Cal State San Bernardino is the third CSU to offer a disability studies minor, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to learning how to center disabled voices, experiences and perspectives. Students can begin registering on April 28, and the launch will be marked by a public talk on Sept. 8, featuring Elaine Hall, founder of The Miracle Project.
Jess Block Nerren (communication studies) was interviewed about The Cognitive Collective on campus, Mahmood Nikbakhtzadeh (health science and human ecology) will be a guest speaker at a meeting of the ACS San Gorgonio chapter, and Mark Agars (psychology) coauthored a study about supporting workers with chronic illnesses.
Jess Block Nerren (communication studies) was quoted in an article about the opening of the new neurodiversity space at CSUSB called “The Cog,” a place available to anyone with or without autism, ADHD, anxiety, dyslexia and other ways of experiencing the world differently.
The grand opening of The Cog will be celebrated on Feb. 5 from 10:30 a.m. to noon in CSUSB’s John M. Pfau Library.
Jess Block Nerren ’21, full-time lecturer in communication studies and former interim faculty director of CSUSB’s Services to Students with Disabilities, was named the first Faculty Inclusion Fellow for Disability, Difference and Accommodation.
Jason F. Reimer (psychology) co-wrote a paper on a tool measuring how people concentrate, Jess Block Nerren (communication studies), Becky Sumbera and Shannon Sparks (education), J. Chad Sweeney (English) will participate in the public reading of a new book on Feb. 2, and Stuart Sumida (biology) reached a milestone as a film consultant.
The book, which includes several CSUSB contributors, explores the scholarly research related to autism inclusion, disability inclusion, disability studies, communication, critical scholarship, education, education reform and educational leadership.
The new film “Comm Studies ¿Qué es Esto?” which explores questions families may have about the communication studies major in a bilingual film format, will premiere Wednesday, April 13, at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 16, at noon. Register at the film’s Eventbrite page.
After graduating in spring 2020 with a B.A. in communication studies, Elena Johnson joined several other CSUSB alumnae at NASA, where she works for the storied NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base as a public affairs specialist.