2017-18 EPIC Community College Fellows
Angelo Bummer
English Instructor, Las Positas College
Angelo Bummer is a part of the English faculty at Las Positas College and teaches in a learning community called Umoja. For his EPIC project, he designed his Umoja-linked critical thinking and literature course to integrate contemporary transnational literature and expand students’ awareness of African diaspora experiences. Angelo holds an M.A. in Comparative Literature and a Certificate in the Teaching of College Composition from San Francisco State University.
Project: Expanding Awareness of African Diaspora Experiences: Umoja Community and Contemporary Transnational Literature
Catherine M. Eagan
English Instructor, Las Positas College
Catherine M. Eagan is an English instructor and the Global Studies Coordinator at Las Positas College, as well as a scholar who researches the racial formation of identity in the United States and Europe, particularly in regards to the Irish and African diasporas. She spent her 2017-2018 sabbatical year working on globalizing the curriculum, creating the Global Studies AA-T at LPC, and teaching on a Fulbright scholar grant in Croatia. She focused her EPIC fellowship on teaching Modern World Literature with the help of Lacuna Stories, Stanford’s digital and social annotation platform.
Project: Studying World Literature with a Global Mindset
Brian Evans
Economics Instructor, Foothill College
Brian Evans has been teaching Economics at Foothill College since 2002. He began teaching a Political Economy class in 2017. Brian holds an M.A in Economics from University of Hawaii at Manoa, and a B.S. in Management Science from UCSD. For his EPIC project Brian has been researching the events leading up to and during the Latin American Lost Decade for his Global Economics and new Political Economy class.
Project: The Latin American Lost Decade
Deborah Garfinkle
Adjunct English Instructor, De Anza College
Deborah Garfinkle, is a writer and translator, who has taught English Composition and Creative Writing at De Anza College since 2003. She holds an M.A. from the University of New Hampshire in English and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Her creative writing, translations and criticism have appeared in journals and magazines in the US and abroad. Her EPIC project explores “moving stories,” narratives and case studies on global migration, immigration and displacement.
Project: Moving Stories: Immigration, Migration, and Displacement in the Age of Globalization
Ann Hight
Biology Professor, Las Positas College
Ann Hight is a professor at Las Positas College and teaches courses in physiology and anatomy. Before returning to California in 2012, she owned a business providing employee wellness programs, including diabetes prevention, for companies located on the Navajo Reservation. She completed her PhD and post-doctoral research in cardiovascular medicine at UC Davis. For her EPIC project, Ann has brought her long-held passion for disease prevention to her pre-health students. Delving into the scientific mechanisms for observed longevity, her project explores lifestyle factors in regions around the world that boast the longest-lived people.
Project: Using Global Lifestyles as a Platform to Teach Gene Expression and Longevity
Kat King
Adjunct English Instructor, Las Positas College
Kat King teaches English at Las Positas and Diablo Valley College. She holds a B.A., M.A, and Single Subject teaching credential in English. Teaching in K-12 and alternative education early in her career piqued her interest in how instructors can use technology to engage students and prepare them for a 21st century job market. This year, she fully geeked out exploring Stanford’s Digital Resources EPIC fellowship as she internationalized her Critical Thinking curriculum.
Project: Critical Thinking and Composition: Investigating American Issues Through Global Viewpoints
Natasha Mancuso
Business and Social Sciences Professor, Foothill College
Natasha Mancuso is a professor at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills. She teaches courses in business and marketing. Before moving to California in 2013, Natasha taught at Montana State University. Natasha received her MBA from the University of Connecticut. She is currently working on using online games to teach business and marketing from global perspective.
Project: Using Online Games to Teach Business and Marketing from a Global Perspective
Kali Rippel
Faculty Librarian, Las Positas College
Kali Rippel has been a Faculty Librarian at Las Positas College since 2014 and teaches courses in research skills and working with sources. She received her Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee in 2011. For her EPIC project, Kali has internationalized her course research project to include issues and topics related to the African Diaspora, alongside a new project requirement to evaluate and contribute to a related Wikipedia article.
Project: Internationalizing the Research Project Using Wikipedia
Colin Schatz
Computer Science Instructor, Las Positas College
Colin Schatz has served as a full-time Computer Science instructor at Las Positas College since 2008, and is currently the coordinator of the college's Honors Transfer Program. He holds an M.S. in Computer Science and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Teacher Education from Stanford University. Prior to his current position, he worked in an eclectic variety of education and technology roles, including high school teaching, educational research and evaluation, and software development.
Project: Globalized and Inclusive: Redesigning a Community College Honors Program
Antonella Vitale
Adjunct Social Sciences Professor, Las Positas College
Antonella Vitale is a PhD Candidate at the Graduate Center City University of New York (CUNY) and an adjunct professor of history at San Francisco State University and Las Positas College. She is in the process of completing her dissertation entitled “Fuitina: Love, Sex, and Rape in Modern Italy 1945-Present.” For her EPIC project Antonella is incorporating international perspectives into her US history course by focusing on themes of migration and intersections.