California State University Emeritus & Retired Faculty & Staff Association

 

The CSU-ERFSA Small Grant Program Recent History

Since 1997, the CSU-ERFA Charitable Foundation has awarded 82 grants for a total of $77, 371. We recently surveyed past CSU-ERFSA grant recipients to gain a fuller understanding of the benefits of the small grant program. A brief synopsis of the recipients’ responses is listed below. The effects of COVID epidemic restrictions on many of the projects is evident. Every grant recipient expressed strong gratitude to the CSU-ERFA Foundation for its support of faculty and staff research & creative projects. The following list provides an indication of the breadth and depth of research, scholarly, and creative activities that have been supported by this small grant program.

Gregory A Antipa, (San Francisco), has been studying Conchophthirus for over 50 years. The Shell Flea, a genus of ciliated protozoa that includes at least 10 different species, is found only in the mantle cavity of freshwater bivalve mussels. Up to this point, methods of circumstantial analysis has allowed gradual progress. Now, DNA analytical techniques have made comparisons of the species as well as relationships with other protozoa possible. His grant will help defray travel costs so he and his colleagues may collect and eventually understand how these symbionts have invaded freshwater bivalve mussels around the world.

Marylee Bradley, (Stanislaus), is writing a book, Lorna Sage: Critic as Teacher, about how literary critic Lorna Sage boosted the status of women writing fiction in English during the last decades of the twentieth century. Her grant is being used to pay for the transmission of Sage’s papers archived at the University of East Anglia.

Linda Bunney-Sarhad, (Stanislaus), grant helped disseminate the opera "The Race" beyond Central California. She was commissioned by Opera Modesto to write the libretto for an opera that was to be composed by CSU Stanislaus Professor of Music Deborah Kavasch. When the opera was completed, it could not be performed in-person because of Covid restrictions, so it became a professionally produced and filmed motion picture.

Robert Cherny, (San Francisco), book, Harry Bridges: Labor Radical, Labor Legend, is being published by the University of Illinois Press. Bridges, long-time leader of Pacific Coast longshore workers, led his union through several controversial strikes and also through negotiations that defined workers' rights during containerization. Four times, federal authorities tried--and failed--to deport or imprison him for his alleged ties to Communism. His grant allowed him to include some of the most dramatic--and most expensive--photos. 

Terry Christensen, (San Jose), grant provided essential funding for technical assistance in making 20 video oral histories of San Jose politics accessible throughYouTube at:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKpv9-EjbubQw6zy69-HFnmXMrwlLgPil.

Britten Dean, (Stanislaus), used his grant to help defray costs of the translation of the work of fiction, The Wasteland, by a modern Japanese author, Takahashi Takako (1932 to 2013). His work also included an introduction in which he summarized the story, analyzed the overall meaning of the novel, and explored Takahashi’s feminist views.

Barbara Glaeser, (Fullerton), her grant allowed her to purchase 30 books, such as “March”, “They Called Us Enemy” “The Magic Fish”, “The Pride of Baghdad, “Lumberjanes” and “Maus” to use to train teachers in the Reading and Language Arts course to utilize graphic novels in their classrooms to improve comprehension for students with disabilities, and to share graphic novels with adults in an OLLI course.

Gamini Gunawardane, (Fullerton), used his grant to do a comprehensive survey of previous research, field studies and case studies on applying participatory co-creation in university courses, in particular undergraduate business courses, after his original project had to be altered due the pandemic. He authored a manuscript which has been submitted to a business education journal.

Debora Hammond, (Somoma), her grant helped fund the publication, Education for an Engaged Citizenry, an anthology of reflections from faculty and alumni of the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies in honor of its 50th anniversary/reunion. It is currently being used to give current students an appreciation for the legacy of the program.

Anna Hamre, (Fresno), grant was for partial funding of a concert highlighting homelessness in Central California, but it had to be canceled due to the pandemic. Her grant was used to partially compensate the professional musicians who reserved the weekend for the performance.

