In June, associate professor of anthropology Janine Gasco took students in her Introduction to Mesoamerican Ethnoecology class on a two-week excursion to the Soconusco region of Chiapas, Mexico, for a look at local agriculture. In collaboration with a local nonprofit, La Red Maya de Organizaciones Orgánicas (CASFA), Gasco and her students assisted the area’s cacao farmers and studied the methods and culture in which they grow a product famous among chocolate makers worldwide, and whether or not their farming practices were sustainable.

Every year since Richard Gordon’s 17-year- ld son, Kwame, was fatally shot at a party in 2006, the California State University, Dominguez Hills professor of teacher education (at left) has honored his memory with an annual dinner to raise funds for a scholarship at the Waldorf School in Altadena in Kwame's honor. A major component of the memorial are guest speakers, many of whom are Gordon's colleagues and their students, who provided information and testimonials on how violence has impacted their lives, and their recovery from the trauma.