Each calendar year, the xREAL Lab works with faculty fellows, undergraduate and graduate students, affiliates across disciplines, community partners and other academic institutions to provide a vision for the future of teaching and learning, meaningful mentorship and hands-on experience for the students, and sustainable innovation for the larger campus community.
The project, titled “The Phoenix of Gaza XR,” is a collaborative virtual reality endeavor, which uses immersive technologies to document life in Gaza, was developed by Ahlam Muhtaseb, professor of communication and media studies, and her former student, CSUSB alumnus Naim Aburaddi.
Ahlam Muhtaseb, professor of media studies at CSUSB, has been awarded the prestigious 2024 Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab Summer Fellowship from Princeton University’s Department of African American Studies.
For the first time, CSUSB has introduced motion capture technology into its theatre training. Performance capture will be coming next. Kristi Papailler, assistant professor of acting and directing, breaks it down for us.
The Faculty Center for Excellence also begins the new academic year with an expanded new structure that unifies faculty support and professional development in one center.
Mihaela Popescu (communication studies) discussed the new CSUSB-Annenberg Pipeline Program with the Annenberg School for Communication, Mike Stull (entrepreneurship) introduced the new Entrepreneurial Resource Center, a partnership with the city of San Bernardino, Andrea Giuffren (criminal justice) coauthored a study on the long-term impact of juvenile crime, and Donna Garcia (psychology) coauthored research on claims of bias by “high-status” groups.
The main goal of the collaboration between assistant professor Jordi Solsona-Puig’s class and the xREAL Lab was to integrate technology in the lesson planning, specifically the resources found through 3D and augmented reality (AR) from an equitable approach to designing learning experiences.
The experiences of refugees who survived the devastating earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey will be shown in 360-degree immersive footage captured by the panelists at the April 18 event, which will be presented virtually.
The free screening of Shalini Kantayya’s 2020 documentary and the faculty panel that follows will be held from noon to 2:15 p.m. at the university’s Santos Manuel Student Union Theater (SMSU South, Room 107). Attendees can also join via Zoom.