The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University is offering a new scholarship for first-generation graduate students in the natural sciences division.

The Dr. Manuel Barrera Jr. Memorial Scholarship honors the ASU professor, who dedicated decades to research and educating students in the Department of Psychology at The College. Manuel Barrera Jr. was an associate professor of clinical psychology at ASU from 1977 to 2017. Photo courtesy Barrera family Download Full Image

“Dr. Manuel Barrera Jr. was an associate professor of clinical psychology at ASU from August 1977 to May 2017. In his 40-year career with the Department of Psychology, his areas of interest and research were community psychology and social support networks. He received various honors and awards during his career, including ASU Graduate Mentor of the Year and Psychology Department Professor of the Year,” according to a statement from the Barrera family.

“He advocated for underrepresented communities in public education and their inclusion in institutions of higher learning. To honor his legacy, his wife, Aurelia, and his daughter, Lea, established this scholarship. In partnership with the ASU Foundation, the scholarship seeks to open doors, create opportunities and celebrate the abilities of everyone.”

The scholarship will support students registered with the Student Accessibility and Inclusive Learning Services office who demonstrate an interest in service to the community.

About Barrera Jr.

Barrera, a Racine, Wisconsin, native, developed a love for writing and science at an early age. 

He learned to incorporate his passions into scientific studies and research in psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in psychology in 1971.

Barrera then attended the University of Oregon and received his master’s degree in 1975 and his doctorate in 1977. That same year, he was offered a job as a professor of clinical psychology at ASU.

As a professor, Barrera researched prevention and behavioral treatments for Type 2 diabetes, social support and behavioral health interventions for Latino families.

He also served in various roles with the Hispanic Research Center, the Office of Hispanic Research and other university-wide initiatives.

Barrera strived to expand diversity and inclusion in public education, stressing the importance of access to higher learning.

“(Manuel) was committed to providing higher education to everyone,” Aurelia Barrera said. “Especially those in public school, since both of us grew up in the public school system and he used that education and support to achieve everything he did academically.”

During his tenure, he was recognized for his contributions, including the ASU Psi Chi Outstanding Undergraduate Instructor Award, the ASU Outstanding Mentoring Award and the Psychology Department Faculty of the Year Award.

Barrera was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1987. However, he was determined not to be defined by his medical condition but by his contributions at ASU.

He retired in June 2017 and passed away in March 2020 at 70 years old.

“Dr. Manuel Barrera Jr. was a beloved, respected and admired member of the ASU community. We are proud to have the Dr. Manuel Barrera Jr. Memorial Scholarship to honor his legacy at ASU,” said Marisol Perez, the associate dean of graduate initiatives at The College. “This award contributes to creating a strong foundation for supporting graduate students’ educational aspirations and reduces financial burden, allowing students to focus more time and energy on their research and studies. As a recipient of a first-generation student scholarship, I can attest that the impact of this award on graduate students can be life-changing and perpetuated.”

Three students with the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University were honored with Fulbright awards this year. 

The students will spend a year in Africa, the Philippines and a small island off the coast of China, where they will learn about other cultures, conduct research and teach English.  Patrick Fahey Download Full Image

“Fulbright creates connections in a complex and changing world,” according to the informational website. “In partnership with more than 140 countries worldwide, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers unparalleled opportunities in all academic disciplines to passionate and accomplished graduating college seniors, graduate students and young professionals from all backgrounds.”

Patrick Fahey

Patrick Fahey is a graduate student at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change and affiliated with the Institute for Human Origins (IHO) through his advisor, Curtis Marean, an ASU Foundation Professor and research scientist. Fahey’s research is focused on paleoanthropology and zooarchaeology.

Fahey received a 2023–24 Fulbright to travel to South Africa and research the faunal (animal) remains from Pinnacle Point 5-6N (PP5-6N).

“I’ll be working in the South African Paleoclimate, Paleoenviroment, Paleoecology, and Paleoanthropology (SACP4) laboratory at the Diaz Museum in Mossel Bay and will form the basis of my PhD dissertation,” Fahey said.

PP5-6N is a Middle Stone Age rock-shelter site with well-preserved evidence of human occupations spanning the Late Pleistocene, around 90,000 to 50,000 years ago, during a time of cyclical and dramatic climate change.

“The humans who occupied this site during the transition from the interglacial phase where warm conditions similar to today prevailed, to the cold and arid glacial phase MIS 4, left records of how they adapted to the changing environment around the Cape region,” Fahey said. “They left innovative new tool forms, including potentially the earliest evidence of projectile hunting weapons and the earliest proliferation of symbolic material culture known. My research explores changes in human subsistence by reconstructing the types of animals humans hunted and how changes to environments and material culture affected the prey they pursued.”

Fahey, a skilled illustrator and artist, will also be helping to create a museum exhibit in the newly built Point Discovery Centre in Mossel Bay with information graphics that highlight the knowledge gained through research at Pinnacle Point, helping visitors better understand the evolution of modern human behaviors.

David Gowey

David Gowey

David Gowey is a graduate student at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change with a focus on sociocultural anthropology. 

This was Gowey’s second application for a Fulbright. He said he was grateful for the feedback he received from the Lorraine W. Frank Office of National Scholarships Advisement and felt more confident applying in 2023. 

Gowey received the Open Study/Research Award to work with schools in the central Philippines, in the town of Calinog.

Culture schools in the area teach members of the community, mostly children, traditional performing arts and crafts. Gowey’s research will focus on Panay Bukidnon epic chanting, known as “sugidanon.”

