CSUSB CAL Talks

So, how many languages does a chair speak when they are the leader of the World Languages and Literatures department? Please listen and find out! It's a very fun interview from start to finish. His life story (so far) has many travels included in it. I found myself quite envious! Starting in Brooklyn and landing in San Bernardino and everything in between is quite entertaining. George takes advantage of our Southern California prime location here in the Inland Empire. You know how they ...

Professor Carlson has a charming way of delivering his background and his stories. His tales read like a captivating short story! And he knows a little bit about reading and writing. Most people from central Massachusetts wouldn't care to find themselves plopped down in the Inland Empire but David found it to be the perfect fit for him and his family. And we here at CSUSB are the better for it. We touched on his life's bits and pieces and they all were a joy to hear. It's quite the variety to...

There is so much I can say about spending time with Professor Ervin but succinctly I'll say one word: enthralling! Growing up in Detroit the theater bug hit her very early. Not many kids know what they want to do with their lives but she did. and you'll hear how she did it and how good she is at it! Her life reads like a bestseller. She dove in big time during her high school career and that momentum keep moving forward. She can do it all in theater but directing is her favorite and it's an...

Philosophy is about the art of living which is what I learned! Something I will always remember from my interview with Dr. Van Tu. She is an expert in and passionate about the ancients. With her gleeful smiling laughter she speaks of her start in studying philosophy which was in high school. You'll hear about her travels from her native Vietnam to Florida and on to Colorado, Michigan and Maine. But what's important here is her landing spot at Cal State San Bernardino. She'll make you w...

Dr. Girshin earned his PhD in Composition and Rhetoric from Binghamton University. His research focuses predominantly on composition pedagogy, writing assessment, and the rhetoric of exile. His current research project analyzes the rhetorical strategies of Soviet Gulag prisoners in their letters home. Before coming to CSUSB, Dr. Girshin was Assistant Professor of Writing and Director of First-Year Writing at Ithaca College in upstate New York. Tom is the author of the book published in Apri...

Maxine Van Doren is a linguist and licensed speech-language pathologist. She obtained her PhD in Linguistics from University of California, San Diego. Her clinical and research interests include voice disorders and phonetics. Prior to joining CSUSB, Professor Van Doren was serving as an adjunct lecturer at San Diego State University's Global Campus and Emerson College's Speech@Emerson. Maxine is an Inland Empire native having grown up in Rialto. Since her favorite subject is speech it's fun...

Talk about filling the room with light and energy! Dr. Bibiana Diaz-Rodriguez does exactly that. She'll fill your ears with excitement, too. Bibiana joined Cal State San Bernardino in 2012 and has continued to expand her profile, passion and teaching reach and has recently been promoted to full professor at the most senior level. Listen as she describes her native Colombia all full bloom of roses and coffee. She takes us down the path of transitioning from college in Colombia to the North Am...

Alicia Escobedo, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a graduate of the San Diego State University/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders. Her research focuses on typical and atypical language development in bilingual children through community-based research methods. Alicia recently completed her Certification of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology. Her dissertation work was funded by an NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Servi...