Meet the 2024-25 EPIC Fellows
Joel Blank
Professor of Political Science, San Joaquin Delta College
Dr. Joel Blank is professor and co-chair of the Department of Political Science at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, California. He is co-coordinator of Delta College's Pathway to Law Program and the Paralegal Program. Dr. Blank is a board member of the Pacific Coast Association of Pre-Law Advisers and vice-chair of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges Political Action Committee. Before beginning an academic career, Dr. Blank practiced tort, business, and human rights law. Dr. Blank holds a master of arts in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia, a Ph.D. in international relations and comparative politics from UCLA, and a J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, and is a member of the California Bar Association.
Project (joint project with Cirian Villavicencio): Beyond the Nation-State: Enhancing Local Governance through Sister Cities Partnerships
Our proposed project focuses on understanding and responding to local governance issues, i.e. crime, homelessness, housing, economic development, climate change, and civic participation, related to Stockton, but now common to cities across the county and the world. In doing so, we seek to go beyond nation-state to nation-state relations by collaborating with cities and their respective academic institutions across the globe regarding best practices through a comparative lens.
Deborah Brown
Professor of History and Ethnic Studies, Riverside City College
Deborah (de-BOR-ah) Brown (they/she) is a Black queer professor of history and ethnic studies with an emphasis in gender & sexuality studies at Riverside City College. Professor Brown graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in African and African American studies and history. They then earned a master’s degree in history from Brown University and a master’s degree in history with a concentration in gender studies from UCLA. They are currently a candidate in philosophy, completing a Ph.D. in history and an Ed.D. in educational leadership at UCLA. Professor Brown was the recipient of a 2023 Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad Grant to study in South Africa and complete a project entitled, “African Knowledge Systems: Performing Arts in South Africa During Apartheid and Beyond.” Professor Brown is excited to center Africa in the curriculum for community college students.
Project: Sankofa: Centering Africa in African American Studies
“Sankofa: Centering Africa in African American Studies” seeks to re-center Africa in African American Studies curriculum at the California Community Colleges (CCC). California’s legislative mandate, AB-1460, has led to the creation of ethnic studies curriculum that is primarily U.S.-specific. By creating curriculum with a cultural and historical thread to Africa, this project hopes to teach students in African American Studies about the integral global relationship of African-descended people and its importance to local histories and communities.
Lisa Gilbert
Professor of Geology, Oceanography and Environmental Science, Cabrillo College
Lisa Gilbert is full-time faculty and department chair of Geology, Oceanography, and Environmental Science at Cabrillo College. Her favorite parts of the job are helping to cultivate belonging and build connections. Outside the college, she is collaborating on one national project aimed at increasing systems thinking in undergraduate chemistry courses and another improving mathematical skill development in undergraduate geoscience education. She was previously on the leadership team for the NSF-funded InTeGrate project, a major initiative in her field to enhance interdisciplinary learning about the Earth for a sustainable future. She holds an undergraduate degree in earth sciences and a Ph.D. in oceanography.
Project: Global Competency in Introductory Environmental Science
As an EPIC Fellow, I will develop curricula based around current and emerging global case studies that relate environmental science, racism, and justice for an introductory Environmental Science course. The case studies will be developed from locations beyond the United States in parallel with case studies in California. The curricula will be designed to engage and empower students in three key ways: 1) to foster a sense of belonging, 2) to communicate the perspectives of others beyond their immediate environment, and 3) to act against environmental injustice.
Matthew Hacholski
Adjunct Instructor of History, Santa Ana College
Matthew Hacholski is an adjunct instructor of history at Santa Ana College. Instructor Hacholski enjoys good writing, eloquent speech, and learning new languages.
Project: Histories of Untold Nations
This project will utilize the curriculum of Stanford course FILMEDIA50Q to create and design video essays. These video essays – on Cambodia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Tanzania – will fill the future core curriculum of world history courses with audiovisual materials, onscreen text, voiceover commentary and visual effects using editing software Adobe Premiere Pro.
Ian Jones
Professor of English and Journalism, Chaffey College
Ian Jones is a professor of English and journalism at Chaffey College. Ian has been part of his college’s Textbook Transformation Project and spent the last few years developing zero-cost resources hubs to help his colleagues create more equitable learning environments. Currently, he is working on a doctoral project that involves creating open resources for community college journalism students interested in connecting local stories to global issues. When Ian is not hard at work at Chaffey, he is home reading or playing board games with his partner and two young children.
Project: Think Globally, Report Locally: Enriching Student Journalism through Global Context
The project aims to enhance journalism at Chaffey College by linking local and global narratives. It plans to achieve this by: Developing resources to boost global competency and equity in journalism courses, connecting student journalists with local and international counterparts, and crafting and publishing stories in college publications focusing on local manifestations of global issues. The project will culminate in integrating successful practices into the curriculum and expanding publishing platforms for wider outreach.
