Faculty and Staff

Learn alongside scholars and professionals who are committed to helping you think deeply, communicate effectively and make meaningful change in your community.

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CSUMB’s Humanities and Communication faculty are active scholars, creators, and professionals who bring both academic expertise and real-world experience into the classroom. With specialties ranging from pre-law and rhetoric to creative writing, journalism, philosophy, and ethnic and gender studies, our interdisciplinary department reflects both depth and breadth of knowledge.

Our faculty are not only teachers, but mentors. They guide students through research projects, internships, creative work, and senior capstone experiences — helping them develop confidence, clarity, and purpose in their academic journeys.

HCOM students also receive personalized support from a dedicated team of staff, including academic and career advisors who assist with degree planning, professional development, and post-graduate preparation.

Below, you’ll find listings for tenure-track faculty, lecturers, emeritus faculty, advisors, and staff who contribute to the HCOMmunity.

Tenure Track Faculty

Patrick Belanger

Jennifer Fletcher

Kaiqi Hua

Mridula Mascarenhas

Kelly Medina-Loez

Phuong Ngueyn (Chair)

Estella Porras

Sriya Shrestha

Hojin Song

Qun Wang

Jeremias Zunguze

Lecturer Faculty

Ajit Abraham

Netta Avineri

Jacques Belval

April Browning

Shawn Calhoun

Barbara Cook

Zurine De Miguel (Special Consultant, First Year Seminar Program)

Rachelle Escamilla

Barbara Finch

Tiffany Galicia

Antonio Gallardo

Nancy Garcia

Frank (Tyler) Gidney

Victoria Gomez

Christiana (Pilar) Graham

Noah Hansen

Christine (Chrissy) Hernandez

Ava Homa

Alexandria Jones

David Kellogg

Kristen LaFollette

Sunita Lanka

Yhashika Lee

Ryne Leuzinger

Kyle Livie

Salina Lopez

Jennifer Lovell (Special Consultant, Service Learning)

Matthew Mathias

Rosemary Mena-Werth

Tritia Moneypenny

Nicholas Mullins

Imelda Munoz

Meghan O'Donnell

Alo Orozco

Janet Oseguera-Valencia

John (Glorian) Provost

Carissa Purnell

Lee Ritscher

Cody Roberts

Alisha Romano

Gilbert Salazar

Deborah Silguero

Michael Sonrode

Stephanie Spoto

John Swanson

Lisa Watson

Peter Xiong

Janet Yantis

Barbara Zanger Zuniga

Emeritus Faculty

Cecilia O'Leary

David Reichard

Debian Marty

Debra Busman

Diana Garcia

Ernest Stromberg

Frances Payne Alber

Ilene Feinman (former Dean)

John Berteaux

Josina Makau (founding Dean)

Kathleen Godfrey

Maria Villaseñor

Renee Curry (former Dean)

Rina Benmayor

Umi Vaughn

Advisor

Nongnenj Vang

Staff

Wendy Rutledge

Natalie Carbonel

 

Office Hours & Contact Information

The HCOM Department Office is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding holidays.

Faculty office hours are posted on individual office doors and are available in this Google Doc. Office hours are updated each semester.