Alumni Spotlight: Faris Babineaux

Faris Babineaux Esq, BA in Philosophy & BS in Criminology and Criminal Justice Class of ‘21

Faris earned two bachelor degrees and a certificate in legal studies from CSULB in 2021. He competed in track and field at CSULB and was the 2020 Big West Scholar-Athlete of the year. Faris went on to earn his JD from Texas A & M University School of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 2024. While at Texas A & M, Faris was the president of the Black Law Student Association, placed fourth in the National Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Competition, and volunteered in the school’s recruiting department. Faris currently works at Haynes and Boone, LLP in Dallas doing work on complex commercial real estate transactions. In his free time, he likes to watch Godzilla movies with his gecko, Cornelia, and cook steaks.

Alumni Spotlight: Edgar Vera

Edgar Vera Esq, BA in Philosophy & BS in Criminology and Criminal Justice Class of ‘11

Edgar earned two bachelor degrees from CSULB in 2011. He then went to Loyola Law School on an academic scholarship, where he earned his JD in 2015, and was admitted to the California State Bar in 2015. While in Law School Edgar was a member of Loyola Law School’s Byrne Trial Advocacy Team, a top-tier trial advocacy team ranked fourth in the nation. Edgar volunteered at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, interned at the Los Angeles County Public Defender, Orange County Public Defender, and Federal Public Defender. Edgar currently works with Karns & Karns, LLP doing personal injury work and consulting in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Edgar, along with his wife, is also a real estate investor and developer.

Alumna Spotlight: Andrea Reynolds

Andrea Reynolds, M.A. in Philosophy Class of ‘07

Andrea earned her MA in Philosophy from CSULB in 2007, Phi Beta Kappa. With a focus on philosophy of art and aesthetics, her thesis applies art ontologies of Immanuel Kant and Nelson Goodman to performance art works ‘Shoot‘ by Chris Burden (1971), ‘Trading Dirt‘, by Allan Kaprow (1983), and ‘Art/Life One Year Performance (Rope Piece)‘ by Tehching Hsieh & Linda Montano (1983–1984). She was advised by Dr. Julie Van Camp.

Since graduation, Andrea has taught philosophy at Cal State Long Beach and Rio Hondo College, and currently splits her time between the Philosophy Departments at Ventura College, Mount St. Mary’s University, and California Lutheran University. Her website <https://theunstructor.com>, a depository for online philosophy resources for students, receives thousands of worldwide visits annually. In 2014, she was student-voted Best Instructor of Arts and Sciences at Mount St. Mary’s University.

Andrea is also a multi-genre violinist, performing and recording with groups such as the collective Kaiso LA, Trevor New, the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, the George Sarah Ensemble, and Damion Mikol Wagner and the Dusk. Past and current projects can be found at her website, Instagram, and TikTok.

Alumni Spotlight: Erik Rodriguez Cerda

Erik Rodriguez Cerda, BA in Philosophy Class of ‘19

Erik graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2019 with a BA in Philosophy. He found that, by strengthening his critical thinking skills, his degree enabled him to look beyond simple answers to understand the structures around him.

Currently, Erik works as a Workforce Programs Coordinator at GRID Alternatives, a non-profit solar installer that serves historically disadvantaged communities. In this role, Erik works with trainees and job seekers to sharpen the ‘soft’ skills needed to advance in their careers.

He also participates in after-school mentoring with local high school students, and is an active member of GRID’s internal EID (Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity) team, helping to create an inclusive environment for all staff. Most recently, Erik was selected to travel with select members of this team to Montgomery Alabama to visit the Equal Justice Initiative and to share this experience with the rest of the organization.

In his free time, Erik enjoys spending time with his partner and their four cats, visiting local coffee shops, and perfecting the ultimate vegan cheeseburger.

Alumna Spotlight: Jessica Wood

Jessica Wood, B.A. in Philosophy Class of ‘11

Jessica is a two-time CSULB alumna, having received her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy with coursework in Cell & Molecular Biology, and a Master of Arts in Secondary Education Curriculum & Instruction, along with a single subject teaching credential in Foundational Science. Jessica has held several roles within the Bob Murphy Access Center (BMAC) on campus, and currently serves as the Associate Director of BMAC. Previously, she was a middle school science and math teacher in Long Beach Unified School District. Additionally, Jessica serves on the Student Affairs Equity Task Force and Building an Equitable and Empowering Culture (BEEC) subcommittee of Beach 2030, and is committed to fostering a campus environment and culture that celebrates equitable access, inclusion, and Universal Design for all students. In her free time, Jessica can be found outside reading a book or tending to her plants.