“The epic chants are stories about heroes and heroines with magical powers going on sailing voyages, fighting monsters and demigods, and finding spouses,” Gowey said. 

“Each sugidanon epic can take several days to chant in full, and traditionally they're performed as bedtime stories. The students at the culture schools learn to perform them at contests and festivals for tourists. I want to study how the students learn these epics, what they get out of learning them and how they use them to represent themselves as Panay Bukidnon people.”

Gowey will use different components including Photovoice for his research. He will ask community members to record short videos explaining what they want others to know about their cultural practices. His hope is that the collection of stories can be used later on in the cultural schools. 

The research he does during his Fulbright award will also go towards his dissertation research. 

Along with the Fulbright, Gowey was awarded a paid summer internship at the National Museum of Natural History. For four weeks, he will get hands-on experience in museum methods, theory and working in discussion groups. 

Quinn Hardt

Quinn Hardt graduated from Arizona State University in spring 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology and a minor in Asian languages with a focus on Chinese.

Hardt received an English Teaching Assistant Award from Fulbright to teach and live in Kinmen.  

“It is a small island approximately 6 kilometers from the coast of Fujian, China,” Hardt said. 

While studying archaeology, Hardt said he felt supported by faculty and his advisor at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change.

Hardt completed an internship at ASU's Center for Archaeology and Society and was hired as a student worker at the Tonto National Forest. He took a graduate-level course from Associate Professor Matthew Peeples and participated in a research apprenticeship program with graduate student Britt Davis. 

“Our project was constructing a plausible trade network spanning roughly the Belize Valley during the Preclassic Mayan period, looking into the formation of hierarchies and inequality by comparing frequencies of ceramic types in assemblages at a wide spread of sites dating to that period,” Hardt said. “Davis did most of the heavy lifting but was kind enough to credit me on the resulting poster, which was presented at the Society for American Archaeology.”

Hardt is also grateful for mentor Kathryn Ranhorn, assistant professor at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and Jiangnan Li, a teaching assistant of Chinese at the School of International Letters and Cultures.

“I got into archaeology because it's cool and the work itself is rewarding,” Hardt said. “I like looking at ancient stuff and trying to connect the pieces in plausible ways. I like constructing networks based on available data and then analyzing the structures.”

Written by Julie Russ and Nicole Pomerantz.

Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication staff member Karen Bordeleau has been inducted into the Rhode Island Journalism Hall of Fame in recognition of a career that has spanned more than four decades and six New England states, particularly benefiting the journalism profession in her native “Ocean State.”

The Rhode Island Journalism Hall of Fame was established in 1985 by the Rhode Island Press Association to honor journalists who have been influential in their profession. Bordeleau, who is currently director of career and professional development and a former director of communications at Cronkite, is the retired executive editor and senior vice president of The Providence Journal and the first woman in its 194-year history to hold the top editor’s position. Karen Bordeleau, director of career and professional development at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Download Full Image

She joined Cronkite in 2018 as the Edith Kinney Gaylord Visiting Professor in Journalism Ethics. She was also the Reynolds Visiting Professor of Journalism from 2019 to 2020, during which time she helped design and teach the master’s in investigative journalism bootcamp.

“Karen has been an integral part of the Cronkite School since her arrival. Countless students, staff and faculty have benefited from her leadership and wealth of experience,” said Cronkite School Dean Battinto L. Batts Jr. “We are proud of Karen for this wonderful achievement.”

At the beginning of her journalism career, Bordeleau served as editor at The Kent County Daily Times in West Warwick, Rhode Island. After, she joined the public relations department at the University of Rhode Island and earned a master's degree in political science. 

Bordeleau then became the editor at The Call, a daily newspaper in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where she redesigned the paper, earning it The New England Press Association’s Better Newspaper Award.

In 1996, she moved to The Journal, where she worked for almost 20 years, mostly in a newsroom leadership role. According to the Rhode Island Journalism Hall of Fame, Bordeleau’s “enthusiasm energized Rhode Island’s largest news staff, and together they produced many prize-winning series (and) redesigned the newspaper to better serve women and other underrepresented groups.” Bordeleau was credited with launching the award-winning Publick Occurrences forums, which brought together industry experts and government leaders to civilly discuss highly controversial topics in front of packed auditoriums. 

The news organization also produced a number of prize-winning investigative and explanatory series under Bordeleau’s leadership. She was an editor for “The Station Fire” series, which was a Pulitzer finalist in the Public Service category in 2004.

Bordeleau has also been involved in journalism higher education for more than 25 years, teaching everything from advanced reporting and feature writing to journalism ethics and newsroom management. In addition to teaching at the University of Rhode Island, Emerson College and Northeastern University (Boston), Bordeleau has taught journalism workshops in Pakistan and Kenya. She was also instrumental in organizing and implementing exchange programs with Russian and Iranian journalists.

“It’s an honor to have a place among the great journalists who have made their mark in Rhode Island,” Bordeleau said. “But I learned from the best. There are literally scores of journalists who mentored and encouraged me and taught me about the awesome responsibility of this important profession. I just want to acknowledge them and thank them for letting me stand on their very broad shoulders.”

Bordeleau is a past president of the New England First Amendment Coalition, the New England Associated Press News Executives Association and the New England Society of News Editors. She served twice as a Pulitzer Prize juror. In 2014, she was inducted into the New England Academy of Journalists, the highest honor given to any journalist in the six-state region to recognize life-time achievement in the journalism profession. In 2016, she was awarded the Judith Vance Weld Brown Spirit of Journalism Award, the highest honor given to a woman journalist in New England.