guiseppe Guarneri Reinvented: A Sonata for Violin and Electronics

Reassigned Time

• Bernardo Attias (COMS): Revisiting Morse v. Frederick: Student Speech Rights in a Rhetorical Frame
• Melissa Brough (COMS): Ethical Design for Whom? Amplifying Underrepresented Youth Voice for Equitable Digital Technology Design.
• Patsy Cox (ART): Dunhuang Residency Dissemination.
• Jinah Kim (COMS): Nuclear Entanglements: The Military Imaginaries of US-Korea in the 21st Century.
• Jessica Retis (JOUR): Immigration and Mobility in the Digital Age: Asian Latinos in the remapping of the Transpacific area.
• Melissa Wall (JOUR): Precarious Connections: Syrian Refugees Navigate Displacement.
• Meiqin Wang (ART): Voice from Below: Socially Engaged Art in Contemporary China.

Travel Support Awards

• David Blumenkrantz (JOUR): Intangible Cultural Heritage Documentary, China.
• Julia Heinen (MUS): “On That Note”—Solo Recitals of American and American-inspired works at ClarinetFest and the European Clarinet Festival.
• A.J. McCaffrey (MUS): Visiting Artist Residency at Scola de Música Superior de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain (new work for Ensemble FUNKTION).

Release Time Awards

• Bernardo Attias (Communication Studies) – Rhetoric, Work, and the “Traffic in Women”
• Marcella DeVeaux (Journalism) – The Great Migration: Digital Documentary Storytelling
• Alexandra Monchick (Music) – Second Dance: Second Chance: Musical Prolongations and Broken Narrative in Adaptations of The Great Gatsby
• J’aime Morrison (Theatre) – Mourning Surf: Dancing on Waves of Grief
• Michelle Rozic (Art) – Cast Dimensional Prints

Travel Support Awards

• Larry Biederman (Theatre) – The Sisyphus Project
• Hillary Miller (Theatre) – Playwright Interviews for Playwrights in TV: Stages Transformed
• Meiqin Wang (Art) – Voice from Below: Socially Engaged Art in Contemporary China

Release Time Awards

• A.J. McCaffrey—Completion of commission for the Argus String Quartet
• David Blumenkrantz—“One of Us: Documenting and Advocating on Behalf of the Homeless Population of Los Angeles”
• Jose Luis Benavides—“Border Voices”
• Melissa Brough—“Low Income Parents’ Strategies to Promote Digital Learning”
• Aimee Carillo Rowe—“Settler Colonialism and Cultural Studies”
• Jinah Kim—“Unruly Dead Across the TransPacific” (funded by the CSUN RSCA Competition)
• Liviu Marinescu—Conventions and Disruptions: A Study of Parallels and Intersections between Music and Politics in the 2016 Presidential Election Campaign (funded by the CSUN RSCA Competition)
• Mario Ontiveros—“The Great Wall of Los Angeles: Judith F. Baca’s Experiments in Collaboration and Concrete”
• Melissa Wall—“Journalism in Digital Spaces”

Travel Support Awards

• David Grewe—“The Club Nobody Wants to Belong To”
• Julia Heinen—“Promoting the Art of the Clarinet Worldwide”
• Andrew Surmani—“Inclusion of Music Industry Studies in the K-12 Music Curriculum”

Release Time Awards

• Stephanie Bluestein (Journalism) – Journal article on Agness (Aggie) Underwood
• Patsy Cox (Art) – 74th Scripps Ceramic Annual Curating Project
• Samantha Fields (Art) – Solo Exhibition at the Museum of Art and History, Lancaster
• Dave Keating (Communication Studies) – Clearing the Air: Developing Persuasive Message Strategies to Promote a Smoke-Free Campus
• A.J. Kim (Theatre) – World Theatre Handbook: Interweaving World Theatre and Performance Cultures
• Liviu Marinescu (Music) – Contradictions: A Composition for Violin and Electronics, followed by local and international performances
• John Whitener (Music) – Mongolian and Chinese Public School Music Education Practices

 Travel Support Awards

• David Blumenkrantz (Journalism) – Intercultural Communication Research/Photography in China
• Peri Klemm (Art) – Travel to Ghana to Conduct Exhibition Research and Attend a Conference
• Jessica Retis (Journalism) – Asian Latino Diasporas in Global Cities

Reassigned Time:

• Ben Attias (Communication Studies). “Appropriation as Argumentation in Electronic Dance Music Cultures."
• David Blumenkrantz (Journalism). "Humanizing Homelessness: Portraits and Personal Stories."
• Amy Carrillo-Rowe (Communication Studies). “Queer Xicana: Performance, Affect, and the Sacred."
• A.J. McCaffrey (Music). Here Come the Waterworks for viola, piano, and electronics.
• Ali Monchick (Music). “'Undertones of Overtones’: Paul Hindemith and Proto-Spectralism,” a chapter for the Oxford Handbook of Spectral Music
• J’aime Morrison (Theatre). “Choreographing in the Curl: Dance, Movement and Evolutions in Surfing Style." 

