Recent Faculty Research & Scholarship
Explore the latest research, scholarship, and creative work from Cal Lutheran faculty experts.
Wen chen Denq, Wen chin Hsu and Hongze Jaing
Nonprofit Management
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference with Student Co-Authors
Overview
presented "Optimizing Social Media Engagement for Fundraising in NPOs: Data-Driven Insights and Sectoral Strategies" at the ARNOVA, held in Indianapolis, IN.
Details
The primary research question guiding this study is: How do the social media activities—specifically Facebook posts—of 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations impact their fundraising outcomes, particularly through information sharing, community-building, and action-taking messages? Current scholarly literature emphasizes the rising importance of digital fundraising strategies within nonprofit sectors, driven by shifting donor behaviors and increased reliance on digital platforms (Habes et al., 2020). Nonprofits have increasingly turned to social media to overcome challenges presented by traditional fundraising methods. However, academic research on social media strategies specifically tailored to the fundraising success of 501(c)(4) organizations remains limited and causes a gap about optimal approaches to social media-based fundraising. To address this gap, we have employed a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative analysis of social media engagement data and qualitative content analysis of Facebook posts from selected 501(c)(4) organizations. The final 15 organizations were selected, excluding entities with minimal or irrelevant social media activity, with a stratified sampling method for final sampling. Recent studies (Elvira-Lorilla et al., 2024) indicate that community-related content generates higher engagement than information-only posts, and that such engagement may be a prerequisite for successful fundraising and sustained supporters’ involvement. A total of 490 Facebook posts published from July 1, 2024 to July 31, 2024 were systematically analyzed. Each post was coded using Lovejoy and Saxton’s established framework into three functional categories: information-sharing, community-building, and action-taking. Subsequently, connections between the frequency and nature of these posts and fundraising effectiveness, specifically measured through "Giving Tuesday" outcomes will be examined.
Jose Torres and Crisstal Negron
Criminology and Justice Studies
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference with Student Co-Authors
Overview
Jose Torres and Crisstal Negron presented "Challenging the Stigma Behind Parental Incarceration: The Experiences of Latina/o College Students" at the 2025 American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.
Details
Challenging the Stigma Behind Parental Incarceration: The Experiences of Latina/o College Students Abstract: In this study, we examined the experiences of Latina/o college students who had parents behind bars. We also examined the role of community college and university faculty mentors and program directors who worked closely with Latina/o college students who had experienced parental incarceration. We focused on three key areas including (1) the effects of parental incarceration on Latina/o college students' lives, families, and relationships, (2) how Latina/o college students navigated and challenged the social stigmas, stereotypes, and negative labels associated to their parent's criminality and incarceration, and (3) the role of faculty mentors and program directors in helping de-stigmatize and support Latina/o college students who had parents behind bars. We found that student's lives, families, and education were impacted by their parent's criminality and incarceration. However, students were resilient and able to find ways to challenge these social stigmas, stereotypes, and negative labels by succeeding academically. Students were also able to find support through faculty, program directors, and student support services that were designed to help students with incarcerated parents.
Funding and Support
Fall 2025 Hewlett Grant: $1,000. Hewlett Foundation. California Lutheran University.
Jose Marichal
Political Science
Published a Peer-Reviewed Paper
Overview
Jose Marichal published a paper entitled "Data rights reconsidered: Reimagining digital freedom through Lefebvre’s Right to the City" in an edited volume in Communication+1 on Digital Sovereignty. https://openpublishing.library.umass.edu/cpo/article/id/2290/
Details
This article explores an expanded conceptualization of data rights by drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s “right to the city” framework and engaging with the work of contemporary philosopher Byung-Chul Han. It argues that current discussions of data rights, rooted in individualistic property-based models, are insufficient to address the complex challenges posed by our increasingly datafied society. The author proposes a more holistic approach that considers how digital spaces and technologies shape human interaction, creativity, and potential.
Andrea Sell
Psychology
Published a Peer-Reviewed Paper with Student Co-Authors
Overview
Andrea Sell (Psychology) published "Surveying Best Practices for Undergraduate Student Researcher Safety in the Social Sciences" with her McNair student co-author, Angelina Garcia, in Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research (SPUR).
