Emerging Scholars Symposium – June 7, 2025, Pomona College by Pomona College

April Mayes, "La Profa"

amsagehen94 — 2025-04-23 17:50:26 UTC

Saludos! California-raised of Southern and Caribbean ingredients. Mother of two warriors. Historian and Literature Lover.

taylormcadam — 2025-04-23 20:47:10 UTC

I'm entering my third year as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Math & Stats department at Pomona College. I'm actually back in Claremont, having completed my Bachelor's in math at Harvey Mudd College in 2013! In between then and now, I was a grad student at UT Austin and UCSD and a postdoc at Yale. Ever since my time at Mudd, I have dreamed of being a professor at a small liberal arts college, and my time working at Pomona has reaffirmed my conviction in this career path.

Guidelines for Sharing Teaching Evaluations

aslj2024 — 2025-05-02 17:09:24 UTC

A useful guideline to help in organizing and processing your teaching evaluations.

It will be especially helpful during the lunchtime rapid fire consultations over cover letters, teaching statements, research statements, etc. Make sure to bring your material.

Materials for the Research Talk in a Liberal Arts Setting workshop

aslj2024 — 2025-05-02 18:32:21 UTC

Check out the document, "Guidelines for Giving an Engaging Research Talk," which is especially recommended for the workshop, The Research Talk in a Liberal Arts Setting

The Classroom Demonstration for Liberal Arts Students––material for the workshop

aslj2024 — 2025-05-02 20:10:08 UTC

Worksheets and guidelines to help you prepare for a career at a liberal arts college, and that go very well with the workshop, The Classroom Demonstration for Liberal Arts Students

Teaching Demonstration Lesson Plan Template

Inclusive Excellence Statement Worksheet

Guidelines for Sharing Teaching Evaluations

Worksheets & guidelines for workshop, Writing the Teaching Statement: From Ideas to Practice

aslj2024 — 2025-05-02 20:23:20 UTC

Help get your career at a SLAC going from an idea into practice with the workshop, Writing the Teaching Statement: From Ideas to Practice, and these supplementary aides

Teaching Philosophy Worksheet

Guidelines for Sharing Teaching Evaluations

Greetings Emerging Scholars!

jonathanaragon — 2025-05-02 20:30:08 UTC

It is a pleasure to welcome you. My professional background includes supporting PhD students like yourselves in preparing portfolios and presentations for faculty roles.

My research focuses on integration science—bridging theory and practice to develop hybrid approaches that support academic flourishing.

I also serve The Claremont Colleges, fostering cross-campus academic collaborations and build meaningful opportunities for connection.

I look forward to supporting you at the Emerging Scholars Symposium. I am confident it will be an energizing introduction to academic life at The Claremont Colleges.

Warmly

~ Jonathan Aragon

Writing Cover Letters for Jobs at SLACs––the workshop!

aslj2024 — 2025-05-02 20:34:30 UTC

The Cover Letter Worksheet!

Writing Your Mentorship Philosophy Statement––Video

aslj2024 — 2025-05-02 21:03:39 UTC

Video by Jonathan Aragon: Writing Your Mentorship Philosophy Statement

Build Your Own Academic Website

aslj2024 — 2025-05-02 21:07:01 UTC

Build Your Own Academic Website for Free: A Step-by-Step Tutorial with Jonathan Aragon

Sarah G

sarah_at_pomona — 2025-05-02 22:09:51 UTC

Hello there, Emergent Scholars!

I'm a newbie to Academic Affairs and love working at Pomona College. We can't wait to welcome you all on campus very soon!

Emerging Scholars Symposium––June 7, 2025, Pomona College

aslj2024 — 2025-05-02 22:17:07 UTC

On Saturday, June 7^th, 2025, the Claremont Colleges will host a one-day symposium for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from institutions in southern California.

Learn more about the Emerging Scholars Symposium.

Amir Soliman

amirsalamasoliman — 2025-05-05 15:38:38 UTC

I'm an administrative assistant at Pomona College. I've been here for about one year, and I love the family/intimacy feel of a small liberal arts college.

Roman Geiko

geiko2 — 2025-05-14 04:05:40 UTC

I am finishing my second year as a PostDoc at the Physics&Astronomy department at UCLA. I got my PhD at Rutgers and I am currently doing research in theoretical and mathematical physics.

I am very excited about both physics and math and looking forward to learning more about SLACs and meeting new people.

Rudra M Guha Biswas

rguha003 — 2025-05-15 19:02:57 UTC

I am a fifth year Political Science grad student at the University of California, Riverside. My works engages with the new phenomenon of Geoeconomics, which is leading to a fragmentation of international investment, trade, and technology flows. I look at these processes through an IPE lens and try to bring this perspective to my teaching efforts.

