Girish Shambu, PhD, associate professor of management, was interviewed by LA Review of Books about his recent book The New Cinephilia. While social media has contributed to the changing face of cinephilia (a passionate interest in film) The New Cinephilia (Caboose, 2015) advocates for a more holistic approach that combines tradition with newer tools.

The article ran in LA Review of Books on Thursday, January 14. Click here to read it in its entirety.

Submitted by: Public Relations

Students and faculty collaborate in a variety of ways at Canisius. In the Spanish program, the students and faculty work together to provide additional opportunities for students to practice their language skills. With the assistance of the faculty in the program, the Spanish Honors Society (Sigma Delta Pi) and the Canisius Earning Excellence Program (CEEP), students organize a weekly tertulia (informal conversation practice) and a telenovela screening, showing a popular TV soap opera which, in Latin America, is more akin to a long miniseries than U.S. soap operas. Students gain practice speaking and listening to the language and they also glean cultural knowledge.

What is often overlooked in telenovelas are the social critiques of the shows. Despite their romantic underpinnings, these shows also often serve as public service announcements to viewers (e.g., scenes reinforcing the need for women to get mammograms) or hint at social justice issues (bullying, class discrimination, problems with the church, political corruption, LGBTQ rights). While the good always triumphs over evil, in the end these narratives are also fun and engaging, and often the catalyst for musical groups (e.g., RBLD and Juanes).

Information about the tertulias and the telenovelas is provided to students on the modern languages’ Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/CanisiusModernLanguages).

Submitted by: Sara Morris, associate vice president, academic affairs

Tanya Loughead, PhD, associate professor of philosophy, recently published Critical University: Moving Higher Education Forward (Lexington Books, 2015). The book investigates many of the current problems facing U.S. universities today and offers solutions.

Read the Amazon review of Critical University here.

Submitted by: Public Relations

A group of 16 Canisius pre-med/pre-health students in the Society of PreHealth Professionals studied social justice issues related to health and healthcare from January 9 – 16 in Washington, D.C. The group participated in Mass at the National Cathedral, learned how 11 different non-profit and government agencies are addressing the social determinants of health, spent time with pre-med alumni and performed 300 hours of service.

Submitted by: Allyson Backstrom, director, pre-med