Finding Humanity in Prison

Fresno State debate students enter the prison yard through a dark tunnel with chainlink gate.

While the bachelor’s degree looks great on paper to the parole board, the humanities courses have taught incarcerated individuals to reflect on their past and write their own story for their future. 

Read More

2024 Arts in Motion: Meet the Students

Arts in Motion - Celebrating Student Excellence in the College of Arts and Humanities - photos of Dean's Medalist, marching band, mural painter and actors on stage.

Arts in Motion will be held at 4 p.m. Friday, April 19, at the Fresno State Concert Hall. During the event, one undergraduate and one graduate student of distinction will be presented as Dean’s Medalist.

Read More

Powerful ‘Carmina Burana’ performance caps Arts and Humanities Showcase

The weeklong series of events kicks off at 4 p.m. Friday, April 19, with Arts in Motion, a celebration of the College of Arts and Humanities’ top students. The showcase culminates with two live performances of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” an emotional spectacle of music and might, at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27.

Read More

Fresno State Focus: Food, taxes and Peach Blossom Festival

Children perform in the Peach Blossom Festival.

This week on Fresno State Focus: Our student journalists explore the Fetch mobile app, which has become a convenient way of ordering food on campus. They will also show students tips and tricks for tax season and what resources are available to them on campus.  Plus, they look at the importance of the Peach Blossom […]

Read More

Barking Bulldogs have a great start in the 2023-24 season

A group of college students sit at a long table and pose for a photo. They are wearing business casual clothes and are getting ready for a debate.

The Barking Bulldogs opened the 2023-24 season at the Golden Gate Opener at San Francisco State University with an excellent performance. The tournament, which ran on September 29 and 30 saw a great start, despite being the first tournament for most of the team members. 

Read More

Students inspire during commencement season

Graduate Dean's Medalist Mialise Carney, Dean Honora Chapman and Undergraduate Dean's Medalist Lucca Lorenzi in full regalia on the Fresno State campus.

We are excited to acknowledge the achievements of our College’s most accomplished students. From the creative artists to the humanists, every scholarship winner and Student of Distinction reflects the experimentation, compassion, and curiosity that Fresno State fosters.

Read More

Barking Bulldogs shine as in-person competition resumes

The Barking Bulldogs hold up their coach Dr. Douglas Fraleigh. Everyone is dressed in business casual dress and they stand on top of a mountain, behind them we can see trees and a foggy valley.

“The team had an amazing experience working and traveling with such great successes.  It has been great to return to in-person tournaments this semester and see the Barking Bulldogs shine in competition,” said Dr. Douglas Fraleigh, coach.

Read More

2023 Arts in Motion recognizes the college’s top students

Arts in Motion - Celebrating Student Excellence. Photos of the 2022 President's Medalist Audia Dixon and Steven Hensley along with a bass drummer in the Rose Parade, a painter working on a mural and actors on stage.

We are excited to acknowledge the achievements of our College’s most accomplished students. From the creative artists to the humanists, every scholarship winner and Student of Distinction reflects the experimentation, compassion, and curiosity that Fresno State fosters.

Read More

Student of Distinction: Jasmine Ibal-Nolasco

Student of Distinction: Jasmine Ibal-Nolasco

“I plan to be the first person in my family with ‘Ph.D.’ after her name. I am hopeful for the new relationships that I will make in my future, and I am grateful that it has all started within the space of Fresno State.”

Read More

Student of Distinction: Melissa Tejeda

Student of Distinction: Melissa Tejeda

“I will take all the skills obtained in my communication degree and strive for social justice and inclusivity among my peers, not only in my career but wherever life takes me.”

Read More

The 2023 Arts and Humanities Showcase

Arts and Humanities Showcase

The Arts and Humanities Showcase offers a unique opportunity, through various performances, exhibits, lectures and workshops, to immerse yourself in the creativity and cultural diversity of Fresno State’s talented students.

Read More

Peach Blossom returns to Fresno State after pandemic

Elementary School children practice for their Peach Blossom Performance.