Looking forward to interacting with the participants of the Emerging Scholars Symposium and figuring out what it means to be a part of a Liberal Arts college community.

Brandy J. Lewis

2025-05-15 20:48:13 UTC

I am a recent doctoral graduate from the University of California, Riverside (2024). My work engages the fields of Film and Media Studies, Queer Theory, Speculative Fiction, and Print Studies, with my dissertation having looked at the contemporary community known as the furry fandom to understand how fans' numerous printed works challenge our understanding of fan culture.

Denyz Melchor (she/her/ella)

melchordenyz — 2025-05-16 17:40:27 UTC

I’m an Astrophysics PhD candidate at UCLA, where I study the dynamics of how stars are torn apart by supermassive black hole binaries—read my recent paper here. I’m passionate about making complex astrophysics accessible through teaching and mentorship!

Zachary Dorson

zdors001 — 2025-05-17 00:00:01 UTC

I am a political theory graduate student and doctoral candidate at the University of California, Riverside. My dissertation explores the moral justifications of meritocracy. I draw on value pluralism and the tradition of virtue ethics to address the criticisms of meritocracy. I have a passion for teaching historical political thought and have taught several courses on political ideologies at UCR, which have been rewarding experiences.

I look forward to learning about liberal arts colleges and connecting with scholars at the Emerging Scholars Symposium. My dream is to become a professor at a liberal arts college, to teach students the skills of textual analysis and how to navigate philosophical disagreements.

Andy Schuster

andyschuster — 2025-05-19 18:05:12 UTC

Grants Administrator at Pomona College for our internal research funds, including the Summer Undergraduate Research Program, lovingly referred to as SURP. (https://pomona.edu/surp)

Gloria Gonzalez-Morales, Director of the Claremont Faculty Leadership Program and Prof at CGU

drmggm — 2025-05-20 20:29:31 UTC

I am an associate professor of Organizational Psychology at Claremont Graduate University. Originally from Canary Islands (Spain), I have been a scholar in University of Valencia, George Mason University, University of Delaware and University of Guelph (Canada).

Rachel Birke (She/Her)

2025-05-21 00:01:50 UTC

Hi! I'm a PhD Candidate in the UCLA Department of English, where I've taught and studied for the last 5 years. My research focuses on the Aesthetics, Popular Culture, and Race in the trans-Atlantic 19th Century. The dissertation I'm currently writing engages Medievalism, the figure of the "Medieval Venus," and the ways Decadent writers explored artificiality, performance, and authenticity in relation to history and racial identity. Teaching English courses is my greatest joy, and I have always wanted to explore the opportunity to do so at a liberal arts college!

Wendy Carlos demonstrates the Moog synth, 1970

amirsalamasoliman — 2025-05-21 15:47:52 UTC

Kevin Kandamby (he/him/él)

2025-05-21 21:20:25 UTC

Hi everyone! I am a Ph.D. candidate in Chicana/o and Central American Studies at UCLA. My research focuses on the identity formation processes of AsianLatines living in the United States. Informed by my own lived experience as a MexiLankan (Mexican and Sri Lankan), through interviews and photo voice, I explore how place, culture, and resistencia challenge monoracialization processes in the Latine and Asian American communities in the United States.

I look forward to returning to the Claremont Colleges where my academic journey began in 2015. These institutions were transformative to my education and I hope to learn more about the liberal arts colleges from the faculty perspective.

Tara Dybas, Associate Director for Academic Affairs

taradybas — 2025-05-21 22:00:30 UTC

Hello! My name is Tara. I grew up in a tiny farm town, went to a CSU for my undergrad/MA, and went to UC Riverside for (most of) my PhD. I've been at Pomona College for 18 months supporting faculty tenure & promotion and a wide range of bits and bobs related to faculty & student success and shared governance. The SLAC atmosphere was SO different than what I was used to, and I love that it feels like a little neighborhood.

Charlotte Kelly (she/her)

2025-05-28 23:44:30 UTC

Hi! I am a third-year cognitive neuroscience Ph.D. student at UCLA. I also an alumni of Rollins College, which is a small liberal arts college in Florida. My undergrad had a huge impact on me and on how I approach education. I cannot wait to learn more about what it is like to work at a liberal arts college and about the faculty application process! I'm also really interested in learning more about the Claremont College system.