Details
Article Surveying Best Practices for Undergraduate Student Researcher Safety in the Social Sciences Andrea J. Sell, Angelina Garcia SPUR (2025) 9 (1): https://doi.org/10.18833/spur/9/1/5 Abstract: Students in the social sciences are increasingly engaged in research on sensitive topics; however, little is known about the protection they receive from risks that can arise from conducting this type of research. For example, students may experience vicarious trauma from analyzing sensitive data or face harassment from people who disagree with their topic. Faculty and administrators were surveyed to examine perceptions of the use, efficacy, and importance of safety practices. Items included policies regarding working alone or at night, as well as mentors discussing counseling resources with students. Overall, it is hoped that the findings raise awareness of potential risks to student researchers and encourage faculty research mentors and institutions to adopt more proactive prevention measures as a key part of ethical research involving undergraduate students. https://www.cur.org/journal-article/surveying-best-practices-for-undergraduate-student-researcher-safety-in-the-social-sciences/
Funding and Support
This project was supported by the McNair Program and the Culver Behavioral Science Research Program.
Kirsi Stjerna
Theology
Published a Book Chapter
Overview
Kirsi Stjerna contributed a chapter on "Baptism (Matt. 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-16)" in the "The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and the Reformation", edited by Herman Selderhuis and Jennifer Powell McNutt (Fall 2024), which received the John Tedeschi Prize for Reference Book at the Sixteenth Century Study Conference in Portland, OR, on Nov. 1., 2025.
Details
Collaborative, international, reference tool, and a teaching tool. International contributors, interdisciplinary and cutting-edge research. Supports teaching the Bible, the Reformations, Protestant theologies, Ecumenical theology, and Hermeneutics. The books is for academic use and for church use, and for private use, written in a style that engages a broad audience.
Paul Witman and Jim Prior
Information Systems
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference
Overview
Paul Witman presented the teaching case study, "Our Interconnected, Resilient, Modern World ... Is Still Painfully and Remarkably Vulnerable" at the ISCAP COnference in Louiville, KY
Details
This teaching case, based on a number of situations where organizations have been ground to a halt by technology or other failures, helps students to see the sometimes latent risks in their organizations. It also helps them look for ways to make the organization more resilient.
Vlad Vaiman
Management
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference
Overview
Vlad Vaiman has delivered a keynote speech entitled “Beyond Borders and Bias: AI, Culture, and the Future of Talent” at the biannual conference of the International Association for Cross-cultural Competence and Management in Budapest, Hungary.
Details
In the rush to harness AI for talent management, organizations risk reinforcing cultural biases that limit true global diversity. This keynote explores how AI shapes the way we attract, assess, and develop talent across cultures—revealing both its transformative potential and its hidden pitfalls. Drawing on insights from global talent management and cross-cultural research, it offers a practical roadmap for creating AI-enabled HR systems that are culturally intelligent, inclusive, and innovation-ready.
Kirsi Stjerna
Theology
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference
Overview
Kirsi Stjerna co-designed a session titled "Sex, Body, and Desire: A New Look at Martin Luther" at the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference in Portland, OR, and presented a paper titled "Martin Luther’s Marveling at the Body and Sex: Instruments of Divine Communications – Contemporary Suggestions". The panel included Dr. Stjerna's doctoral student, now Dr. Pace Warfield, who also presented their paper.
Details
Developing new perspectives in Luther studies and re-constructing Lutheran theology on body, sexuality, and marriage. The topic relates to Dr. Stjerna's work with the ELCA TaskForce "Reconsiderations" on current Lutheran teachings and policy on marriage. The methodologies used in the panel were theological, historical, and gender studies.
Vlad Vaiman
Management
Published a Peer-Reviewed Paper
Overview
Vlad Vaiman, along with Agassy Manoukian (adjunct professor at SoM) and a few other colleagues form the American University of Armenia, have published a paper titled “Mapping Core Business Curricula: A Descriptive Audit of 100 U.S. MBA Programs” in The International Journal of Management Education. Link: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1m14-5EuEpi9F- Manoukian, A., Odabashian, V., Vaiman, V., Tshagharyan, O., & Khachikyan, N. (2026). Mapping core business curricula: A descriptive audit of 100 U.S. MBA programs. The International Journal of Management Education, Vol. 24, Issue 1, 101302, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2025.101302.
