COE Welcomes New Faculty and Staff for Fall 2017

The College of Education is excited to welcome four new faculty members for the fall semester.  This talented group is a wonderful addition to the SDSU community!

Four New Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty

Karen S. Myers-Bowman, Ph.D.
Department of Child and Family Development


Dr. Karen S. Myers-Bowman earned her Ph.D. in Child Development and Family Studies at Purdue University. Dr. Myers-Bowman is a family scientist specializing in family life education. Her areas of interest include parent-child communication – especially about difficult topics such as war/peace and sexuality; families across cultures; human sexuality and sexuality education; qualitative research methodologies; and effective teaching methodologies. She is presently conducting a multi-national study on the experiences of high school exchange students and their families of origin as well as families who host exchange students. This study is designed to build a body of knowledge about this important international effort that can help guide the development of evidence-informed best practices.

Sesen Negash, Ph.D.
Department of Counseling and School Psychology

Dr. Sesen Negash earned her Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Florida State University.  Prior to joining SDSU she was an assistant professor in the Couple and Family Therapy program at Alliant University for five years.  Dr. Negash’s program of research examines: the interpersonal implications of sexual behaviors (i.e., pornography, cybersex, and sexual/emotional infidelity) on monogamous dating relationships; the health implications of at risk-sexual behaviors for monogamous couples; romantic relationships among previously incarcerated men and their partners; and access to therapy among immigrants/refugees couples.

Dr. Negash is also a practicing MFT Intern in California and an Approved AAMFT Supervisor.  She currently volunteers with the International Refugee Committee and Volunteers of America. Outside of academia, she enjoys woodwork, ceramics, and frequenting coffee shops.

Katie Sciurba, Ph.D.
School of Teacher Education

Dr. Katie Sciurba is a literacy education scholar focused on equity, student identities, and relevance. She earned her Ph.D. in English Education from New York University after working as a classroom teacher in the Bronx. Her research centers on students’ experiences as readers and the ways in which they construct meaning from texts. She also examines diversity and political messaging in children’s books, textual and pedagogical reflections of popular culture, and classroom practices related to multiculturalism. In addition to her scholarly work, Dr. Sciurba has an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School and has published books, magazine articles, and textbook materials for young readers.  

Belén Hernando Lloréns, Ph.D. 
Division of Education - Imperial Valley Campus (IVC)

Dr. Belén Hernando Lloréns earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She specializes in the possibilities and limitations that public schooling provides for linguistically and culturally diverse students. Her most recent work focuses on the ethnographic and historical study of how Latin@ youth come to produce their subjectivities as citizens in a diverse working-class public high school in Madrid (Spain). Her research interest includes curriculum studies, bilingual and dual-language schooling, bilingual teacher education, latin@s’ schooling in the US and abroad, educational and language policy, and ethnographic and genealogical research. In AERA 2016, she was awarded the Exemplary Work from Promising Scholars. Belén is a former middle and high school teacher in Kansas and a certified teacher in the United States and Spain.

Two New Visiting Professors

Idara Essien-Wood, Ph.D.
Department of Child and Family Development

Jennica L. Paz, Ph.D. 
Department of Counseling and School Psychology

New Staff

Catrina Fuentes
Department of Counseling and School Psychology

Michelle Xiong
Office of Student Services

Faculty Promotions

The following College of Education faculty members were promoted and/or tenured effective the beginning of the 2017-18 academic year:

Promoted to Professor 

Cristina Alfaro 
Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education

Marva Cappello 
School of Teacher Education

J. Luke Wood
Administration, Rehabilitation and Postsecondary Education

Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

Cristian Aquino-Sterling
School of Teacher Education

Joey Nunez Estrada
Department of Counseling and School Psychology

Sarah Garrity
Department of Child and Family Development

Jim Marshall
Department of Educational Leadership

New Roles

School of Teacher Education (STE) 
Alexander ‘Sasha’ Chizhik, Interim Director
Johanna ‘Kris’ Rodenberg, Interim Associate Director
Virginia Loh-Hagan, Coordinator, Liberal Studies

Dean's Welcome

2017-18 Welcome-back Statement from Dean Johnson.