Alumni Spotlight: Luciano Alvarado

Luciano Alvarado, Minor in Philosophy Class of ‘20
Luciano transferred to Cal State Long Beach in 2018 and participated in the Bridge-to-the-Beach program, which allowed him to participate in the Nanoelectronics Laboratory under Prof. Claudia Ojeda-Aristizabal and present research at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans Diversity Conference. Luciano graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2020 with a B.S. in Physics and a minor in Philosophy. Thereafter, he attended the University of California Irvine School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor. While at UCI, Luciano participated in multiple clinics, such as the Intellectual Property, Arts, and Technology clinic, the Start-up and Small Business clinic, and the International Human Rights clinic; he also was a research assistant for a professor. Currently, Luciano is an associate in Sheppard Mullin’s Del Mar office, and is a part of the firm’s intellectual property practice group. While his main practice focuses on patent prosecution and patent, he also focuses on pro bono matters ranging from asylum applications and upgrading discharge statuses of former service members.

Alumni Spotlight: Christian Weede

Christian Weede, MA in Philosophy Class of ‘15

Christian first discovered his love of philosophical inquiry and discussion at Chaffey College; he later completed his BA in philosophy at CSUSB in 2011, and continued his education by joining the MA program in philosophy at CSULB. During his time in Long Beach, and with the help of his classmates, Christian organized weekly meetings for the graduate students to meet up and discuss ideas or papers that they might be working on. He earned several awards as a graduate student, including a summer research assistantship with Dr. Charles Wallis and the department’s Whittington Scholarship. Christian also presented at the Southern California Philosophy Conference, the Berkeley/Stanford/Davis Graduate Student Conference, and won first place at the 27th annual CSULB Student Research Competition. His MA thesis, entitled Overcoming the Present and directed by Dr. Cory Wright, argued against presentist theories of time. Upon completing the Master’s degree, Christian was hired as a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at CSUSB in 2016. He often teaches ‘Introduction to Philosophy’ and ‘Moral Choices in Life’, but recently began teaching a course entitled ‘Truth, Lies, and Bullshit’ that addresses the value of truth within society. He continues to love philosophical puzzles, and hopes to share this love with his students.

Alumni Spotlight: Josh Feng

Dr. Joshua Feng, BA in Philosophy Class of ‘14

Josh earned both a BA in Philosophy and a BS in Biochemistry—and both with departmental honors, no less—while also graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. After Cal State Long Beach, he continued on into graduate studies at the University of Southern California, where he earned his Ph.D in Chemistry in 2022. During this time, he performed research on covalent drug discovery, investing most of his efforts in designing therapeutics for BRAF-positive melanoma and anti-virals against SARS-CoV-2. His work has been published in journals such as Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Nature Chemical Biology, and mBio. Throughout his academic career, Josh has been heavily invested in education and culminated his stay at USC as an Anton B. Burg teaching fellow for organic chemistry lecture and laboratory. He has since returned to Cal State Long Beach as a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, where he teaches pre-general, general, organic, and biological chemistry. In his free time, he works on continually growing and learning but has recently enjoyed suffering through marathons and getting humbled while playing chess.

Alumni Spotlight: Jessica Manzo

Jessica Manzo, MA in Philosophy Class of ‘23

Jessica began her college education in Biochemistry at Bakersfield College—the community college in her hometown—but switched to Philosophy after a called ‘the ethics of living and dying’. From there, she transferred over to California State University Bakersfield in 2017, and in 2019 she earned a BA in Philosophy along with a minor in Economics. Along the way, Jessica became very invested in the Philosophy for Children Program (P4C), and so decided to continue in Philosophy at the graduate level. While at CSULB, she interned at Golden West Community College and worked as a peer mentor in CSULB’s GradMentor program. Jessica writes, ‘I am thankful for the relationships, mentoring, education, and time spent at CSULB. I now work at Dignity Health, Mercy & Memorials Hospitals as a Health Services Coordinator serving all ages across Kern County. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family, partner, and friends and catching up on my favorite shows’.

New Faculty Joining the Department!

The Department of Philosophy is delighted to announce that Marie Jayasekera will be joining us this coming FA23 as a new Assistant Professor of Philosophy.

Dr. Jayasekera earned a Bachelor’s of science degree in biology from Yale University. She went on to earn an MA in Philosophy from Tufts. She took her PhD from Michigan, which is one the most distinguished doctoral programs in Philosophy in the United States. Before arriving here in Long Beach, Dr. Jayasekera taught at Colgate University and was a visiting researcher at the University of California Irvine.

Dr. Jayasekera’s primary areas of expertise are in the history of early modern period (esp. Descartes) and applied metaphysics (esp. free will and agency). Secondarily, she also does research in moral psychology as well as the history of political philosophy and normative ethics. Among her most recent publications is  “All in Their Nature Good’: Descartes on the Passions of the Soul’, which was published in volume 58 of the Journal of the History of Philosophy. This past spring, she presented new work on the Hobbes vs. Bramhall debate on liberty here at CSULB and at the APA.

This FA23, students are in for a special treat, as Dr. Jayasekera will be teaching a course on John Stuart Mill’s Moral and Political Philosophy (PHIL496/596). Previously, she has also taught Political Philosophy (PHIL351), Social Contract Theory (PHIL491/591), Moral Responsibility (PHIL496/596), and Free Will in Early Modern Philosophy (PHIL491/591). Some students have also been able to work with her as a summer research assistant, too.

Welcome, Professor Jayasekera!