College of Humanities and Social Sciences

In fifth grade she was too stubborn to study, at age 14 she was too immature to attend GCU classes on campus and three years later was too scared to student teach in front of people her age. But Shannon Kerr, who graduated last November at 17, got it done anyway. She endured with determination. That’s her mantra now as she studies for law school entrance exams: Just do it. “That’s really all it comes down to,” Kerr said.

When Desiree Ortiz put her education on hold 16 years ago, all she could think about was caring for her daughter, who was born with heart disease. Now, Ortiz finds herself in a position that she never imagined she’d actually be in — celebrating her graduation from her undergraduate sociology program. Ortiz is one of thousands of graduates returning to campus in the coming months to participate in makeup in-person Commencement ceremonies.

Emma Cardon wants to be everything: a lawyer, a judge, a teacher, and now, she wants to perform under the bright lights on a theatre stage. But the brightest light for her these days is the L.O.P.E.S. Academy at the Cardon Center, which gives individuals with mild intellectual disabilities, like Emma, the college experience. It’s something her parents, Don and Kim Cardon, never thought would be a possibility — until now. The L.O.P.E.S. Academy’s first 10 students will step onto the GCU campus this fall, and Emma will be one of them.

How valuable is landing a student job? Ask Torrey Martin. He came to GCU with a promise to his grandparents and little money in his pocket. He got a student worker position his first day, and after graduation he used the experience and connections for a job at a nearby school. It also led the math teacher to work in the same department that he joined as a student. Today, he’s an adjunct professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Callista Mendoza always had an interest in politics, even from a young age. So when she decided to come to GCU and her first choice for a degree program wasn’t available, she decided Government was the best fit. That decision would lead her to her most recent opportunity, a contracted position as a field representative for the Leadership Institute.

Every college at GCU has Lopes Live Labs. The final expanded excerpt from the cover story in the August issue of GCU Magazine features the new GCU Recording Lab (College of Theology) as well as labs in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Doctoral Studies and Honors College.

Judy Eroe, GCU’s Executive Director of Academic Assessment, is celebrating her 30-year anniversary as a full-time employee at GCU. Ben VanDerLinden, her former student and now her colleague. explains why she has been so important to the University’s evolution.

For senior Hailey Borrowdale Mendez, the opportunity to study abroad in Costa Rica and Ecuador for two semesters completely changed her life. In addition to improving her Spanish, her time in Costa Rica also helped strengthen her bond to God and establish a love for a country that she found so delightful, she hopes to return after graduating next spring. “I think it’s beautiful that GCU makes it a priority to have relationships with so many organizations and that they give their students the opportunity to get to know other cultures and to grow their perspective,” she said.

Dr. Julia Langdal-Sittu was named the new psychology department chair at GCU at any interesting time to study human behavior, considering the challenges of the past year. As such, she hopes to emphasize empathy and lead her department to more volunteer opportunities. “That is the cornerstone of our field — understanding, empathy and compassion for the people we work with. And that means we look at everyone and try to understand where they are coming from as people,” she said.

GCU News Bureau Dr. Reagan North, adjunct faculty in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Grand Canyon University, was delighted to meet a group of fans at a recent conference, not something an educator encounters every day. North joined Dr. Robert Pincus of Liberty University to present “Motivation in Crisis: Motivational Interviewing in Hard Times” at the American School Counselor Association Conference in Las Vegas. The lecture covered the use of Motivational Interviewing to help students and families recover from the trauma brought about by the pandemic. “Specifically, we discussed using Motivational Interviewing to help people reframe their experiences and to find the positives in otherwise difficult circumstances,” North said. After his own stint as a school counselor in the Seattle area, North found during his doctoral studies that Motivational Interviewing was a perfect method for school counselors, but no one had written a book on it. So North did. The counseling approach uses interviewing methods to help student access their motivation to improve grades, grow relationships, kick bad habits and pursue deeply meaningful lives, according to the Amazon summary of his book “Motivational Interviewing for School Counselors.” For the past four years, he has trained school counselors […]