Conversations

Caroline Sauvage is an assistant professor of classics and archaeology in the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts. She received her B.A. in art history and archaeology as well as her M.A. and Ph.D. in archaeology of the Ancient World from the Université Lumière Lyon 2 in France. Her research interests include trade and maritime exchanges in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as the development and use of textile tools during the Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age. Her research focuses on exchanges, the status of objects, and their representations and use as identity markers across the eastern Mediterranean. She is the author of “Routes maritimes et Systèmes D’échanges Internationaux au Bronze Récent en Méditerranée Orientale” (2012). Sauvage was interviewed by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch.

Academy Award-winner William Friedkin has directed several seminal films, including “The Exorcist,” “To Live and Die in L.A.” and “The French Connection.” Friedkin spoke on campus in late March as part of the School of Film and Television’s “The Hollywood Masters” series. Vanessa Newell, associate professor of film production in SFTV, spoke to him about his work and the film industry.

Keith Ellison is assistant athletics director for sports medicine at LMU, where he has worked for 24 years. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1986, and a master’s in education with an emphasis in guidance counseling in 2006. In his 18 years as head trainer, he has seen LMU’s athletic programs swell to 22 varsity sports, with more than 450 student-athletes. He was interviewed by John Kissell.

Christopher Adachi is a composer and trumpet, piano and ukulele player. Born in Nanakuli, Hawaii, Adachi is pursuing his master’s degree in education at LMU through PLACE Corps — Partners in Los Angeles Catholic Education. Students in this program live together in community, earn teaching credentials and teach in under-resourced schools affiliated with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He was interviewed by Jeremy Rosenberg.

First Amendment speech rights may be nowhere murkier than in schools. Is student speech protected on and off campus? Is bullying speech in cyberspace protected? What if it originates in a student’s home? Court rulings have been unclear, and school administrators are caught in the middle. We asked Martha McCarthy, President’s Professor in the School of Education, for some clarity. She was interviewed by Doug McInnis, a freelance writer in Casper, Wyoming.

Wojciech Kocyan is a clinical professor of piano in the College of Communication and Fine Arts, where he teaches piano and opera among other courses. Born in Poland, Kocyan has performed around the world and won multiple awards. In 2007, Gramophone magazine named his “Skriabin Prokofiew Rachmaninow” (Dux Records) as one of the 50 best classical recordings ever made. He was interviewed by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch.

Raj Tut graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in mechanical engineering. Today, he is director of product for Disney Interactive Media Group in Palo Alto, Calif., a position he took in 2008 when Disney acquired Togetherville, a social networking website for kids that he co-founded. We spoke to Tut about children’s social networking sites and his engineering education. He was interviewed by Fred Puza.

Johnny Gilbreath ’12, a business administration major, is president of the LMU Men’s Lacrosse Team, a non-NCAA club sport. As a freshman, Gilbreath and Marc Napp ’11 began teaching lacrosse to Westchester kids. Today, the LMU team is deeply involved in the city program, and the Westchester teams compete in the West L.A. Lacrosse League. On March 4, Gilbreath was inducted into the West L.A. Lacrosse Hall of Fame in recognition of his work with kids. He was interviewed by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch.

J.D. Hokoyama was president and CEO of Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP), an organization he helped cofound that develops leaders in the Asian and Pacific Islander communities in the United States and abroad. After 23 years at the helm, he retired in November 2011. We sat down with Hokoyama to talk about acculturation, social media and his views as an immigrant of the proverbial American melting pot. He was interviewed by José Martinez ’11.

Alexandra Natapoff is a professor of law at Loyola Law School. She is a nationally recognized expert on snitching in the criminal justice system and has written articles and given testimony before the U.S. Congress on confidential informant practices. Natapoff is the author of “Snitching: Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice” (NYU Press, 2009). She was interviewed by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch.