2012 Department Nominees and Awardees
Undergraduate Nominees
Art and Design
Jackie Aldern
Jackie Aldern
will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art with an
emphasis in Drawing and Painting. A Smittcamp Family Honors College
Scholar and participant in the College of Arts and Humanities
Honors Program, Jackie has been twice awarded
an Ina Greg Thomas Memorial Scholarship in Art. She has
participated in Fresno State’s South Pacific Semester in New
Zealand and Australia, and with the CSU Summer Arts Program. Jackie
taught dance through programs at Buchanan High School and
Northwest Studio for Ballet, and helped expose at-risk youth
to the arts through the San Joaquin River Parkway’s River
Camp at Owl Hollow. She currently is a member of the dance troupe
for the Fresno Dance Collective (NOCO) and serves as its visual art
collaborator and design consultant. After graduation
Jackie plans to continue her work as a visual and performing
artist.
Communication
Elizabeth Drione
Known by family, friends, and professors as someone who does not take the easy route, Elizabeth has worked to bring success to all students. Her goal is to give back to
the communities and schools that have helped her achieve a 4.0 GPA, multiple honor society memberships, and the first of many conference presentations. Elizabeth is President
of the Professional Communication Association and through her leadership she has worked to build a floundering club to its full potential and contribute to the education of all communication majors by hosting faculty forums.
Elizabeth has received a tuition waiver and full funding for teaching in the Communication Department at
the University of Colorado, Boulder while working on her master’s degree. She also plans to earn her Ph.D.
English
Grant Dempsey
Grant Dempsey
has pursued interdisciplinary studies in literature, philosophy,
and the Sanskrit language. He has represented Fresno State at
several conferences, including an international graduate conference
at Columbia University in which he was the only
undergraduate presenter. As a participant in the College of
Arts and Humanities Honors Program, Grant is developing a thesis
primarily on the subject of narrative, in which he responds and
contributes to important conversations in humanistic scholarship,
and the ethics of reading. Grant articulates fascinating and
productive questions about literature, and in response to these
questions, constructs theoretical frameworks that yield evocative
analysis and open further possibilities for interpretation. He has
the rare capacity to discuss complex matters with clarity,
seriousness,
and grace. In the future, Grant plans to do doctoral work in
Comparative Literature.
Linguistics
Jessica Harmon
Jessica
Harmon will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics
with an option
in Interdisciplinary Language Studies. She will have
completed minors in Classical Studies and Anthropology. Jessica is
a Smittcamp Family Honors College Scholar and is
a participant of the College of Art and Humanities Honors
Program. As a participant in the Linguistics department’s
research project to document and revitalize the Chukchansi
language, Jessica’s College Honors thesis is based on her
original research about conjunctions in the Chukchansi language.
She is an active volunteer with the Bulldog Pantry and the Chaffee
Zoo. Jessica has been accepted into three Ph.D. programs in
Linguistics - Ohio State, USC,
and Stanford!
Mass Communication and Journalism
Lucerito Salgado
Lucerito
Salgado is a first-generation Latina student who will graduate with
a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication and Journalism with
options in Broadcast Journalism and Public Relations and a minor in
Spanish. Lucerito’s College of Arts and Humanities Honors
Program project included the founding of ¡Motívate!
Society of Latino Motivators Club that, under her leadership,
produced a highly acclaimed motivational conference for
underrepresented high school, junior college, and university
Undergraduate Students of Distinction students titled,
“¡Motívate! Discover Your Passion for
Success.” Lucerito holds the title of Nuestra Belleza
Oaxaqueña 2011 and has earned a Certificate in Co-Curriculum
Leadership through her strong commitment to serve the community.
She completed several internships, has written articles for
newspapers and television, has recorded many oral histories, and
volunteered for several non-profit organizations. Lucerito has been
guided by Gandhi’s famous philosophy: “YOU must be the
change YOU want to see in the world.”
Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
Melinda Leigh Murray
Melinda Leigh Murray will graduate with two
Bachelor of Arts degrees; one in French and the other in Music. She
also completed the College of Arts and Humanities Honors Program.
She manages her own recording studio, and has participated in more
than forty local dinner theatre productions and operas, has acted
in several industrial films, and has voiced thousands of
commercials. So important was completing her education, Melinda
managed to finish both B.A. degrees with honors while being
a wife and a mother of three teenage girls, working one full-time
job, six part-time jobs, and taking care of her mother. Leigh
speaks French flawlessly, hosts Sunday Baroque for Valley Public
Radio, enjoys performing at the Rogue Festival, plays the flute and
the viola de gamba, and has produced and recorded a CD of American
Carols titled Appalachian
Christmas with her three daughters.
Music
Bradley Rutledge
Bradley
Rutledge will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music with
an option in Music Education: Instrumental Music Education
Emphasis. He is the President
and Co-Founder of Fresno State’s Phi Mu Alpha
Sinfonia, senior class representative for the Smittcamp Family
Honors College’s Honors Council, and a member of the Board
of Directors for the Fresno State Wind Orchestra. Bradley is
the French Hornist for the President’s Quintet and performs
with the Fresno State Wind Orchestra and the Fresno State Symphony
Orchestra. He also performs frequently with the Kings County
Symphony
Orchestra and the Tulare County Symphony. Bradley is also an
active volunteer in the community,
currently focusing his efforts in bringing music to schools,
convalescent homes, and children’s hospitals.
