Meet the 2023-24 EPIC Community College Faculty Fellows

Daniella Graves

Associate Professor of Sociology, Ventura County Community College

Daniella Graves is a first-generation college graduate and daughter of Mexican immigrants. She has had 14 years of experience in higher education—filling both administrative and academic roles. For the last seven years, she has taught sociology at Ventura Community College, recently earning tenure. Daniella has an academic background in sociology and organizational leadership. She earned both a B.A. and M.A. in sociology (from UCLA and CSUN, respectively) and a Ph.D. in organizational leadership from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. When she is not working, Daniella enjoys running, yoga, and spending time with her family.

Project: Global Foodways and Practices: Bridging Societal Structures and Personal Experiences

My project examines the impact of international systems on food practices. To do so, I develop a two pronged-approach which explores how larger socio-historical global forces shape current societal food patterns, while also looking at food as a vehicle for negotiating personal identities. Together, these findings will help develop a deeper understanding of the influence of food pathways on community and individual practices. Ultimately, this project aims to cultivate an awareness that food is both a fundamental human right and a means to better comprehend global systems.

Yunteng He

Chemistry Instructor, Central Community College

Dr. Yunteng He is a chemistry instructor at Central Community College in Kearney, NE. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Oregon State University, along with a graduate certificate in college and university teaching. Yunteng has been committed to developing innovative teaching strategies to improve student learning and engagement. His work has led to talks and workshops at several national and international education conferences, with papers published in Journal of College Science Teaching, College Teaching, and The Teaching Professor. He is also a board member of the American Chemical Society-Nebraska section and the recipient of the League Excellence Award for Innovation in the Community College. He enjoys playing basketball and Rubik’s cubes.

Project: Cultural Elements in Chemistry Education: Implementing Stories from Different Cultures into Chemistry Curriculum for Enhanced Diversity and Inclusion

I plan to blend stories from different cultures into college-level chemistry courses to bring cultural elements into science education and to engage students with diverse backgrounds in chemistry. This project aims to engage a diverse group of students, including historically underrepresented students and female students, in chemistry education to promote diversity and inclusion in STEM fields in general.

Julie Jenkins

Professor of Anthropology and Global Studies, Foothill College

Julie Jenkins is a full-time faculty member at Foothill College in anthropology and global studies, and is currently the faculty chair of the Global Studies Program. She received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Sussex and her M.Sc. in anthropology and international development from the London School of Economics. Her teaching and research interests include religion, contemporary forms of slavery, gender inequality, international development and aid, and visual and media representations. As a community college instructor, Julie is passionate about building authentic learning moments where students feel empowered in developing a broader understanding of global interconnections.

Project: Building a Globally-Minded Community

This project will explore global issues that require interdisciplinary perspectives and collaboration to anchor a global studies community and identity, especially global issues that bridge STEM, humanities, and the social sciences. The goal of the project will be to create an interdisciplinary network of students and faculty who are interested in global issues and perspectives.

Denise Maduli-Williams

Associate Professor of English and ELAC, San Diego Miramar College

Dr. Denise Maduli-Williams is an associate professor of English and ELAC (English Language Acquisition) at San Diego Miramar College teaching online, hybrid, and in-person. She earned her M.A. in TESOL from Teachers College, Columbia University, and her Ed.D. in educational leadership through the Joint Doctoral Program at the University of California San Diego and California State University San Marcos, where her research focused on factors of connection and social presence for students of color in online community college courses. Denise has had the privilege of teaching English and ESOL for over two decades in various settings including a California prison, a village in Botswana as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and New York City public high schools. She finally found her home in community colleges, teaching at Harold Washington College in Chicago and the City College of San Francisco. In addition to her faculty position, she has also served as the Online Faculty Mentor, Online Accessibility Mentor, and Faculty Evaluations Coordinator. Denise deeply believes accessible, equitable, humanized online experiences support student success and is absolutely delighted with the future of educational technology.

Project: Empowering Multicultural Learners: An Online Toolkit for Creating Accessible Learning Environments with Universal Design for Learning and Online Accessibility Practices

The project aims to develop a framework that will support ESOL community college students with disabilities by utilizing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Online Accessibility Practices. The overarching goal is to ensure that both online and in-person courses are accessible to the global student body; therefore, increasing student accessibility, engagement, and success. I plan to develop an online toolkit of resources and strategies that consider disability in online experiences. This toolkit can be used to support online accessibility for multicultural students in a variety of educational settings and modalities.

Saburo Matsumoto

Professor of Mathematics, College of the Canyons

Born in Kobe, Japan, Saburo (“Sab”) Matsumoto came to the U.S. as a high school student. After earning his Ph.D. in mathematics at Michigan, Sab became a researcher in geometric topology in Australia and Japan before returning to the U.S. to be a full-time professor. At College of the Canyons (COC), Sab has served as a curriculum committee member, an academic senator, department chair, and an SLO coordinator. He also helped COC win the prestigious National Bellwether Award in 2021. Recently Sab compiled an OER textbook on liberal arts mathematics. He is now involved in various comprehensive internationalization projects on campus.

Project: Global Views and Practices in College Mathematics Education

Various countries have different ways of teaching mathematics, significantly informed by what their educators believe about mathematics, teaching, and students. In my project I will pursue how these beliefs influence the way mathematics is taught around the world, with the goal of developing specific internationalization strategies to be implemented in mathematics courses in community colleges. This may include re-examining course content, particularly in courses like liberal arts mathematics and statistics, reflecting on pedagogical practices in the U.S., and developing student activities such as international collaborative projects.