Travel Support Awards

• Julia Heinen. “All that Jazz!” A solo recital of American works for the Clarinet at the 6th European Clarinet Festival.
• Lynette Henderson. Interdisciplinary Collaboration at Moneague College, Jamaica.
• Melissa Wall. “Syrian Refugees in Canada: The Role of Media in their Integration."

Reassigned Time

• Melissa Brough, Comm Studies. Youth, Power, and Participation: Forging Participatory Public Culture in the Digital Age
• Pasty Cox, Art. Urban Rebutia at Long Beach Museum of Art.
• Jinah Kim, Comm Studies. Postcolonial Grief and the Afterlives of the Pacific Wars in the Americas. 
• A.J. McCaffrey, Music. Doppelgänger for two pianos.
• Alexandra Monchik, Music. Designing a Research Methods Course for the Graduate Student in Music Performance.
• Jessica Retis, Journalism. The Handbook of Diasporas, Media and Culture. 
• John Whitener, Music. Music Teacher Training and Public School Music Teaching in Mongolia and China. 

Travel Support Awards

• Marcy DeVeaux, Journalism. Oral Histories of the Great Migration into New England.
• Julia Heinen, Music. The Black and Silver Screen: Hidden Gems from Hollywood.
• Liviu Marinescu, Music. International Musicology Symposium and Masterclasses
• Jeanine Minge, Comm Studies. Implementing the Cultural Archive Project with the Floating Doctors and the Ngabe Tribe in Panama.
• Melissa Wall, Journalism. Communication Practices and the Syrian Refugee Crisis.

• Ron Borczon, Music, "Music Therapy: A Fieldwork Primer”
• Eric Edson, CTVA, “More Story Solutions: 16 Plot Forms for Creating Great Heroes”
• Gina Giotta, Comm Studies, “Author(iz)ing the Gase: Fashion Blogging, Media Authorship, and the Boyfriend Photographer”
• Ah-jeong Kim, Theatre,  “A New World Theatre Textbook by Rutledge”
• Jeanine Minge, Comm Studies, “The Cultural Archive Project: The Ngabe Tribe and the Floating Doctors”
• J’aime Morrison, Theatre,  “Written in Dust: Translating the Words of John Fante’s Ask the Dust into Dance”
• Mario Ontiveros, Art,  “Beyond Reflection: Unflinching Criticality and the Transformation of Self-Portraiture”
• Aimee Carrillo Rowe, Comm Studies, Queer Xicana: Performance, Affect, and the Sacred”
• Larry Stoffel, Music, “CSUN Wind Ensemble CD’s Projects”
• Scott Sturgeon, CTVA, “Bushed, a Half-Hour Comedy Pilot for Premium Cable”
• Steve Thachuck, Music, "Annotated Works Catalogue of Reginald Smith Brindle (section of Book)”
• Melissa Wall, Journalism, “Citizen and Mobile Journalisms: Reimagining the Field”

• Patsy Cox, Art, 3D Software for Printing Art
• Owen Doonan, Art, Publications related to the Sinop (Turkey) Regional archaeological Project
• Mario Ontiveros, Art, The Great Wall Institute of Los Angeles at CSUN's University Art Gallery
• Christian Tedeschi, Art, Telegaph-Tin Can Transmissions: 10 years in the making
• Meiquin Wang, Art, Urbanization and Contemporary Chinese Art
• Bernardo Attias, Communication Studies, Cultural Hybridity and Commercial Opportunity: The Politics of Location in Electronic Dance Music Culture
• Jose Luis Benavides, Journalism, "Spanish-Language Newspapers," bibiiographic article for publication in Oxford University's Press's Oxford Bibliographies in Latino Studies
• Ron Borsczon, Music, Investigation, classification and analyzation of images generated from a specific music program in order to find constants within the images based upon the style and instrumentation of the music
• Julie Heinen, Music, Something Borrowed, Something New (a broadranging series of performance for piano and clarient)
• Dmitry Rachmonov, Music, Something Borrowed, Something New (a broadranging series of performance for piano and clarient)
• LIviu Marinescu,  Music, Bent: A Composition for Piano and Electronics, Followed by an International Concert Tour and Recording
• Alexandra Monchick, Music, "Achtung, Aufnahme!!! and the Elegy to silent Film"
• Steve Thachuk, Music, Engraving & Publishing Recently Discovered Guitar Works of Reginald Smith Brundk

• Patsy Cox
  Art 3D 
  Project Title -- Printing and its potential applications for artists

• Scott Sturgeon
  CTVA 
  Project Title -- Exiled In The Land of the Free: A History of Oren Lyons and the Iroquois

• Melissa Wall
  Journalism 
  Project Title -- The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Mapping Communication Needs