This year’s 64th annual Peach Blossom Festival marked the beginning of a return to normalcy for students. This first post-Covid festival drew nearly 1,000 students, plus parents, chaperones, and spectators, to the Fresno State campus.

Read More

Student of Distinction: Laura Trickett

Student of Distinction: Laura Trickett

“When I accidentally became a communication major, I thought I was signing up for four years of education. I didn’t know that it would lead to meeting amazing peers turned life-long friends, intentional professors turned life-long mentors, and a simple internship turned a life-long career.” 

Read More

Student of Distinction: Lauryn Flores

Student of Distinction: Lauryn Flores

“As I prepare to complete my master’s degree and move on to law school, I have certainly seen the ways in which our words – our commitment to communication that uplifts and protects, create a more beautiful world for the people around us.”

Read More

#TBT America’s Story: Japanese American Experience

Saburo and Marion Masada tell their story at the Henry Madden Library

In this video posted by the Henry Madden Library, Saburo and Marion Masada recount their story growing up in the incarceration camps during World War II and life before and after the war. They also tell the larger story of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II in general.

Read More

2020 Grad Tribute

2020 Grad Tribute - College of Arts and Humanities - Inspiration for Life

We want to be the first to congratulate you on your achievements. The College’s faculty and staff join us in applauding you.

Read More

Canceled – Arts in Motion event and showcase

Arts in Motion Showcase - March 22-28. Cello player in front of music building.

We regret to announce that the Arts in Motion, scheduled for 2 p.m., Saturday, March 28 at the Concert Hall has been canceled. All public events in the Arts in Motion Showcase scheduled for March 22-28 have also been canceled.

Read More

Another good showing for the Barking Bulldogs in Long Beach

Demitria Wack and Payton Polanco

From November 1 to 3, the Barking Bulldogs traveled to Long Beach to participate in the Fall at the Beach Invitational Forensics Tournament hosted by CSU Long Beach. Thirty-five teams participated in the tournament and as usual, our debater shined amongst them.

Read More

Students gain experience while helping menstruators in need

Dr. Falon Kartch and Mary Castro volunteer at Better Period’s event downtown for National Period Day, Oct. 19.

They seem a bit timid at first — not something you would expect from a group of Communication students — but the topic is not something which is often talked about openly. As the conversation continues, the stories get a bit more personal.

Read More

Barking Bulldogs Debate Team shines in San Diego

Last weekend, Oct 5 and 6, the Barking Bulldogs traveled to San Diego to participate in the Aztec Invitational Forensics Tournament hosted by San Diego State University. A total of 22 teams participated in the tournament and Fresno State Barking Bulldogs shined amongst them.

Read More

Alumna Ersilia Lacaze is proud of her Bulldog blood

Ersilia Lacaze

It is the thick red fluid which runs through our veins that delivers oxygen and nutrients and removes waste and disease from our bodies. With it we live, without it, we die. But our relationship with blood is symbiotic — without our body, the blood will spoil.

Read More

Bravely enduring

Jordan Cody

Facing fatherhood, homelessness and injuries: One veteran’s journey to success

Read More

Come celebrate ‘Arts in Motion’ with us!

Arts in Motion

The community is invited to celebrate the College of Arts and Humanities’ top students with an afternoon of performances and recognition on Saturday, April 6, 2019 at 2 p.m. in the Fresno State Concert Hall. The event will be followed by a reception in the Phebe Conley Gallery.

Read More

Alyssa Espinola, Student of Distinction

Alyssa Espinola

With a passion for helping the underserved and a propensity towards compassion and understanding, Alyssa Espinola has found a human connection with the students in the Valley.  As a Graduate Teaching Associate at Fresno State, she has focused on becoming a communication instructor in an institution that serves underprivileged individuals in order to help foster […]

Read More

Victoria Cisneros, Student of Distinction

Victoria Cisneros

A graduate of Selma High School, Victoria Cisneros says she found her home and a place of belonging in the Communication Department. During her time at Fresno State, she has utilized her writing skills as a political reporter for the Collegian and a Communication Assitant for the Alumni Association.