Details
Despite an established body of pedagogical, curricular, and strategic research and practice, the curricular makeup of U.S.-based MBA programs remains opaque. Bridging the gap in literature and leveraging several decades of AACSB-Accredited Management Business School curricular analysis, this paper presents the first large-scale, descriptive audit of 100 U.S.-based AACSB-accredited MBA programs. Covering five broad business domains, the paper achieves three primary goals: (1) creates a baseline quantitative descriptive analysis of the state of the U.S.-based MBA core curricula; (2) benchmarks 100 AACSB-accredited business schools’ alignment with the “MBA core” and highlights variability and commonalities; and (3) reveals and theorizes four distinct program types emerging from within the broader dataset.
Anita Stone
Biology
Published a Peer-Reviewed Paper
Overview
Published "Phylogenomics of Amazonian squirrel monkeys (Saimiri: Primates, Cebidae)" in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
Jacqueline Lyons
English & Creative Writing
Exhibited Creative Works Off-Campus
Overview
Jacqueline Lyons was a featured reader at Studio Channel Islands October Poetry in the Gallery event.
Details
Jacqueline Lyons read from new and selected poems at Studio Channel Islands Poetry in the Gallery series. https://studiochannelislands.org/poetry/
John Garcia
Finance
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference
Overview
Presented "The Attention Economy of Retail Trading: Evidence from Robinhood and Social Media" at the Financial Management Association annual meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada.
Details
Abstract: This study examines the influence of social media on retail investor trading behavior by analyzing daily Robinhood stock holdings in conjunction with social media sentiment and attention metrics for 427 U.S. firms from 2018 to 2020. The findings reveal that social media attention significantly drives retail investor trading activity; specifically, a one-standard-deviation increase in attention is associated with a 68% rise in the median daily change in the number of Robinhood users holding the stock and a 34-fold increase for “meme” stocks. In contrast, social media sentiment influences investor behavior only under specific conditions, including higher-priced stocks, those trading near their 52-week highs, and during periods of low political discourse. The influence of social media attention and sentiment on retail investor behavior diminished considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the importance of contextual factors in financial markets. This study advances the limited attention theory by illustrating how digital platforms reshape retail investor trading behavior, providing important implications for market efficiency and regulatory oversight in the era of social media-driven investing.
Ashli Anda
Philosophy
Other
Overview
Ashli Anda published "Reform, Abolition, and Carcerality" in Radical Philosophy Review.
Details
"Reform, Abolition, and Carcerality" is a review of philosopher Tommie Shelby's book *The Idea of Prison Abolition*. Shelby's book is a good introductory text to the broad moves of the prison reform and abolition debate. Prison abolitionists, however, may find Shelby's work here too narrowly focuses on Angela Davis as a figurehead of the ideology and undersells the importance of prison abolition as a central social justice objective. https://www.pdcnet.org/radphilrev/content/radphilrev_2025_0028_0001_0169_0173
Heidi Coronado
Counseling
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference with Student Co-Authors
Overview
Dr. Heidi Coronado and Student authors Emelin Alvarado, Nancy Bueno, Raul Flores and Rivelle Jauregui presented their research at ACPA/CA Chapter Conference held in San Diego State university on October 18, 2025 Title of the presentation: Connecting to Ancestral Wisdom and Resilient Roots: Creating Healing, Nurturing and Resilient Spaces for Community and Connection
Details
Dr. Heidi Coronado and Student authors Emelin Alvarado, Nancy Bueno, Raul Flores and Rivelle Jauregui presented their research at ACPA/CA Chapter Conference held in San Diego State university on October 18, 2025 Title of the presentation: Connecting to Ancestral Wisdom and Resilient Roots: Creating Healing, Nurturing and Resilient Spaces for Community and Connection
Jacqueline Lyons
English
Won an Award
Overview
Jacqueline Lyons won Palette Poetry's 2025 Nature Poem contest for her poem "Fire Season: Super Perennial". The contest was judged by Aimee Nezhuhumatathil, and the poem is published on Palette Poetry's website.