Eboni Mathis
Business Faculty Member, Oakland Community College
Dr. Mathis has been teaching at the college level for more than 22 years. She is a business faculty member at Oakland Community College in Michigan and serves as a peer reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission. As a subject matter expert and learning architect, Dr. Mathis has provided her expertise to countless universities and has taught internationally in Muscat, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Mathis earned a doctoral degree in management from the University of Maryland University College. She also holds a master of arts in community counseling from Siena Heights University; a master of science in administration-leadership from Central Michigan University; and a bachelor of business administration in management information from Cleary University. Dr. Mathis is also a licensed professional counselor in the state of Michigan.
When Dr. Mathis is not teaching, she enjoys travel, meeting diverse people and fine dining. She’s also a writer (and reciter) of poetry.
Project: Women in Business in the Middle East
This project aims to:
- To understand and explain the social responsibility of international organizations as it relates to promoting women in business in Middle Eastern countries.
- Acknowledge and explain how Middle Eastern businesses can help promote the advancement of women.
- Understand and demonstrate how Women leadership acceptance and awareness should be promoted in the workplace and business environment both in the Middle East and in America.
- Apply and demonstrate how organizations can promote and support women entrepreneurs abroad and domestically.
Jessica Moronez
Professor of Sociology and Social Justice Studies, Chaffey College
Dr. Jessica C. Moronez is an associate professor of sociology and social justice studies at Chaffey College. She earned her B.A. in sociology and minor in women's studies from Cal Poly Pomona, her M.A. in sociology from Cal State Fullerton, and her Ph.D. in sociology from UC Riverside. Dr. Moronez is passionate about prison education and teaches sociology courses at California Institution for Men (CIM) and California Institution for Women (CIW) prisons through Chaffey’s Rising Scholars Program. Additionally, she is the Volunteer Program Manager for Women Strengthening Women, an organization that empowers formerly incarcerated women, women with incarcerated loved ones, and women who live in under-resourced areas in the Inland Empire.
Project: Global Perspectives and Gender Justice: Enhancing Prison Education at CIW Prison
My project incorporates global perspectives within the Sociology of Gender course taught at California Institution for Women prison through Chaffey College’s Rising Scholars Network. I will tailor the material to fit the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s media and educational guidelines while developing spaces for students to become empowered global citizens within the correctional facility. Through primary footage, virtual museum walkthroughs, articles, etc., I will create material that allows students to visit historical events and locations where critical moments of social and gender justice have shaped the world.
Francisco Najera
Instructor of Ethnic Studies, Orange Coast College
Francisco J. Najera (he/him) grew up in Brooklyn, New York before moving around the globe. He has lived in New York City, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Chicago, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Guatemala City before coming to southern California. He is currently working on his M.A. in Chicanx and Latinx Studies at California State University, Los Angeles and his Ph.D. in United States and Latin American History at the University of Chicago. Francisco holds a master’s degree in history, specializing in immigration, social movements and human rights from the University of Chicago. Mr. Najera also completed a bachelor’s degree in political science and comparative studies in race and ethnicity at Stanford University.
Project: Centroamericanos en Diáspora: Transnational Worldviews in Central American Studies
This project will develop Central American studies modules with a global perspective that can be included in Latinx Studies and Chicanx Studies courses, and that will serve as building blocks toward a future course in Central American Studies. This emerging field is in a unique position, stemming partially from ethnic studies, yet organically having a transnational perspective given the relatively recent and ongoing diasporic growth of the Central American community. Since its inception, Central American studies has been at the intersection of ethnic studies and global studies, with a dual domestic and international perspective.
Laura Otto
Professor of English, College of Lake County
Laura Otto is a professor of English at College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois, and chair of the Technical Communication program. Previously, she was the Graduate Program Director and English Department Chair at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, where she also served as the student media adviser. In 2020, she was named Distinguished Magazine Adviser of the Year by College Media Advisers, awarded to one college journalism adviser in the nation each year. She earned bachelor’s degrees in rhetoric and English from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and an MFA in creative writing from Indiana University in Bloomington.
Project (joint project with Voytek Wloch): Our Lives, Our World: Creating Connections Across Cultures
As we emerge from global social isolation, the need to meaningfully communicate across cultures and capture the stories of everyday people is crucial. "Our Lives, Our World: Creating Connections Across Cultures" will pair students or entire classrooms from College of Lake County (CLC) with international students from partner colleges across the globe to interview one another about topics related to their areas of study or personal lives. The goal is for students to learn more about one another – their daily lives, goals, hardships and how they overcame them, their aspirations – while fostering an appreciation of cultures outside of their own.
Courtney Powers
Associate Professor of Law, East Los Angeles College
Courtney Powers is an associate professor of law at East Los Angeles College. She teaches to empower students to use the law to advocate for themselves and their communities. A first-generation college graduate, Ms. Powers earned her B.A. in political science from U.C. Berkeley and her J.D. from UCLA School of Law, where she has also taught at the intersection of law, health and public policy.
Prior to her full-time teaching career, Ms. Powers worked on behalf of non-profit hospitals and community health centers, advocating for expanded access to healthcare and social services. She enjoys traveling, experiencing new cultures and studying Spanish.