Read More

Experienced Barking Bulldogs show new pups the ropes at debate tournament

By Dr. Doug Fraleigh, Director of Forensics    The Fresno State Barking Bulldogs Forensics Team participated in two regional debate tournaments during the past three weeks and had outstanding results at both competitions.     The Barking Bulldogs hosted the Western JV and Novice Policy Debate Championships March 8-10 and the Bulldogs defended home territory.  Nick […]

Read More

State of the College of Arts and Humanities

State of the College 2019

With 80 percent of the alum continuing to live in the Central Valley, the College of Arts and Humanities powers the local economy and touches every corner of life in our community.

Read More

Communication alumnus Barry Falke promoted to Division Chief Operating Officer with the American Red Cross

Barry Falke

Barry Falke continues to inspire with his work in humanities as the Division Chief Operating Officer with the American Red Cross. Falk feels that this position, which he entered into two and a half years ago, has allowed him to utilize his communication background while following his passion for uplifting the community. “I’m really fortunate to […]

Read More

Communication students engage in public advocacy in Valley communities

Lindsey Condra's Fresno Bee Op-Ed Article titled "New regulations needed to protect real service dogs and spotlight imposters

At the end of the Fall and Spring semesters, I often ask myself if we are doing enough as humanists to help the students live through the complexities of our world? Does our facilitation of students’ learning process give them the tools they need to live better? I argue that the answer is “Yes”

Read More

Barking Bulldogs finish fall semester with big success at CSU Northridge

Barking Bulldogs

The Fresno State Barking Bulldogs wrapped up their Fall 2018 season with an excellent team performance at CSU Northridge on Nov. 2 through 4, with the Bulldogs placing third overall in the policy debate sweepstakes. Sweepstakes awards are an important team milestone because they are based on the performance of every Fresno State debater at […]

Read More

Communication students organize TEDxFresnoState event

TEDxFresnoState team

Five speakers and one musician took to the TEDx stage in the Wahlberg Recital Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 14 for an afternoon designed to discover new ideas and spark conversations within our community. The event was curated by Dr. Marnel Niles Goins, Professor and Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Communication, and organized by her […]

Read More

Alum Spotlight: Dr. Sonja M. Brown reflects on the impact of her Fresno State mentors

Sonja M. Brown

Fresno State College of Art and Humanities alum Dr. Sonja M. Brown continues her success in academia as the new Vice President for Academic Affairs at Great Basin College in Nevada. Although the transition to administration is one that Brown stated she could not have anticipated, she remembers how instrumental her Fresno State professors were […]

Read More

Barking Bulldogs’ winning streak continues at SDSU and UNLV!

Barking Bulldogs Awards from SDSU Tournament

The Fresno State Barking Bulldogs competed in forensics tournaments at San Diego State University (SDSU) on Oct. 6-7 and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) on Oct. 20-22 and came home with a multitude of awards, including a first-place finish at each tournament. At SDSU, Primavera Leal Martinez and Aranveer Litt won first place […]

Read More

This month in the Arts and Humanities — May’s Top 5

May's Top 5 Fresno State College of Arts and Humanities

We reflect on the exciting events this month in the College of Arts and Humanities. Here are the top five stories from the month of May. Arts and Humanities student excels in France while completing his degree See how MCLL undergraduate student of distinction, Leslie Hille, has succeeded during his time studying abroad in France. […]

Read More

Two new Communication professors expand department offerings

Two new Communication professor bring science and environmental communication to Fresno State

~ By Lisa Maria Boyles, communications specialist for the College of Arts and Humanities Fresno State’s Department of Communication teaches students about the communication skills people need to function effectively in teaching, business, law, the communication professions, public service, politics and management. Two new faculty hires for the 2017-18 academic year bring greater depth to […]