Michele LeBlanc and Travis Peterson
Exercise Science
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference with Student Co-Authors
Overview
Dr. Travis Peterson and Dr. Michele LeBlanc presented research with undergraduate students Rianne Aguilar, Claudia De La Cruz, Daniel Trounday, Sara Mills, at the Southwest Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Burbank, CA.
Details
Rianne Aguilar and co-authors Claudia De La Cruz and Dr. Travis Peterson presented "Upper Extremity Biomechanical Analysis of Defensive Flag Pulling in Flag Football" at the Southwest Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Burbank, CA. Claudia De La Cruz and co-authors Rianne Aguilar and Dr. Travis Peterson presented "Lower Extremity Movement Strategies of Defensive Flag Pulling in Flag Football" at the Southwest Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Burbank, CA. Daniel Trounday and Dr. Michele LeBlanc presented "Effect of Load on Lower Extremity Joint Torques in Rear Foot-Elevated Split Squats" at the Southwest Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Burbank, CA. Sara Mills and Dr. Michele LeBlanc presented "The Effect of Fatigue on Hip, Knee, and Ankle Kinetics During Rear Foot-Elevated Split Squats" at the Southwest Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Burbank, CA. Additionally, 17 CLU students attended the conference where they met the current President of the National American College of Sports Medicine organization, Dr. Carrie Jaworski, and three CLU students competed and placed fifth in the Student Jeopardy competition
Funding and Support
Research funding was provided by the Swenson Family Foundation, travel funding by the Office of Research, and student registration fees by the Exercise Science Club through student government funds.
Jose Marichal
Political Science
Published a Book
Overview
Jose Marichal (Political Science) published a book entitled "You Must Become an Algorithmic Problem: Renegotiating the Socio-Technical Contract" with Bristol University Press on October 14, 2025.
Details
In the age of AI, where personal data fuels corporate profits and state surveillance, what are the implications for democracy? This incisive book explores the unspoken agreement we have with tech companies. In exchange for reducing the anxiety of an increasingly complex online world, we submit to algorithmic classification and predictability. This reduces incentives for us to become “algorithmic problems” with dire consequences for liberal democracy. He calls for a movement to demand that algorithms promote play, creativity and potentiality rather than conformity.
Sabith Khan
Public Policy/ Public Administration
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference
Overview
Presented a paper titled "Rethinking Humanitarian Aid: The challenges of politicization of aid in global crises and how to overcome them," at the IASIA conference hosted by Instituo Nacional de Administativo Publica (INAP), Mexico City.
Details
The modern global humanitarian aid system that was started with the founding of International Red Cross Society in the shadows of Battle of Solferino in 1859 seems to be increasingly fraught with politicization and meddling by individual nation-states. The framework of neutrality in war situations, while complex, has been dismantled totally in many instances of recent wars such as in Gaza. While military aid continues to flow to Israel, humanitarian aid to Gaza has been severely restricted. What aid has flown in, in the past few weeks has been militarized through Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), an entity that operates completely outside of the UN systems and other NGO frameworks that have credibility and trust of those they serve. Using official narratives, public discourses of US government and global media, this paper will take a closer (and critical) look at Gaza and analyze how and why humanitarian aid has been used as a bargaining chip, by those in power. The laws, norms of governance around aid including neutrality have been repeatedly set aside and recipients of aid have been denied to a situation where were facing a famine, according to UN agencies and multiple humanitarian actors. Using realist and postcolonial literature, this paper will examine how the bureaucracy involved in the conflict has not acted swiftly, to end the horrific suffering. The paper raises important questions and seeks to offer some recommendations. Keywords: humanitarian aid, neutrality, Gaza, genocide, bureaucracy, discourse analysis https://www.conftool.org/iasia-conference-2025/index.php?page=browseSessions&form_session=282
Funding and Support
Hewlett Grant
Kirstie Hettinga, Alyssa Appelman (University of Kansas), Olga Morales
Communication
Published a Peer-Reviewed Paper
Overview
Kirstie Hettinga and co-authors published the article “Real Effort” and “Real Skill”: Editors Emphasize Their Contributions in a Changing Field in Journalism Practice.