Project: Exploring Women’s Rights Through a Human Rights Framework and COIL
I propose to internationalize the core curriculum of the constitutional law class I teach by examining the U.S. Constitution through a human rights framework. Students will consider how such analysis can be used to advance the rights of women, including reproductive health rights. I will implement the proposal via a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project with an instructor and cohort of students at a university in Bogota, Colombia. Together, students will compare how human rights concepts may apply in their home countries, and set aspirational goals of how women’s rights may be improved via a human rights approach.
Mona Rawal
Professor of Humanities and Philosophy, Foothill College
Born in the western desert lands from the state of Rajasthan in India, Mona Rawal is a first-generation woman in her community back home to receive formal and higher education. She has an M.A. and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Mumbai in India. Mona is currently serving as the chair of the humanities department at Foothill College. She has taught courses in philosophy and the humanities at various community colleges in the U.S. and India over two decades, and recently she taught a course in philosophy at the Stanford Continuing Studies department. Mona is passionate about teaching courses in systems of logic, eastern religions, ethics, ancient civilizations, and her research interests are broadly based in the areas of ethics in technology. Her goal is to advocate for ethical practices in AI and technology, to empower marginalized students and promote equity in education.
Her non-academic interests are in yoga, meditation, Hindustani classical singing, and Bollywood dance. Being multilingual, she is literate in the ancient languages from India like Sanskrit and Pali, and speaks four regional languages from India. Her one favorite quote for life is from Socrates: “An unexamined life is not worth living.”
Project: Once Upon the World: Globalizing Fairy Tales from Cultures and Continents
The project is an attempt to explore diverse cultural mores, the moral landscape and psychological foundations of global societies through their folk and fairy tales. Fairy tales are a mirror to the moral values, gender disciplines and social orders of communities around the world. The project will focus on making fairy tales more inclusive, equitable and interdisciplinary as well as multi-cultural and truly global. The endeavor is to bring a deeper understanding of the representation of the human condition by globalizing the course in fairy tales. The goal is to bring many cultures into the conversation and create a platform for global storytelling.
Jacob Vazquez
Agriculture Business Instructor, Butte College
Dr. Jacob Vazquez serves as an agriculture business instructor at Butte College. He was named the statewide Outstanding Early Career Teacher by the California Agricultural Teachers’ Association in 2023, a United States Department of Agriculture E. Kika De La Garza Fellow in 2022, and Butte College’s Teacher of the Year in 2021. Prior to Butte College, Dr. Vazquez served as Associate Vice President at Farm Credit. He completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at California State University, Fresno, and his doctorate at Texas Tech University. A former student-athlete, he was an Academic All-American while playing football for Fresno State.
Project: Developing Global Competencies in an Agricultural Economics Course
This project involves developing a module for the online sections of an agricultural economics course taught at Butte College. The course objectives I will focus on include mitigating challenges in world hunger, evaluating equity in the global food system, and assessing international agricultural trade policy. My goal for this innovative curriculum update is to provide students at our rural community college the framework needed to develop global competencies regarding agricultural economic issues.
Cirian Villavicencio
Professor of Political Science, San Joaquin Delta College
Dr. Cirian Villavicencio is a professor and co-chair of the Department of Political Science at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, California. Dr. Villavicencio currently serves as a gubernatorial appointee on the California Community College Board of Governors, which represents 116 community colleges and serves 2.1 million students. Dr. Villavicencio also served as a two-term gubernatorial appointee on the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs. In 2020, Dr. Villavicencio received the Distinguished Faculty Award from his district’s Academic Senate for his outstanding teaching and community service. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California and an Ed.D. in higher education administration from the University of Wyoming.
Project (joint project with Joel Blank): Beyond the Nation-State: Enhancing Local Governance through Sister Cities Partnerships
Our proposed project focuses on understanding and responding to local governance issues, i.e. crime, homelessness, housing, economic development, climate change, and civic participation, related to Stockton, but now common to cities across the county and the world. In doing so, we seek to go beyond nation-state to nation-state relations by collaborating with cities and their respective academic institutions across the globe regarding best practices through a comparative lens.
Voytek Wloch
Senior International Officer and Director of Global Engagement, College of Lake County
Voytek Wloch is Senior International Officer and Director of Global Engagement at the College of Lake County. He holds a doctoral degree in educational leadership development, with an international leadership certificate (USA); a master's degree in journalism and political science (Poland); and a bachelor's degree in English (Canada). He serves on committees of various international education associations. His past service includes honorary board membership at the European Journalism Training Association and vice-presidency of the European Association for Erasmus Coordinators. His dissertation focused on international leadership development and human rights. It involved meeting and qualitatively interviewing several Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
Project (joint project with Laura Otto): Our Lives, Our World: Creating Connections Across Cultures
As we emerge from global social isolation, the need to meaningfully communicate across cultures and capture the stories of everyday people is crucial. "Our Lives, Our World: Creating Connections Across Cultures" will pair students or entire classrooms from College of Lake County (CLC) with international students from partner colleges across the globe to interview one another about topics related to their areas of study or personal lives. The goal is for students to learn more about one another – their daily lives, goals, hardships and how they overcame them, their aspirations – while fostering an appreciation of cultures outside of their own.