Read More

Arts in Motion highlights CAH Students of Distinction

Arts and Humanities Students of Distinction

The College of Arts and Humanities honored its 16 Students of Distinction at Arts in Motion on Saturday, April 7. At the ceremony, the graduate and undergraduate Dean’s Medalists for 2017-18 were announced. Dean’s Medalists Guadalupe Remigio Ortega (left), who graduated in fall 2017 with a master of arts in English in rhetoric and composition, […]

Read More

This month in the Arts and Humanities — March’s Top 5

Featured images from March's Top 5 articles

We look back on another eventful month in the College of Arts and Humanities. Here are the top five stories from the month of March. Communication student presents at WSCA’s Undergrad Conference A recent Fresno State graduate presented her piece “Mourning the Living: Grieving a Transgender Relative’s Previous Gender Identity” at the WSCA’s 15th annual […]

Read More

Barking Bulldog partners have great debate season

Barking Bulldogs debaters Hunter Sansom and Primavera Leal Martinez

Fresno State’s Barking Bulldogs debate team began in 2011. It’s been growing since then, and its members compete in local, regional and even in national championships representing Fresno State. One team, in particular, has had quite a showing this season. Hunter Sansom and Primavera Leal Martinez, who compete as partners, placed third in the varsity division of the Winter at the Beach tournament at CSU Long Beach on Feb. 2-4. Most recently, they returned to CSU Long Beach to compete in the Pacific Championship Tournament and finished eighth in the varsity division on Feb. 23-25 of last month.

Read More

Communication student presents at WSCA’s Undergrad Conference

Adrian Carli, Communication Student presents at WSCA's Undergrad Conference

Adrian Carli, a communication student who recently received her B.A. from Fresno State, presented her piece “Mourning the Living: Grieving a Transgender Relative’s Previous Gender Identity” at the Western States Communication Association’s 15th annual Undergraduate Scholars Research Conference Feb. 16, in Santa Clara.

Read More

Peach Blossom Festival brings 5,000 youth to Fresno State campus

Elementary school students arrive on campus for the Peach Blossom Festival.

About 5,000 children representing nearly 145 elementary schools from the San Joaquin Valley will participate in the 60th annual Peach Blossom Festival of Oral Interpretation on Thursday and Friday, March 8 and 9, in various locations on the Fresno State campus. The festival, which attracts schools from Livingston to Delano, was created to help young people gain knowledge and appreciation […]

Read More

Peach Blossom Diamond Jubilee celebrates festival’s 60 years

Photo by Cary Edmondson: A student performs at the Peach Blossom Festival.

The Peach Blossom Festival has touched the lives of many in Fresno over the past 60 years. The festival, presented by Fresno State’s Department of Communication, helps young people realize the importance of reading literature aloud and teaches them about interpretation, performance and being an audience member. Each year, Fresno State communication students spend months planning […]

Read More

Fresno State debate team places third at tournament

Barking Bulldogs Debate Team win another trophy

Primavera Leal Martinez and Hunter Sansom, with the Barking Bulldogs Debate Team, finished in third place in the varsity division of the recent Winter at the Beach Speech and Debate Tournament held on the California State University Long Beach campus Feb. 2-4. Martinez earned the eighth-place speaker award and Sansom earned 12th place. “We took three novice teams […]

Read More

Dr. Niles Goins elected VP of the WSCA

Dr. Marnel Niles Goins elected Vice President of the Western States Communication Association

Dr. Marnel Niles Goins, a Fresno State professor in the Department of Communication, has been elected as vice president for the Western States Communication Association, a professional organization for communication scholars.  

