Humanities Edge Undergraduate Research Symposium | Fall 2022

Dr. Trinidad Argüelles is Associate Professor of Psychology at MDC West Campus, and faculty convener for this discipline. At the college, she serves as IMPACT / Changemaking co-chair for West Campus. She has been active in mentoring students in undergraduate research through the School of Science (SOS) since 2014 and the Humanities Edge Grant (since 2020).  Dr. Argüelles is also the founding and lead advisor for both West Campus Psychology Club and the West Campus Chapter for the Psi Beta Honor Society. Her classes have amounted to more than 9,500 hours of Academic Service and she has been awarded Faculty of the Year by ICED (Institute for Civic Engagement and Democracy) at the West Campus several times. Last year, Building a Better Society Through Mental Health, an agency that she created to bring awareness and advocacy for health and mental health to everyone on her campus, received ICED Partner of the Year Award. She has also represented the college in several national forums, including AshokaU and AAC & U (within the past two years). Recently, she has co-led efforts to create a Mental Health CCC in Neuroscience and Aging.

Eight-time NEH Summer Workshop Fellow and Endowed Chair of Teaching Excellence Professor in Political Science and International Relations, Dr. Lenaghan invites scholars to engage in exploration of literature that relates to each one’s special interests, aspirations. Presuming each student brings a unique genius to a course or seminar, he invites each to identify books, creative or performing arts or sources of ideas, insights and inspirations by which to make the learning community more meaningful. And by research, reading, writing, oral presentation or graphic representation each make the whole of the course experience greater than the sum of its parts.

Amy Lund earned her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of New Mexico. Her areas of specialization were Early Modern Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy, and Aesthetics. She has taught at colleges all over the United States, including the University of Oregon, Simmons College, Bentley College, and Florida Atlantic University. She founded Pride Week at Miami Dade College. She served as co-director for the Ethics Center at MDC Kendall Campus. She founded and co-manages the Philosophy Peer Tutoring Program at Kendall Campus’s Department of Philosophy. She loves introducing students to the joys of studying philosophy.

Dr. Terri Mitchell, Associate Professor of Music at MDC West, is an accomplished flutist and a consummate musician and educator. Dr. Mitchell teaches Music Appreciation, Jazz and Popular Music. She is also the UFMDC Vice President for West Campus. In addition, she is the advisor for the Dialogues for Democracy Club at MDC West Campus. She is also co- advisor for the Creative Arts club with Professor Gittings. She received her Doctorate in Music from the University of Miami in 2003 where she received the Award for Academic Achievement and won the Concerto Competition in her first year at the University. She has lectured on musicians’ health, the subject of her doctoral research, at the University of Miami and at the Florida Flute Fair as well as in Brazil. She has played with orchestras throughout the United States and Europe and has performed solos with the Alhambra Orchestra, the Ars Flores orchestra and the University of Miami Symphony Orchestra. She was awarded the SGI Renaissance Award in 2004 for her contributions to the community within the field of music. She is also a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, the music honors society. 

Ray Morales has been an active ceramics artist and a Professor of Art at Miami Dade College for over 20 years. His expertise in the field of ceramics range from creating both functional and sculptural forms, glaze chemistry, firing kilns, and developing a range of clays. His artworks are widely sought out and are held in collections all over the world. 

As a professor, Ray Morales has built curriculums that attract members of the community as well as traditional students. His teaching methodology focuses on putting theory into tangible action and creative problem solving. 

Emily Andrea Sendin is a professor of English, literature, and creative writing at Miami Dade College with over two decades of teaching experience. She is a two-time Endowed Teaching Chair and Fulbright Scholar. Her areas of expertise are feminist, gender, and postcolonial theories and media studies. She teaches global sustainability and Earth literacy studies, service-learning and Honors College courses. She is the founding advisor of Urbana, the award-winning literary and arts magazine of the Padrón Campus. She is also the founding advisor to Hermione’s Army, a chapter of Fandom Forward, an international organization dedicated to social justice through the power of storytelling. She recently founded Gamma Eta, the Padrón Campus chapter of Sigma Kappa Delta National English Honor Society. She is also the founder of FNE International’s Tengo un Sueño and Hermandad MaryKnoll High School supporting the educational journeys of youth in rural Nicaragua. Her life’s passions are teaching, writing, traveling and serving.