It's finals week, the holiday season is almost here, and the shift in mood from studious to celebratory is palpable around campus. As the semester winds down to the holiday break, we want to thank you for the caring and dedication you show to our students as we work together to enhance, enrich, and empower the human experience.

Take a look at HHD, then read our news below!

HHD's 2024 Conference, “Expanding Horizons: Advancing Research Excellence Through Diversity, Collaboration, and Creativity” featured a variety of student, faculty, and staff research projects.

Among his accomplishments, Mike Paciello says he owes much of his career to the influences and inspiration he got from CSUN, beginning over 30 years ago with an invitation to attend the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference.

Christopher Rogers (Health Sciences) has been named the 2024-25 CSUN Research Fellow for HHD. Chris' area of specialization is Public Health/Applied Epidemiology, and his research project is: Assessing Neighborhood factor effects on an intervention program and youth mental health. Research results to come in 2025.

Maral Farsi is a great example of a student who arrived with uncertainty about where she was going, but who asked questions—of others, and of herself—to discover her interests and strengths. 

We talked with Alex Ramirez about her student internship with the Center of Achievement and her career development as a result of pairing her experience with her kinesiology degree to obtain a position as Administrative Assistant for the Center.

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For the HHD holiday celebration this year, the College held a food packing event, supplying food items and filling baskets with a special emphasis on helping people get through the holiday break while campus is closed from December 23 through January 2. The total amount of groceries donated was 970 pounds!

2023-2024 CSUN Research Fellow for HHD, Jacob Hinkel-Lipsker (Kinesiology) presented at the 16th Annual Research Fellows Colloquium hosted by the Provost in November. His project examines the feasibility of virtual reality for rehabilitation motor skills.

Students can prepare for a meaningful and rewarding career by pursuing a Minor in Gerontology in HHD. With Americans aged 65 and older projected to make up 21% of the population by 2030, the need for professionals who understand the aging process has never been greater. 

In spring 2024, Health Sciences students attended the CSU Sacramento Policy Conference. Every year our students participate. This year in particular, the department was fortunate to take sixteen CSUN students, with two of our faculty to chaperone.

Raising a child has always been expensive and with surges in the prices of everyday essentials, some households are drowning as childcare costs add to their expenses. This has left some families looking for financial relief.

Dance is art, imagination, collaboration and the physical expression of the human existence. CSUN students can now earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance. This new degree was inspired by our students who love dance and want to complete a degree that will prepare them for a career in dance.

In the publication about his study, Sean Flanagan (Kinesiology) demonstrates that a decrease in torque around the knee joint may be compensated for by increasing the torque around the other joints. But such compensations come at a cost: namely, a backward acceleration that could lead to a fall if compensation is not made.

The word “Sangha” refers to the community of people that surround and support you in your contemplative and spiritual journey.  Sangha at CSUN is offered to the CSUN community to engage in mindfulness practice for mental, physical, and overall wellbeing. 

In Memoriam

Paulette Shafranski, professor emerita of Kinesiology/Dance, passed away on Aug. 11, 2024. Shafranski joined the faculty of San Fernando Valley State College (now CSUN) 1963. She motivated and inspired many students throughout her vibrant career.

Enhance, Enrich, Empower: Give

Making a donation to CSUN HHD can fund scholarships, deep-impact learning experiences, innovative projects and technology, and much more. Your gift strengthens projects, programs, and events like the ones we are sharing about today. Your gift helps our students and faculty improve the quality of life across the lifespan locally, and globally.

CSUN HHD recognizes and acknowledges the Sesevitam, the first people of this ancestral and unceded territory of Sesevenga that is now occupied by our institution and our college, and it honors their elders, past and present, and the Sesevitam descendants who are citizens of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. We recognize that the Sesevitam are still here and we are committed to lifting up their stories, culture, and community.

HHD News Now is the newsletter for the alumni, community partners, friends, staff, faculty, and emeriti of the College of Health and Human Development at CSUN. About HHD News Now