Wilkinson College was looking for a way to connect with our new faculty via physical distancing. The Voice of Wilkinson reached out to the newest members of our community and asked them a few questions. We wanted to find out why they chose Wilkinson and what it meant to be a part of the heart and soul of Chapman University. It wasn’t all business, however, we threw in some “fun” questions along the way.

Meet Wilkinson’s Newest Faculty!

Dr. Angelica Allen

Dr. Angelica Allen

Dr. Angelica Allen
Assistant Professor of Africana Studies

Voice of Wilkinson: Wilkinson is the heart and soul of Chapman University. What does being the heart and soul of this amazing university mean to you?

Dr. Angelica Allen: Being the heart and soul of this university means being a part of the College’s unique interdisciplinary minors. It means being a part of a university dedicated to diversity and inclusion and it means being a part of the inaugural minor, Africana Studies which is committed to a global understanding of the experiences and legacies of the African Diaspora.

VoW: Tell us the most interesting place you have traveled to.

AA: One of my favorite places to travel to is Salvador, Brazil. It’s a city that’s steeped in African and Afro-Brazilian culture, the martial arts tradition of capoeira, incredible cuisine, amazing beaches, the musical genre of samba, and the arts. It’s a beautiful city and one of my absolute favorite places to go. I hope to travel to at least one country in every continent. The next destinations will be: Marrakesh, Morocco; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Havana, Cuba.

VoW: Share a fun fact with us.

AA: I’m a basketball fanatic. Ever since I was young, basketball has been a part of my life in one way or another. I dreamt of playing college ball for the UConn Huskies and afterward, making it in the WNBA. Before college, I played organized basketball in school. Every day revolved around training or watching basketball films to achieve this dream. My favorite basketball player is Kobe Bryant. Although my hard work eventually payed off and I earned a college scholarship, I decided to focus my attention to the arts and art school, my second passion.

Dr. Claudia Fuentes

Dr. Claudia Fuentes

Dr. Claudia Fuentes-Julio
Assistant Professor in Peace Studies

VoW: Wilkinson is the heart and soul of Chapman University. What does being the heart and soul of this amazing university mean to you?

Dr. Claudia Fuentes-Julio: Wilkinson College provides a great opportunity to be a member of a powerful community of scholars and students driven by intellectual curiosity, academic rigor, and a strong commitment to study the world in order to make it a better place to live. It is a privilege and a responsibility to work for an institution committed to the arts, humanities, and social sciences. I hope to contribute to this community by bringing my knowledge, professional experience and passion for human rights, social justice and Latin American culture.

VoW: Share a fun fact with us.

CF: I am a dog lover. Rio is my cocker spaniel who was born and named after this amazing Brazilian city. He has lived in Rio de Janeiro, Santiago and now he is preparing to move to Orange County! He is a quite a polyglot: Portuguese, Spanish, English, and doggy language.

VoW: Why Chapman?

CF: Chapman is fully committed to promoting research and innovation with prominent faculty and a diverse, creative and dedicated student body.  I am also very impressed by the diversity of its majors and minors, multidisciplinary and innovative programs, and the emphasis on creativity and innovation. I am excited to be part of the Peace Studies Department, which is one of the oldest and most established interdisciplinary programs at Chapman University.

Dr. Renee Hudson

Dr. Renee Hudson

Dr. Renee Hudson
Assistant Professor in English

VoW: Wilkinson is the heart and soul of Chapman University. What does being the heart and soul of this amazing university mean to you?

Dr. Renee Hudson: To me, the heart and soul means the spirit of the university – both in terms of its mission as well as the enthusiasm and commitment to Chapman. I also think it means the guiding light for how Chapman wants to move forward as an institution.

VoW: What’s your favorite movie and/or book? What did you read over the summer?

RH: It’s hard to pick a favorite book, but if pressed, I would have to go with Lunar Braceros 2125-2148 by Rosaura Sánchez and Beatrice Pita. It manages to be a fun book that’s also a primer in revolutionary thinking outside of the Chicano Movement, but still grounded in the revolutionary history of the Americas. My favorite books of the summer so far are Daniel José Older’s The Book of Lost Saints and Jaquira Díaz’s Ordinary Girls.

VoW: Why Chapman?

RH: I’m excited for the opportunities to work closely with students, especially given Chapman’s commitment to personalized education. I’m also happy to be in a department that doesn’t just focus on critical thinking, but on creative thinking.

Dr. Minju Kwon

Dr. Minju Kwon

Dr. Minju Kwon
Assistant Professor in Political Science

VoW: Wilkinson is the heart and soul of Chapman University. What does being the heart and soul of this amazing university mean to you?

Dr. Minju Kwon: I am honored to join the Wilkinson community, which is the heart and soul of Chapman. My research lies at the intersection of international relations, comparative politics, gender studies, and Asian studies. My main area of interest is international human rights and humanitarian law with a focus on children and women. These research and teaching themes are aligned with Wilkinson’s educational journey to empathize with others, enrich our humanity, and find innovative solutions to new challenges of our society. I am also delighted to be a part of the Department of Political Science, which has great faculty members and diverse fields from political theory to empirical studies, Latin America to the Middle East, and qualitative to quantitative methods. Ever since my first day visiting Chapman, I have felt the warm, encouraging, and energetic environment of my department. Working with the Master of Arts in International Studies program, which provides interdisciplinary and experiential learning opportunities to students by bridging theory and practice, also makes me excited about Wilkinson.