Makenzie Read. (Meet me on the web!)

mrread2 — 2025-05-31 18:00:15 UTC

jhuft001 — 2025-05-31 19:20:07 UTC

I'm a PhD candidate in sociology at UC Riverside. My work sits at the intersection of social psychology, sociology of race, and sociology of religion. I primarily use sociological social psychology theories of identity to explore race, religion, and emotionality. My dissertation looks at the underlying identity meanings that link the white racial and Christian evangelical identities, and how these meanings relate to Christian nationalist attitudes.

Theo Jacobson

tjacobson19 — 2025-06-03 02:38:18 UTC

I am finishing my 2nd year as a postdoc in the Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics at UCLA. I got my PhD at the University of Minnesota, and before that was an undergrad at Macalester College. Since that time, I've been dreaming of returning to a small liberal arts college -- I miss the sense of community, togetherness, and genuine connections between students and faculty.

Felicia Davatolhagh

2025-06-03 06:00:25 UTC

Hi everyone! I'm a postdoc in the Neurobiology department at UCLA. My research focuses on how the gene neurexin shapes neural circuits that underlie decision making, with the goal of understanding how disruptions in these processes may contribute to conditions like autism. Prior to UCLA, I was at UPenn for my PhD, and did my undergrad at UC Irvine. I'm looking forward to learning more about the Claremont Colleges and meeting everyone!

Evelyn Vasquez

2025-06-03 17:07:06 UTC

I am generally interested in depictions of poor housing as a literary aesthetic that authors and visual artists use to show the effects of forced (dis)placement. I research architectural imagery represented in U.S. novels, memoirs, and visual mediums from the mid-19th up to the 20th century. I argue that the relationship between image and text brings together isolated geographies that are drastically different in face value. However, subjects’ home insecurity is vividly connected through the architecture and geography they inhabit. https://egvasquez.com

Devon Baur (she/her)

2025-06-04 19:44:31 UTC

Hi there! I currently wrapping up my PhD at UCLA in Theatre and Performance Studies. My research explores new media, performance, and multisensory technology that expands (or limits) the sensorium - with a particular focus on olfaction. I have held artist and research residencies in multiple technology labs, including Electrical Engineering at Stanford and the Multisensory Devices Group at University College London. Prior to starting my PhD, I worked in the VR/XR industry as a curator and producer for nearly a decade, showing work at major festivals (including Sundance, Tribeca, Cannes, and the World Economic Forum in Davos), and for major clients (including Google and Gucci).

Jacob Green

jacobogreen — 2025-06-05 17:59:46 UTC

I'm about to finish a PhD in history of science and medicine at UCLA. My dissertation focuses on how doctors sought to control the hallucinogenic effects of drugs like nitrous oxide and ether after they began using them as anesthetics in the mid-19th century. I really enjoy giving seminar style classes and want to focus my academic career on teaching. Classes I have offered so far at UCLA as the lead instructor include one on the history of psychedelic medicine and another on how altered states of consciousness like meditation have influenced creativity and culture over the past 200 years.

https://history.ucla.edu/person/jacob-green/

Emily Angelo

2025-06-07 01:36:26 UTC

I am a PhD candidate in Sociology at UC Riverside. I specialize primarily in sociological social psychology, and I am the manager of UCR's Social Psychology Research Lab (SPYRL). My research interests include self and identity processes, identity change, dating relationships, socialization, and authenticity. My dissertation explores the role of identity processes in romantic partnership breakups among young adults and how a breakup might change how individuals think about themselves in various aspects of their lives.

Nicholas Ball, Associate Professor of Chemistry

nicholasball5 — 2025-06-07 02:23:02 UTC

Hi, my name is Nick. I am a chemist and a proud Tennessean. I am so thankful to have started my 13th year as a professor! I deeply love my job and am a product of a liberal arts education (Macalester College), and I enjoy chatting with folks looking for a career as a professor!

Joyce Nguy

joycenguy — 2025-06-07 04:21:13 UTC

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at UCLA, with subfields in Race and Ethnic Politics, American Politics, and Methods. I have research interests in campaigns, representation, and political behavior. My dissertation examines how minority candidates navigate racial identity and racial messaging in their campaigns. Prior to the Ph.D., I spent a year living in the pineapple fields of Taiwan with the Fulbright Program (the best year ever!).

Nallely Valenzuela

2025-06-11 23:57:59 UTC

I am a Ph.D candidate in Political Science at UCLA. My primary subfields are International Relations and Comparative Politics. My research interests include international political economy, international trade, technical barriers to trade, and consumer behavior. My dissertation explores the role of consumers as active agents in shaping international trade rules, challenging the traditionally top-down nature of trade governance and highlighting a largely overlooked bottom-up mechanism.