Kristine Jan Cruz Espinoza, Ph.D., (Cal Lutheran) and Amy C. Wang, Ph.D. (Lewis and Clark Graduate School)
Education
Published a Book Chapter
Overview
Kristine Jan Cruz Espinoza, Ph.D. (Cal Lutheran), and Amy C. Wang, Ph.D. (Lewis and Clark Graduate School), published a book chapter entitled, "Centering Community: Toward Racially and Culturally Responsive Leadership at Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions."
Details
Kristine Jan Cruz Espinoza, Ph.D. (Cal Lutheran), and Amy C. Wang, Ph.D. (Lewis and Clark Graduate School), published "Centering Community: Toward Racially and Culturally Responsive Leadership at Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions," a book chapter in a book entitled, "Administration, Leadership, Finance, and Budgeting in Higher Education and Student Affairs: Integrating Theory, Research, and Practice" and edited by the late Dr. Gabriel R. Serna (Michigan State University), Dr. Florence M. Guido (University of Northern Colorado), and Dr. Gabriel Pulido (West Chester University). The establishment of Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) was not a passive process but rather the result of racially and culturally responsive leadership. Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA&NHPI)- identified leaders, along with non-AA&NHPI-identified leaders, were part of a lineage of advocacy that led to what is now known as the AANAPISI designation and program, grounded in a vision to center the needs of AA&NHPI students. This chapter turns to what racially and culturally responsive leadership looks like at, in, and for AANAPISIs. Additionally, we highlight how leadership takes on many shapes and forms and is grounded in community.
Jose Marichal, Maya Goehner, Tyler Haug
Political Science
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference
Overview
Jose Marichal (Political Science) presented a paper based on research conducted with two former CLU students (Maya Goehner and Tyler Haug) at the 2025 R.I.S.E. AI hosted by the Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society at the University of Notre Dame on October 7th. The paper was entitled "Unpacking the "Good" in UN AI for Good Projects Using Computational Grounded Theory"
Details
The goal was to use recent advances in AI to study different conceptions of "the Good" articulated by presenters to the UN's AI for Good initiatve audience.
Funding and Support
Hewlett Grant
Nathan Carlson
Mathematics
Published a Peer-Reviewed Paper
Overview
Nathan Carlson published `On o-free sequences and compacta' in a special issue of Topology and its Applications dedicated to the late Peter Nyikos.
Geoffrey Plourde
Accounting
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference
Overview
Geoffrey Plourde presented Seeking Truth in the Age of AI: A Critical Thinking Approach at the 90th Annual Association of Lutheran College Faculties Conference held at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Details
This presentation explored how educators can help students evaluate information and think critically in a world where AI tools can produce convincing misinformation. It focused on practical classroom strategies for integrating AI literacy into instruction, encouraging students to ask better questions, verify claims, and consider the ethical implications of what they read and create. The presentation also highlights how AI challenges traditional teaching about “truth,” and how faculty can reframe their role in guiding students through complexity.
Jim Bond
English
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference
Overview
Jim Bond presented "Embracing Music as Vocation: A Case Study of Composer Morten Lauridsen's _Be Still, My Soul, Be Still_ as Contercultural Protest," at the Association of Lutheran College Faculties Conference, Augustana University, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Geoffrey Plourde
Accounting
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference
Overview
Geoffrey Plourde presented Reclaiming the Strategic Imperative: The distinctive value of Lutheran higher education in a VUCA World at the 90th Annual Association of Lutheran College Faculties Conference held at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Details
This presentation explored the distinctive value that Lutheran higher education offers in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world. It discussed basic competitive strategies and how Lutheran higher education is uniquely positioned to create competitive advantages. The presentation demonstrated how Lutheran higher education offers clarity, community, and purpose amid instability.
Nathan Carlson
Mathematics
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference
Overview
Nathan Carlson gave a plenary presentation entitled 'Recent Advances in Cardinal Inequalities' at the Set Theory and Topology Conference at the University of Messina, Italy.
Funding and Support
I was supported by both the conference itself as well as a CLU Hewlett Grant.