Read More

Top 10 stories of 2017

Top 10 articles of 2017

Here’s a look back at our Top 10 Arts and Humanities stories for all of 2017: No. 10: New Faces: Dr. Gina Sandí-Díaz, Theatre Arts No. 9: New Faces: Art and Design welcomes two new professors No. 8: Three from College of Arts and Humanities named 2017 Fulbright recipients No. 7: New Faces: Four new […]

Read More

Peach Blossom memories span generations

From left, Cassidy Smith and her mother Stacy Batrich-Smith

Stacy Batrich-Smith and her daughter Cassidy Smith (pictured above) have deep ties to Fresno State. Both are Arts and Humanities alums — Stacy graduated from the then-Radio and Television option in 1976; Cassidy was a Smittcamp scholar and a dean’s medalist from the Department of Media, Communications and Journalism in 2011. And both participated in Peach Blossom, the annual oral interpretation festival hosted by the Department of Communication. 

Read More

Barking Bulldogs place third in debate tournament

Fresno State Barking Bulldog debaters Primavera Leal Martinez and Hunter Sansom placed third in the Robert Barbera Debate Tournament at California State University Northridge, Nov. 10-12, their final tournament of the fall semester. 

Read More

‘The Other Eye on Afghanistan: Photographs by Farzana Wahidy’

Image for Other Eye on Afghanistan exhibition

The Department of Art and Design in collaboration with the Center for Creativity and the Arts, present, “The Other Eye on Afghanistan: Photographs by Farzana Wahidy,” opening on Oct. 9 and continuing through 26 in the Phebe Conley Art Gallery in the Conley Art Building. “The Other Eye on Afghanistan: Photographs by Farzana Wahidy” is […]

Read More

Center for Creativity and the Arts presents its lineup for fall 2017

Woman weaving a rebozo

The Center for Creativity and the Arts 2017-18 theme will be “Voice and Silence: Expressions of the Human Spirit and Community.”

“’Voice and Silence’ will look at the various ways in which we communicate our ideas, points of views and concerns regarding current events,” said Cindy Urrutia, coordinator of the center.

Read More

Be an Ambassador for the College of Arts and Humanities!

Are you passionate about the College of Arts and Humanities? Share your enthusiasm with others Fresno State students! Sign up today to be an ambassador for our college. Student Ambassadors are instrumental in connecting the College to the broader Central Valley community, as well as making potential students and their parents aware of the important educational opportunities that can be obtained through our College and the University.

Read More

Dr. Marnel Niles Goins receives 2017 Outstanding Leadership Award

Dr. Marnel Niles Goins wins Outstanding Leadership Award

Dr. Marnel Niles Goins, a Fresno State professor in the Department of Communication, has been selected as the recipient of the 2017 Outstanding Leadership Award, awarded by the California State University, Fresno Women’s Association. Niles Goins was one of two recipients of the faculty award this year, sharing the honor with Dr. Carmen Caprau from the Department of Mathematics.

Read More

CineCulture receives Way of Peace award

The Fresno Center for Nonviolence awarded several Way of Peace awards at its May 6 25th anniversary banquet at the First Congregational Church in Fresno. CineCulture, a film series provided as a service to Fresno State campus students, faculty, and staff, and community, received the 2017 award given to an organization. CineCulture Club, which is also an […]

Read More

Meet the 2017 Dean’s Medalists for the College of Arts and Humanities

~ By Kathleen Schock, reprinted from FresnoStateNews.com Seven of Fresno State’s schools and colleges, along with the Division of Student Affairs, select an outstanding student to honor as their Dean’s Medalist for the class of 2017, one each from the graduate and undergraduate level. The deans selected the undergraduate and graduate medalist based on academic excellence, community involvement […]

Read More

Maximize the impact of your gift to the Dean’s Council

Cathleen Fagundes

~ Photo above, from left, Dean Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, Associate Dean Honora Chapman and undergraduate Dean’s Medalist Cathleen Fagundes at the Arts in Motion event on April 29.  Fresno State has a bold vision to elevate Central California and become a region known for creativity, arts and culture. That vision begins with empowering our talented College […]

Read More

16 students present at Honors Symposium

  Sixteen students in the College of Arts and Humanities Honors Program presented the projects resulting from their research on Friday, May 12, before an audience of family members, friends and faculty mentors in the Music 160 lecture hall. Dr. Honora Chapman, associate dean of the College of Arts and Humanities and director of the […]

Read More