Susana Hernández Araico, (Pomona), used her grant to support her participation in the biennial conference on the Spanish baroque playwright Calderón, in Vienna. After being postponed due to the pandemic, it was held in October 2021. Her paper has been submitted for publication in the selected proceedings.

Isabel Kaprielian, (Fresno), her grants were used for research mostly at the National Archives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, for her book, Orphan Survivors of the Armenian Genocide. It was about the healing process of children who had survived the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian Relief Association of Canada brought 109 orphan boys to Canada where they settled on a farm/orphanage, just west of Toronto, Ontario.

Elizabeth Kenneday, (Long Beach), her first grant allowed her to travel to research her book, Regarding Mono Lake: Novelty and Delight at an Inland Sea, 2014. It was described as the “first cultural and art history of the Mono Basin.” Another grant enabled her to purchase costumes and props for an international collaborative art installation, with Canadian artist Susan Malmström at the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts in Nova Scotia, Canada. Her final grant allowed her to acquire specialized materials in the production of an artist’s book, Roadside Botanicals—a field guide that uses a contemporary photographic approach to traditional botanical prints in depicting wildflowers that often grow in disturbed areas, such as construction zones, abandoned agricultural fields and along roadsides.

Daniel Kessner, (Northridge), his grant partially supported his CD: Daniel Kessner: Chamber Music; Centaur Records CRC 3478. In 2013, the Conservatório do Porto hosted a "Festival Kessner," in which he and his wife performed alongside local musicians, including a gorgeous presentation of his song cycle by soprano Cecília Fontes and pianist Lúcia Rodrigues, which was recorded in 2014. The rest of the CD was recorded later in France and California. The CD and a live concert video are available on YouTube.

David R. Maciel, (Dominguez Hills), his grants allowed him to do research on Mexico's cultural icon: German Valdes, Tin Tan, which was published in the journal Voices of Mexico [Mexico), Issue 101, Summer 2016, entitled: "Tin Tan, Mexico's First Postmodern Icon."

http://www.revistascisan.unam.mx/Voices/pdfs/10110.pdf

Merry Pawlowski, (Bakersfield), her grant paid travel expenses to New York to study rare materials in the Joseph Conrad archive housed in the New York Public Library, including the typescript of Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” which has never been scanned and digitized. These are vital for completion of her book, Mapping, Space, and the Rise of Commodity Culture in Joseph Conrad’s Congo.

Katharine Davies Samway, (San Jose), her grant paid for the transcription of interviews with K-8 teachers about the impact of the COVID pandemic on their teaching. She is in the process of authoring a manuscript for publication.

Art Shulman, (Northridge), used his grant to make a 2022 Zoom recording of his play, BIAS. The play concerns a college professor accused of discrimination and bias by a student he had reported to Student Affairs for cheating. His grant paid a technical person to edit and advise, and to compensate actors. It is available free on YouTube at https://youtu.be/A_Uy5zJMVp4

David R. Sprung, (East Bay), completed the composition of his 2nd string quartet. The renowned Delgani String Quartet recorded it for YouTube which his grant partially funded the fee required. It is available at https://youtu.be/OBUUCPNYqzo.

David Stronck, (East Bay), his grant helped fund the collection of data on newly planted native  trees at the Masonic Retirement home in Union City, CA. The data provided a map for finding areas most conducive to tree growth and serves as the baseline for research on the best way to restore a native forest of the Live Oak in the interior  hills of the coastal environment.

Catherine Turrill Lupi, (Sacramento), altered her original plans due to COVID epidemic, and used her grant to cover expenses related to production of a video about Plautilla Nelli (broadcast by PBS in Fall 2021). She wrote the entry about Plautilla for a scholarly website about women artists (launched in March 2022).

Edythe Walker, (Fullerton), authored the paper, "Partnerships for Adults or Cultivation of Children? The Functions of Early 21st Century U.S. Families" and presented it at the Theory Construction and Research Methodology Workshop of the National Council on Family Relations," Nov. 2020. She submitted her manuscript to the Journal of Family Theory and Review.  Her grant allowed her to buy a printer, books, and for travel expenses for a conference meeting in Minneapolis, where she will be a discussant at a workshop.

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