Kate Hoffmann
Biochemistry & Chemistry
Won a Grant
Overview
Kate Hoffmann has been awarded a 3-year, $417,066 grant from the National Science Foundation.
Details
Kate Hoffmann has been awarded a $417,066 grant titled RUI: Atomic Level Mechanism of NIS Synthetases from the National Science Foundation (Chemistry of Life Processes). This is a 3-year award that will fund faculty summer salary, 2 undergraduate research fellowships (including room and board), travel to conferences, as well as new equipment in the Chemistry Department. This is Dr. Hoffmann's second NSF grant; the first grant, awarded in 2018, resulted in three publications with undergraduate co-authors who are now alumnae. This new award will support 6 undergraduate summer research experiences (freshman to senior level students), and hopefully also result in several publications with undergraduate co-authors. Here is the abstract for general audiences from the NSF: With this award, the Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP) Program in the NSF Division of Chemistry is supporting Dr. Katherine Hoffmann at California Lutheran University to uncover the mechanism of a class of enzymes that biosynthesize iron-binding molecules essential for the survival of bacteria and fungi. The enzymes being studied (non-ribosomal peptide synthetase-independent siderophore synthetases, or NIS-synthetases) make molecules called siderophores, which help microorganisms scavenge iron nutrients from the environment. This foundational research exploring the biochemical mechanism of NIS synthetases advances the understanding of an important mechanism by which bacteria evade the immune defense system of an infected host and, thus, holds potential to inform strategies to combat bacterial infections. The project will engage undergraduate students in all aspects of the research—from multidisciplinary laboratory work to conference presentations—offering them valuable scientific training and helping prepare the next generation of contributors to academia and industry.
Funding and Support
This is a National Science Foundation award #CHE 2507173 through the Chemistry of Life Processes directorate
Dan Tillapaugh
Education
Published a Book Chapter
Overview
Dan Tillapaugh (Education) published a book chapter, Ethical Considerations for Analysis and Interpretation during Longitudinal Studies, in Conducting High-Quality Longitudinal Studies of College Students: Considerations for Design, Analysis, and Interpretation (Routledge).
Kirstie Hettinga, Monica Gracylany, Kastenny Flores, Daisy Calderon Arredondo
Communication
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference with Student Co-Authors
Overview
Kastenny Flores, Daisy Calderon Arredondo, Kirstie Hettinga and Monica Gracyalny presented "Spanish-language student media and students' sense of belonging at an HSI" at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in San Francisco. and Kirstie Hettinga and Elizabeth Smith presented "Student journalists use of Solutions Journalism to cover climate change responses" at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in San Francisco.
Details
This study explores whether Spanish-language student media influences self-identified bilingual students’ sense of belonging at a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Data (N=75) from a 2 (article topic: generic news story vs. Hispanic-serving Institution) x 2 (article language: Spanish vs. English) between-subjects experiment suggest that there may be a positive relationship between sense of belonging and reading a student-produced Spanish-language article for students who reported higher levels of Spanish reading ability.
Funding and Support
Culver grant
Kirstie Hettinga and Dru Pagliassotti
Communication
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference
Overview
Kirstie Hettinga and Dru Pagliassotti presented "Exploring the potential for AI editorial assistance in student newsrooms" at the World Journalism Education Congress in San Francisco, California. and Kirstie Hettinga, Elizabeth Smith and Alyssa Appelman presented "Learning from the best: Lessons from corrections on Pulitzer-winning journalism" at the World Journalism Education Congress in San Francisco.
Funding and Support
This research was supported by the inaugural Iles Award for Research in Editing from the Bremner Center for Editing at the University of Kansas.
Sheryl Johnson
Theology
Published a Book
Overview
Sheryl Johnson published a co-edited volume entitled The Business of God: Theological and Ethical Reflections on the Church Industrial Complex
Details
https://wipfandstock.com/9781666767841/the-business-of-god/#:~:text=This%20book%20explores%20the%20framework,and%20expansion%2Fconsolidation%20of%20power%3F
Mr. Mahmoud Salimi, Dr. John Fitch III, Dr. Mark Spraggins
Film and TV and Music Production
Exhibited Creative Works Off-Campus
Overview
Mr. Mahmoud Salimi, Dr. John Fitch III, Dr. Mark Spraggins presented 'Perfect Restaurant,' a short narrative film, at Bangalore International Film Festival held in India. As its world premiere, the film was nominated for an award and became a finalist in the festival. The film was written, directed, and produced by Mr. Mahmoud Salimi, sound design by Dr. John Fitch III, and music composed by Dr. Mark Spraggins. CLU film and TV students worked as interns on the sound and visual effects of the film.
