College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Grand Canyon University employees are top of the class. Community Outreach Manager Debbie Accomazzo knows this, and it’s why she didn’t panic when Habitat volunteering was low a couple of weeks ago. All she had to do was put out one call, and nearly 60 volunteers answered. On Friday, 25 of those trustworthy employees were at a house on 43rd Avenue. It was GCU’s second trip to the home, where employees helped with putting a new roof on the first time and painted this time.

Memorization drills, current events quizzes, mock debates and daily reading throughout the summer boosted Grand Canyon University’s Matthew Calderwood and Grace Laidlaw to a 10th-place finish in the Georgia B. Bowman Invitational last weekend at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo. The pair argued successfully about drone use and germ modification.

The words of America’s forefathers could be heard over a loud speaker yesterday as three students celebrated Constitution Day by setting up shop on Lopes Way. They passed out patriotic freebies, including more than 150 pocket Constitutions. “It’s a privilege really to be able to speak the words our forefathers gave to us,” freshman Nolan Dominguez said. “And it’s still relevant in today’s world. … It’s just so important that we take time to reflect back on the past to change the future.”

By Theresa Smith GCU News Bureau In August, Dr. Andrea Alden, an assistant professor of English in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, published her first book, “Disorder in the Court: Morality, Myth, and the Insanity Defense.” To order the book, click here. In a behind-the-scenes peek at the writing of the book, GCU Today peppered Alden with questions about her first single-author book project: How long did it take to research and write the book? It feels like a really long time, and it has been almost a decade from start to finish. I started the project in 2010 when I was a Ph.D. student; it eventually became my doctoral dissertation, which I completed and defended in October of 2013. I was introduced to the editor of the Rhetoric, Law, and Humanities book series with the University of Alabama Press, Dr. Clarke Rountree, by a colleague who thought he might be interested in the manuscript. He asked for a formal proposal, which I spent three months drafting (it was five pages long, but I wanted it to be perfect). My proposal did the trick, and I was offered an advance contract in early 2015. I delivered the first draft of […]

The new master’s degrees in teaching content programs at GCU meet educators’ needs, enabling high school teachers to keep their jobs teaching dual enrollment and adjunct college professors to maintain their positions at colleges and universities. The programs were designed to dovetail with the standards imposed by the Higher Learning Commission, which oversees colleges and universities in 19 states, including Arizona.

GCU is always evolving, with new buildings rising up and offices and colleges moving to new spaces. All the change makes for an interesting first-day of class. The GCU News team fanned out on Monday to talk to students, professors and even the Success Patrol and Academic Career Excellence Centers, who there there to make sure students found their classrooms.

You wouldn’t normally expect to find onesies, high-heeled shoes or Burt’s Bees at a college retail store, but you will find those things peppered among the notebooks, binders and a sea of purple T-shirts at the new Lope Shop. The store, which touts Champion and Nike concept areas, a tech area, boutique and more, opened Wednesday at its new 9,500-square-foot space on the Promenade. With its floor-to-ceiling glass display windows and modern, open feel, it’s a far cry different from its much smaller space — only one-fifth as big — on Lopes Way.

For the second consecutive year, GCU made the top 10 of Niche’s Best College Campuses list, scoring a No. 7 ranking (up from No. 8 last year) for its college life — and the accolades don’t end there. The University also is No. 6 on the Best Dorms in America list and No. 7 in Best Online Colleges.

The terminology might sound the same, but when it comes to “nonprofit” and “not-for-profit,” there are subtle differences between the two. So when it comes to referring to Grand Canyon University, it’s important to use the correct terminology: We are a nonprofit.

The Summer Institute isn’t quite like the traditional s’mores and campfire summer camp. Instead, the more than a dozen academic camps in various GCU colleges saw high school sophomores, juniors and seniors learning about Trojan malware, investigating the qualities of polyvinyl alcohol cryogels, writing poetry or executing mock warrants — and making friends while staying in the University’s dorms for the two- to four-day camps. The institute geared up recently with various science camps and will continue throughout the summer with humanities, business, honors camps.