Philosophy
Joshua Stein
Joshua will
graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy. Joshua was
part of the effort to start the Jewish Studies Association and
become its first President. He also serves as President of Fresno
State’s Brain Trust, the current incarnation of the Fresno
State Brain Trust, the current incarnation of the Fresno State
College Bowl Team, and is Vice President of the Philosophy Club and
is a member of the College of Arts and Humanities Honors Program.
He has organized a
number of events, including two student panels. Over the
course of three years, Joshua has distinguished himself in having
presented six different papers at undergraduate conferences - an
extraordinary academic achievement! Joshua plans to pursue an M.A.
and a Ph.D. in philosophy researching neuroscience and philosophy
of mind.
Theatre Arts
Fumihiro Kikuchi
Fumihiro
Kikuchi is an international student who took his first ballet and
modern dance class when he arrived from Japan in 2008. Fumihiro
will graduate with a Bachelor
of Arts degree in Theatre Arts with an option in Dance. In
addition to performing with the University Dance Theatre, he has
performed at the Rogue Festival, Art-Hop, and in professional
performances of Central Valley Dance Festival’s productions
of the Jungle Book and Sleeping Beauty. Fumihiro has choreographed
solo and duet pieces for the University Dance Theatre and an
ensemble piece for the Contemporary Dance Ensemble.
He volunteers at Traver Elementary School where he teaches
dance and creative movement to children
as his way of making a positive social contribution.
Fumihiro plans to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance to
further his career goals as performer, educator, choreographer, and
artistic director.
Graduate Nominees
Art and Design
Hazel Antaramian-Hofman
Hazel
Antaramian-Hofman will graduate with a Master of Arts degree in Art
with an emphasis in Art History. She is the recipient of numerous
grants and scholarships including
the Adolf Odorfer Art Scholarship, the Ina Greg Thomas
Memorial Scholarship, a Graduate Student Research Merit Award, and
a scholarship from the Armenian Studies Program. Hazel interned at
the Getty Museum where she contributed to the documentation of a
medieval manuscript. Hazel has presented papers at many state and
national conferences, including the College Art Association (CAA)
and the Middle East Studies
Association and has published two scholarly articles on her
research. She was selected to CAA’s Students and
Emerging Professionals Committee. Her master’s thesis
examines the iconography of a medieval Armenian
miniature painting that involved extensive research of
textiles and the socio-political position of women in
the Near East. Hazel plans to pursue doctoral studies in art
history as well as continuing to make art in her
studio.
Communication
Leticia D. Williams
Leticia
D. Williams will graduate with a Master of Arts degree in
Communication.
She is a California State University McNair Scholar, a
Fresno State Center for Scholarly Advancement of Learning and
Teaching (CSALT) Graduate Research Fellow, a Graduate Equity
Fellow, a Teaching Associate for the department of Communication,
and
was elected a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.
Leticia’s master’s thesis is an analysis of media
portrayals of First Lady Michelle Obama. As a female student of
color, an interest in culture and communication has always driven
Leticia’s education, and plans to enroll in a doctoral
program in Communication.
English
Andre Yang
Andre
Yang will graduate with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.
The eldest child of Hmong refugee immigrants, Andre grew up
struggling with the English language
and was the first in his family to attend a university. He
is a Philip Levine Scholar, a Kundman Fellow, was awarded a Ucross
Residency, and has attended various national writing conferences.
Andre co-founded the Hmong American Writers’ Circle, which
aims to develop a Hmong literary culture. His poetry is
published in journals such as Beltway Poetry Quarterly and Lantern
Review, and he aspires to an academic career teaching comparative
literature at a university.
Linguistics
Huda Ahmed A. Al Taisan
Huda
Ahmed Al Taisan will graduate with a Master of Arts in Linguistics.
She has actively engaged in volunteer work and is scheduled for a
research presentation at the linguistics colloquium in May 2012.
She is an elected member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. Since she
was 16 years old, Huda dreamed of making a difference and changing
the misconceptions about Saudi women. She has faced many challenges
as a Saudi married woman, a mother, and a Muslim, and attributes
who she is today to her studies at
Fresno State. Huda plans to further her studies in a Ph.D.
program.
Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
Abélica Durán
Abélica
Durán completed her Master of Arts degree in Spanish and is
currently pursuing
doctoral studies in Spanish Literature at the University of
California, Davis. While at Fresno State, Abélica was a
member of the Spanish Student Association and elected to membership
in the Golden Key International Honor Society and Phi Kappa Phi.
While at Fresno State, she volunteered with the Student
Support Services Program, and continues to volunteer for the
Anynesworth Preschool Program and the Head Start Home Base Program.
Abélica’s master’s thesis explores various
genres of Spanish poetry
and Spanish-American narrative through critical theory,
feminist theory, and post-colonial theories.
Music
Michael Downing
Michael
Downing will graduate with a Master of Arts in Music with an option
in Instrumental Performance. Michael is a regular member of the
percussion sections of the Sacramento Philharmonic and the Stockton
Symphony. He is also the Director of Percussion at University High
School. This Spring, Michael was featured as a soloist with the
Stockton Symphony in the world premiere of Avner Dorman’s
double percussion concerto Uzu and Muzu from Kakaruzu. He is an
active member of the Percussive Arts Society, and participates in
many of the California chapter events.