Dr. Maureen Reilly Lorimer & Hilary Morefield Colman
Art Education
Published a Peer-Reviewed Paper
Overview
Dr. Maureen Reilly Lorimer & Hilary Morefield Colman published Strategies in Artistic Confidence Building for General Education Preservice Teachers in Art Education.
Details
Dr. Maureen Reilly Lorimer (Professor Emeritus) & Hilary Morefield Colman (Adjunct Faculty) published Strategies in Artistic Confidence Building for General Education Preservice Teachers in Art Education. This journal is the premier journal for arts educators nationally. Dr. Lorimer completed her research during her sabbatical from CLU, then co-authored this article with her former CLU GSOE graduate student and current CLU GSOE adjunct professor Hilary Morefield Colman, M.Ed. Artwork for the article came from CLU undergraduate students in the Art Department who took the CLU Art 341 course. CLU students and alumni Sabrina Julien, Courtney Johnson, and Jayla Fernandez had works featured in the article. Abstract: As future K-8 educators, general education candidates learn to teach and integrate all subjects in their classroom, including visual art. However, many candidates struggle to develop confidence in their own visual arts abilities either due to a) minimal exposure to visual arts education during their own K-12 learning experience or b) scant attention to the visual arts in teacher preservice programs. How might preservice programs and instructors proactively address this lack of confidence in artmaking for general education candidates? To better understand possible solutions, an interview with six current preservice program instructors was conducted. First, a summary of current curricular areas of focus, challenges, and successful learning activities uncovered from faculty interviews is presented. This is followed by a discussion of five key curricular strategies and related learning activities that can support confidence building for general education candidates. DOI: 10.1080/00043125.2025.2515276
Funding and Support
Research performed during CLU Sabbatical for Dr. Lorimer
Karrolyne Fogel
Mathematics
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference
Overview
Karrolyne Fogel presented the poster "Engaging Students in Voting Theory Projects about Faculty Voting Blocs" at MathFest 2025, held in Sacramento, CA.
Details
Abstract: Students at Cal Lutheran choose their own senior capstone project, and, as a campus with high engagement between students and faculty, I have had success enticing students to analyze voting situations in faculty governance. In particular, a series of students have analyzed the voting power of different faculty groups, determining whether or not those groups would be better off bloc voting. Learning to use and program the Shapley-Shubik power index, students analyze 3-5 different campus groups, such as divisions within the College of Arts and Sciences. Using movement diagrams from game theory, they analyze the power shifts as one group bloc votes. This poster examines the background students need for these projects, as well as variations in the project objectives, and the different approaches students used.