VoW: Share a fun fact with us.

MK: I am currently learning how to make Chinese cuisine from my friend. The fact is that although I am good at eating, I am definitely not good at cooking. I also started taking an online summer course on the Vietnamese language. The course is taught from South Korea, so I have to stay up until 3 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday. Being a student, not an instructor, over Zoom is a new experience to me!

VoW: Why Chapman?

MK: My first reason is that Chapman is deeply committed to both education and research. I love doing my own research, but I also enjoy teaching and co-working with my students. My former student and I are currently conducting phone interviews with members of the militia Civilian Joint Task Force in Nigeria. In the coming years, I look forward to conducting student-faculty collaborative research at Chapman. I also hope to support students’ experiential learning programs, such as the Global Gateway programs in East Asia. My second reason is Chapman’s diversity and inclusion. As a female scholar from Asia, I am excited about Chapman’s diverse student background, interdisciplinary education, and vibrant campus activities. Last but not least, I am impressed that Chapman University is not merely an institution of higher education but a lifelong family. I am thrilled to become a Panther and a part of this community!

Dr. Kyle Longley
Professor of History and Director of the War and Society Program

VoW: Wilkinson is the heart and soul of Chapman University. What does being the heart and soul of this amazing university mean to you?

Dr. Kyle Longley

Dr. Kyle Longley

Dr. Kyle Longley: My dream job has always been to work at a more student centered university like Chapman, especially after years at Arizona State, now the largest university in the country.  I am especially happy that Chapman emphasizes the arts, humanities, and social sciences because the last couple of years in particular have taught us that understanding history, sociology, political science, literature, and human experiences are the cornerstone of understanding our world and navigating through it in a time of turmoil and uncertainty.  The arts, humanities, and social sciences are the key to understanding, and Chapman has an incredibly college promoting learning and understanding in those areas.

VoW: Tell us the most interesting place you have traveled to. Where do you hope to travel one day?

KL: My favorite place remains Costa Rica. The white water rafting on the Rio Pacuare remains my best experience of navigating significant rapids (IIIs and IVs) amid the beautiful jungle. Other highly recommended parts of the country include Playa Tamrindo (where I had a run in with a moray eel) and the cloud volcano Poas. I have many dream destinations, but the most pressing would be Machu Pichu.  Everyone who visited tells me it is a must, and I love Latin America so it is an easy to understand why I love the thought of that trip.

VoW: Share a fun fact with us.

KL: I was the head coach for a seventh grade Pop Warner football team in Ahwatukee, Arizona a couple of years ago.  I can claim I had one of the best linebacker coaches in the country, the perennial pro bowler Brian Urlacher (whose son was on the team).  I also had the great pleasure of helping him write his Hall of Fame speech. I have not put that on my CV, but probably should find a place.

Dr. Brennan McDavid

Dr. Brennan McDavid

Dr. Brennan McDavid
Assistant Professor in Philosophy and the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy

VoW: Wilkinson is the heart and soul of Chapman University. What does being the heart and soul of this amazing university mean to you?

Dr. Brennan McDavid: My research specialization is ancient philosophy, and because the intellectual world of the ancients was one in which philosophy, science, mathematics, ethics, and psychology were all blended in the single discipline they called “philosophy,” I very much feel that I have a sense of what it means to be working at the core of the academy’s mission. My work connects with each and every discipline that branched off with its own methods since the ancient period. Though ancient philosophers were not enlightened to ideas like evolution or quantum theory, they nevertheless were pursuing answers to the same questions that are driving scholars in those areas today. So I guess I think of the heart and soul of any university as resting in its animating questions, and I think those questions are eternal. We make progress and hone our inquiry, but it is by pressing deeper with essentially the same “why” questions.

VoW: What’s your favorite movie and/or book?  What did you read over the summer?

BM: On the recommendation of one of my brilliant colleagues in the Smith Institute, I read Frank Herbert’s Dune for the first time this summer. I am wildly enthusiastic about this book. Except for the strange vocabulary you have to learn as the book introduces people, places, and things that are strange and futuristic, it is an extremely easy read. Dune is one of the most popular and best selling science fiction novels of all time, and I can appreciate why. It depicts a complex social and political world that invites philosophical contemplation but also allows you just to wander through a foreign place.

VoW: Why Chapman?

BM: At Chapman I have a tremendous amount of freedom to teach new and interesting material. The Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy is particularly encouraging on this score. Instructors in the Humanomics program have an opportunity to write a new syllabus and explore new books and ideas every time they teach a class. Not only does this serve students by allowing them to engage with new material that speaks to new questions and concerns in a constantly moving world, but it also incites the faculty to be alert to that new material. I am more intellectually stimulated at Chapman that I have been at any other institution, whether on faculty or in graduate school. I learn and am inspired by my colleagues every day, and taking new books and ideas into the classroom to explore together with my students means that I’m learning from my students too. I think this is what Plato always imagined the Academy to be. It feels good to be living up to his vision.