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The CSU has a new policy on freedom of expression. Learn more.

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

The College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (CAHSS) is an artistic, creative, and intellectual community. It is an equitable partnership of staff, faculty, and students who are devoted to teaching, learning, and collaboration. The many fields within CAHSS provide the greatest breadth for service-learning, creative engagement, and professional opportunity within a diverse and changing society.

Hands-on Experience

Our programs and majors offer many unique opportunities to extend learning beyond the classroom including student performances, studios, laboratories, newsrooms, internships, and more. Hands-on learning enriches the student, the university, and the community, tying academic study to real-world experiences.

fours theatre students acting on a stage

Study Abroad

Studying abroad is an exciting way to enhance an undergraduate experience through exposure to different cultures, languages, and communities. Travel, explore, embrace new environments, all while making progress toward graduation.

group of traveling abroad students

Personal Attention

It’s the difference between sitting through a lesson and playing a role in creating it. Feel challenged by faculty who expand students’ worldview and supported by departments that pride themselves on personalized attention.

students sitting in a circle with a professor

Place-Based Learning Communities

Learning goes beyond the classroom at Humboldt. We learn from the environment we are in. Our Place-Based Learning Communities provide you with a tight-knit community of like minded peers before classes even start. These connections will help you navigate college life, gain confidence, succeed academically, and gain a sense of belonging within the Humboldt community.

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Achievements

CAHSS Achievements

Submit an Achievement

Faculty

John Meyer

Politics
Submitted: April 1, 2025

John Meyer, with co-author Sherilyn MacGregor of the University of Manchester, recently published an open-access article titled “How (Not) to Politicize the Climate Crisis: Beyond the Antipopulist Imaginary.” The article is part of a special issue on “The Antipopulist Moment” published by Politische Vierteljahresschrift, the German Political Science Quarterly. 

Faculty

Sarah Jaquette Ray

Environmental Studies
Submitted: April 1, 2025

Environmental Studies Chair Dr. Sarah Jaquette Ray will moderate a discussion with Joe Hendersen, Nikki Hoskins, Jade Sasser, Rebecca Weston, and Finn Does on how the climate crisis has been mobilized in service of authoritarian nationalism, anti-immigrant xenophobia and misogyny.  Learn more and register here: https://www.climatepsychology.us/cpa-workshops-and-talks-aNVzu/unnaming…

Faculty

Paul Michael Leonardo Atienza

Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Submitted: March 10, 2025

Dr. Paul Michael L. Atienza was chosen to join the Knowledge of AIDS (KOA) Research Community Network (RCN), which seeks to form a scholarly community for social scientific, humanistic, and socio-technical researchers of HIV/AIDS broadly situated within the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS). He will participate in the second of three annual workshops in late March focused on forms of expertise that emerged in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis. In addition to the workshops, KOA-RCN seeks to develop a robust online community, support research collaborations, and create a mentorship program.

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CAHSS Alumni Updates

Pete Narensky

Journalism, 1995
Submitted: February 7, 2025

Recently retired after 24 years of service with the U.S. Customs Service and Department of Homeland Security serving as a Criminal Investigator. Mr. Narensky most recently achieved the rank of Assistant Special Agent in Charge and led a Financial Crimes Taskforce in Long Beach, CA. Mr. Narensky has started a second career working as Head of Security for the West Coast for a large global logistics company. 

Edward Hendrickson

Theatre, 1973
Submitted: January 22, 2025

Edward is still alive and a survivor of the HIV-AIDS epidemic and a violent act that caused a memory loss of eight years. But this year he will turn 75 and is glad for his connection to the creative art movement in Spokane. A new time in his life and a new voice. His two years at Humboldt (1971-1973) changed his life forever. He is grateful to the staff and students of that time period. Good thoughts to all!

Mark Pignatelli

Geography, 2004
Submitted: January 8, 2025

Mark's time at Humboldt State in the early 2000s had a profound impact on the man he is today. His graduation pledge was to use his life to actively work toward a more socially and environmentally responsible world. 

Shortly after graduating, his professional career began in the renewable energy and energy efficiency space. For the past 20 years, his profession has focused on energy efficiency consulting. He is currently a Director with ICF and leads a team of consultants who design, implement, and evaluate programs that help our clients achieve energy, environmental, and economic goals. His skills include project management, sustainable development, energy assessments, and building science. His passion is to create innovative solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance energy security, and improve the quality of life for communities. The energy efficiency programs he supports are designed to help builders, developers, and homeowners adopt high-performance building practices, technologies, and standards that increase energy savings, comfort, and durability.

Mark says Humboldt was and will always be a magical and inspiring place to live, learn, and love. His Humboldt professors, friends, and family opened doors of perception that allowed him to see and understand the world through a new lens. These influences and learnings resulted in his passion for the environment and the precious home he calls Earth. 

More Alumni Updates