Faculty Spotlight, Nov. 6th

The 2024 Faculty Spotlight event is sponsored by the School of Language Arts and Education, will be held on Wednesday, November 6, 2024 from 6pm-8pm in Forum 101 on MJC’s east campus. The event will have five MJC faculty speakers presenting work with a theme of Cultural Knowledge and Cultural Wealth. This is a free event and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided. 

Faculty Spotlight Speakers Include

The Bliss of Meditation presented by Nita Gopal
Nita Gopal is an English professor at MJC. She grew up in India in a family of writers and developed a fascination for English Literature at a very young age. Stories were part of everyday conversation whether it was hearing about epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata or real-life anecdotes passed down by generations. Nita was also exposed to spiritual conversations where questioning and challenging was the path to higher knowledge. Later on in life, Nita picked up meditation and is an ardent practitioner of it. In this Faculty Spotlight, she wishes the spotlight to be on the bliss of meditation. 

Learning from Latina/o/x Puente Project Student Alumni Experiences with Sense of Belonging and Validation 
presented by Stephanie Razo
Stephanie has been teaching English since 2014. A lifelong student, she recently completed her doctorate in Transformative Action in Education from the University of the Pacific. Her doctoral research examined the lived experiences of Latina/o/x Puente Project student alumni from the Central Valley to identify which aspects of Puente most effectively enhanced students’ feelings of belonging, support, and validation both while in community college and throughout their educational journeys. When not researching or teaching, Stephanie enjoys visiting Disneyland, watching the S.F Giants and 49ers play, reading, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Voices of Afghan Women: Motivations, Challenges, and Resources of Refugees Pursuing Community College Education presented by Kate Hey
Born in Poland, Kate Hey developed her passion for the English language in her first high school English course. After graduating from Teachers’ College of English, she moved to the U.S. and earned her MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from CSU, San Jose. Kate also has a doctorate in Educational Leadership from CSU, Stanislaus. Her research focused on Afghan women refugees and their experiences in community colleges. Teaching at MJC since 2013, her passion is to work with language learners and empower them to become excellent English language speakers, contributing community members, responsible citizens, and effective leaders. She lives in Patterson with her husband, their two daughters, and three dogs.

Language Starts with Me presented by Tara Mello
Teaching at MJC since 2015, Tara graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with an M.A. in teaching American Sign Language. She enjoys spending time with her husband and child. Tara adores Starbucks coffee, traveling, socializing with family and friends, and she is a Star Wars fan! A brown belt in Jiu-Jitsu, she teaches self-defense classes for women and children. Most of her family members are hearing, but Tara, her father, and son were born hard of hearing or deaf. American Sign Language is her first language, and English is her second language. The state legislature officially recognizes American Sign Language as a foreign language. Deaf culture is a vibrant community with unique language (sign language), customs, traditions, art forms, and social norms.

The Study of Creative Writing presented by Carrie Miller 
As an English Professor at MJC, Carrie Miller has the amazing opportunity this year to take a one-year sabbatical and study creative writing. As a lover of books, she’s always enjoyed writing fiction creatively but has never felt particularly good at it. Now that she’s taking creative writing classes and making writing a priority in her life, she hopes that with practice, study, and a lot of consistency, she can improve her fiction writing skills. Carrie also loves traveling and has been to almost 30 countries. This year she and her husband will celebrate their 20-year anniversary in Spain, one of the countries she has always wanted to visit. Carrie loves hanging out with her husband and two teenage daughters, and enjoys hiking, baking, playing pickleball, and drinking lots of coffee!