Kelly Metz-Matthews

Faculty, English as a Second Language, San Diego College of Continuing Education

Dr. Kelly Metz-Matthews is faculty and assistant program chair in the English as a Second Language Department at San Diego College of Continuing Education. In addition to teaching in the field of English-language acquisition, Kelly has taught across the disciplines of rhetoric, academic writing, and teacher education. She is a proud alumna of the U.S. State Department’s English Language Fellow Program and an erstwhile San Diego Area Writing Project Fellow. Kelly’s research centers on collaborative and participatory writing practices, language ideologies in multilingual contexts, and the intersections of language, gender, and symbolic power.

Project: Internationalizing Second-Language Communication: Redesigning an Adult ESL Conversation Course

This project leverages elements of critical applied linguistics, intercultural communication, and cultural responsiveness to redesign an intermediate/advanced ESL conversation course. The course will engage students in speaking and listening activities that connect to their experiences as immigrants in U.S. contexts and to their unique experiences outside of that context. With the realities of linguistic imperialism and linguicism in mind, the course will utilize authentic listening materials from English speakers across the globe, highlighting World Englishes rather than promoting certain Englishes as being of inherently more value.

Lauren Movius

Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Santa Monica College

Lauren Movius is an associate professor of communication and media studies at Santa Monica College. She received her Ph.D. in communication studies from the University of Southern California and M.Sc. in global media from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research interests include global communications, international regulation, and the impact of mass media on society. Prior to teaching at SMC, Lauren was a visiting assistant professor at USC and taught in their study abroad program in England. Lauren is passionate about teaching and assisting her students in their academic and professional growth.

Project: International Media Flows

This project will develop innovative curricular materials to implement in the Global Media Studies course. I will develop new course modules and case studies on various topics in global communication studies, including the topic of international media flows and how developing countries produce and export media products globally. The broad goal of the project is for students to gain a deeper understanding of different cultures and global issues, thereby helping them to become global citizens.

Ted Preston

Professor of Philosophy, Rio Hondo College

Dr. Ted Preston is a professor of philosophy at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, California. He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from UC Riverside, his M.A. in philosophy from CSU Long Beach, and his B.A. in both philosophy and psychology from Claremont McKenna College. His original professional focus was ancient philosophy, but he has shifted attention to political philosophy and the philosophy of social justice. In addition to his passion for philosophy as a way of life, Ted is a life-long martial artist.

Project: Introduction to Philosophy: Global Perspectives

This project seeks to go beyond increasing the diversity of voices consulted in the “great conversation” of philosophy by centering historically neglected and under-utilized philosophers and traditions from Asia, the African diaspora, and the Americas. A new online course will be created and designed according to the OEI rubric, and made available on the CVC Exchange for all interested students.

Kevin Sherman

Professor of Cinema, City College of San Francisco

Kevin Sherman is a media scholar and producer who specializes in documentary and ethnographic film/video. His films have screened at over 50 international festivals including Visions du Réel, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, True/False Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, and AFI Docs. His co-production Give (with director David de Rozas) was nominated in 2019 for an Emmy for Outstanding New Approaches: Documentary and won the 2019 Full Frame Jury Award for Best Short. Give is distributed by PBS/POV. Sherman is co-producer of The Blessings of the Mystery, a multimedia video installation project by de Rozas and Carolina Caycedo. Blessings was the Film/Visual Art Summer 2022 exhibition at Ballroom Marfa and exhibited as part of the Elaine Dannheisser Projects Series at the MoMA in New York in Fall 2022.

Project: The International Cinematic History of Underrepresented People (1890-1950)

The "International Cinematic History of Underrepresented People (1890-1950)" is an open-source curricular unit that highlights the neglected early cinematic history of marginalized people. The database includes hundreds of clips from overlooked American and European filmmakers alongside world cinemas that most film history textbooks neglect such as Latin America, India, Asia Pacific, and Africa. All clips will originate from the best possible sources and will include ADA compliant captions.

Jane Le Skaife

Professor of Sociology, Sierra College

Dr. Jane Le Skaife received her Ph.D. in sociology at the University of California, Davis in 2013. Her doctoral dissertation involved a cross-national comparison of Vietnamese refugees in France and the United States. She had spent significant time in each of her research sites as well as Vietnam prior to conducting 130 in-depth interviews for her doctorate. As a daughter of Vietnamese refugees and also a former English as a Second Language (ESL) student, Dr. Skaife is very passionate about equitable instruction and has been applying equitable practices in her own courses ever since she started teaching. She is the recipient of the statewide 2023 Hayward Award for "Excellence in Education" in California and is currently teaching sociology and ethnic studies at Sierra College. She has also taught at the University of Tampa and University of California, Davis. Her research interests include international migration, racial and ethnic relations, Asia and Asian America, globalism and transnationalism, and sex and gender.

Project: Globalizing Asian American Studies

My project seeks to globalize the curriculum for Introduction to Asian American Studies in ethnic studies. These courses tend to be Americentric by design. However, my project would demonstrate the benefits of including perspectives beyond the United States by pursuing a trifold approach: 1) incorporating literature on Asian experiences in other countries, 2) making connections with higher education institutions in other countries similarly studying the Asian experience, and 3) institutionalizing the intellectual utility of cross-national comparisons in ethnic studies courses.