John Garcia
Finance
Published a Peer-Reviewed Paper
Overview
John Garcia published 'The Power of Attention: Examining The Roles of Institutional Investor and Macroeconomic News Attention In Shaping Share Liquidity' in Global Finance Journal
Details
Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101160 Ever wondered why institutional attention can boost Apple's liquidity while crushing that of a small-cap? After analyzing 1.23 million firm-day observations across 2,468 U.S. firms, I've uncovered the reason behind this paradox, which challenges conventional market wisdom. The Core Discovery: The same Bloomberg terminal activity (a proxy for institutional attention) that signals "validation" for Microsoft signals "insider information" for smaller firms. Market makers aren't irrational; they're adapting to different information environments. Key Insights: 📊 The Information Asymmetry Effect: > Large, transparent firms (think S&P 500): Institutional attention = liquidity boost. It validates public information and reduces uncertainty. Results in tighter spreads. > Small, opaque firms (low institutional ownership): Same attention = liquidity crisis. Market makers fear adverse selection and widen spreads as a defensive measure. The numbers are staggering: 60.6% spread increase for low-ownership firms vs. just 3.5% for high-institutional ownership firms. 🧠 The Cognitive Trade-off: Here's what surprised even me: When major economic news hits, it actually protects individual stocks from attention-driven liquidity shocks. Why? Cognitive constraints drive investors to shift their focus from micro to macro, resulting in an unexpected "distraction dividend" for firm liquidity. Macroeconomic uncertainty paradoxically becomes a liquidity buffer! 📉 Market Stress Amplifier: These dynamics intensify during downturns, revealing precisely when and where liquidity is most fragile. Real-World Implications: · Traders: Your execution costs vary dramatically based on WHO is paying attention and WHAT ELSE is happening. · Market Makers: Stop treating all attention equally. A spike in institutional interest means opposite things for different firms. Context is everything. · Regulators: Liquidity crises aren't random. They're predictable in opaque market segments during macro stress. Use these patterns as early warning systems. · Institutional Investors: Your attention leaves different footprints across different stocks. What helps your large-cap positions may hurt your small-cap holdings. This research reconciles years of contradictory findings about attention and liquidity. It's not that previous studies were wrong; they were just looking at different parts of the elephant.
Julia L Fogg
Religion
Presented Research/Scholarship at an Academic Conference
Overview
Julia L. Fogg presented her book chapter, The Power of Rituals for Cultivating Vocational Paths in Higher Ed: Connecting, Pausing, Discerning with Hope, at the Network of Vocation in Undergraduate Education’s (NetVUE) Scholarly Resources Project gathering.
Details
Dr. Fogg was invited to join the fifth cohort of Scholars in the Network of Vocation in Undergraduate Education’s (NetVUE) Scholarly Resources Project, held in Traverse City, MI. At the August 5–8, 2025 gathering, she presented her book chapter, which, along with contributions from the other participating scholars, will be published by Oxford University Press in 2026.
Funding and Support
NetVUE funding by Lilly through the Council of Independent Colleges.
Bryan B Rasmussen
English; Environmental Studies
Published a Peer-Reviewed Paper
Overview
Bryan B Rasmussen published '(Un)Making a Conservation Landscape: Repeat Photography and Environmental Narrative in Mexico's Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park,' in the journal Landscape Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2024.2428327
Details
This essay uses repeat photography, a method in the natural sciences for studying change over time, to re-examine the conservation status of Baja California as a ‘living museum’ of pristine wilderness and relic of California’s ecological past. I propose a critical re-photography that turns the lens back onto ourselves as the makers of landscapes, and leverage repeat photography’s implicit reflexivity to reveal the scientific and cultural priorities that have relegated land-based people to the past and threaten to exclude them from the future.
Funding and Support
This work was supported by the Moore Lab of Zoology at Occidental College, under National Science Foundation grant DEB-1652979, with additional funding provided by the California Lutheran University Office of Sponsored Research.
Julia L Fogg
Religion
Published a Peer-Reviewed Paper
Overview
Dr. Fogg published "A Neurocognitive Approach Reveals Paul's Embodied Emotional Strategies" in the journal Religions.
Details
Abstract: Joy is a central theme in Philippians. Joy is also a central emotional habit Paul deploys and encourages as a strategy for building community. In this paper, the examination of Philippians through recent developments in the neurocognitive study of emotions first illuminates how Paul cultivates emotional habits, like joy. Second, a neurocognitive approach to understanding emotions can explain how repeatedly choosing joy functions to alleviate suffering by restoring balance in the nervous system. Finally, shared emotional habits with the Philippian community, like shared somatic practices, build sustaining connections among the members. Intentional deployment of emotional practices, as Paul demonstrates and encourages in the Philippians, is a strategy for building the body of Christ. Such a neurocognitive understanding of emotional habits and bodily practices among community members in the Christ body points to a corporate experience of shared healing and neurocognitive resilience. Might we consider this somatic embodiment of shared emotions, what Paul calls “the same mind that is in Christ Jesus”, also a participation in Christ’s soteria (healing/salvation)? Published in in Religions 2024, 15(8), 946; at MDPI. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080946
Funding and Support
This project was funded in part by the G.A Foster Foundation