Senior Journalism major heads to national Sports Journalism Institute
ASL and Deaf Studies Program Instructor and Coordinator Aidan Mack
"Teaching is at the heart of everything I do. My greatest passion is helping students succeed and preparing them for the realities of the professional world. There is nothing more rewarding than watching students wrestle with a difficult concept and then experience that “light bulb” moment—when confusion turns into confidence and their smiles reflect true understanding. Those moments are what make teaching deeply meaningful.
In my Deaf Studies and ASL courses, I witness students undergo a profound transformation. Many arrive hearing-centered, focused on words and sounds, and gradually discover that meaning lives in every movement, gesture, and facial expression. Their hands, faces, and posture become instruments of communication. I watch their awareness expand as they grasp the full depth of visual language, realizing that communication is not confined to sound and that every part of themselves has power and purpose.
Teaching constantly challenges me to grow. Each class stretches me to communicate more clearly, think more creatively, and deepen my understanding of both my subject and my students. Surrounded by passionate and innovative colleagues, I am reminded that learning is never one-way—education is a shared journey. I do not only teach; I learn, adapt, and discover alongside my students and peers every day.
I am grateful to be part of CCSU, where I am inspired daily by diverse students and colleagues who challenge and expand my perspective. My mission is simple but enduring: to equip students not only with knowledge, but with confidence, resilience, and the courage to embrace their full potential. When they leave my classroom, carrying new skills, new understanding, and a stronger sense of themselves, I know I have done more than teach—I have helped them step into their own power."
- Aidan Mack, Instructor and Coordinator, the ASL and Deaf Studies Program
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Past Faculty Spotlights
Dr. Drake Andersen, Assistant Professor of Music
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Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Drake Andersen is a composer, technologist, and scholar whose creative work and research focus on improvisation and the use of technology in the arts. Since joining Central in 2024, Dr. Andersen has taught courses in electronic music composition, audio production, and other topics in music technology, while also directing the Central iPad Ensemble. Recent highlights include performing with the Central iPad Ensemble at the Danbury Palace in celebration of Connecticut composer Charles Ives’s 151st birthday and a collaborative project in which his students composed original music to accompany video work produced in Prof. Ted Efremoff’s video art class. Recent and upcoming professional activities include a research presentation at the Pierre Boulez Centennial in Cleveland in November, a multimedia collaboration with percussionist Lisa Pegher at the Winnipeg New Music Festival in January, and the performance of improvised live electronic score for the film Metropolis with pianist Jenny Lin in February. Next fall, Dr. Andersen will host scholars and musicians from around the world on Central’s campus for a centennial celebration of the American avant-garde composer Earle Brown. Stay tuned for more!
Dr. Silvia Corbera, Associate Professor of Psychological Science
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Since she started teaching at Central in 2016, Associate Professor of Psychological Science, Licensed CT Psychologist, and Director of the Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Silvia Corbera López has been working to both educate students and create and publish intriguing various research projects related to social cognition—such as theory of mind, empathy, and affect recognition—in individuals across the schizophrenia spectrum and broader populations.
Dr. Corbera maintains active collaborations with the Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center, Yale University, and the Connecticut Department of Developmental Services, among others. She has authored over 25 peer-reviewed publications and received multiple grants, including a Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator Award. Internationally, her work spans collaborations in Japan, Korea, Canada, Italy, Spain, and France, advancing our understanding of the neurophysiological bases of social functioning and brain health.
In 2023, she began working on her most recent project which has been published in Frontiers of Psychiatry as of September 29th. The project, titled “Underlying Neurological, Genetic, and Behavioral Mechanisms in Schizophrenia and Autism Spectrum Disorder”, provides an integrative overview of the shared and distinct neurobiological, genetic, and behavioral mechanisms underlying schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder. For this project, Dr. Corbera López and colleagues (Dr. Michal Assaf and Dr. Rafael Penadés) invited the submission of original research articles, meta-analyses, reviews, and study protocols that explored these mechanisms, particularly those leveraging such insights to advance diagnostic tools and therapeutic interventions. The goal of the project was to bring together contributions from the scientific community examining the shared and distinct endophenotypes within and between schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder. As co-editors, Dr. Corbera López and her colleagues were honored and excited to oversee the review and publication of nine high-quality papers that addressed this important theme from diverse perspectives. The hope is that the findings presented in this publication will stimulate further research and innovation in understanding and treating these complex neurodevelopmental conditions.
Faculty Spotlight: Theatre professor Christie Maturo
Bright stage lights shine overhead, and the rhythmic clamoring of a hammer against nails grows louder as CCSU Professor Christie Maturo walks through the back door of the Black Box Theatre in Maloney Hall. Students stop to say hello as they work on their set for a production of “Sense and Sensibility,” rolling fresh coats of paint onto the wooden archways that serve as the show’s Regency-era backdrop.
“Training a theater artist or somebody who studies theater is really studying humanity,” Maturo says from a conference room down the hall. “At the heart of it, it’s why do humans do what they do. Every benefit that is needed across all disciplines is strengthened by studying theater. It’s communication, it’s collaboration, it’s expressing your ideas, it’s problem-solving, it’s understanding your fellow human.”
In addition to teaching, Maturo is the faculty advisor for Center Stage and Theatre Unlimited, two clubs on campus. The former produces a musical each May. Currently, Maturo serves as a producer for the production, ensuring that the most vital aspects of the show — like managing budgets and schedules — are kept on track.
With Theatre Unlimited, a club dedicated to expanding the understanding and appreciation of theater, Maturo works with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). The KCACTF holds regional conferences allowing theater folks of all specialties (actors, designers, stage managers) to celebrate the art. CCSU will host the 2024 Region 1 festival from Jan. 30 to Feb. 3. Maturo also heads up the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Competition for the region and coordinates a program where professors visit other universities and respond to their performances, both through the KCACTF.
To supplement her work within the CCSU community, Maturo works with local high schools to encourage younger people to pursue theater.
“I’ve done a lot, over the past couple semesters, of going out into the high schools and giving free audition workshops,” Maturo details. “Also bringing some of our students to speak about what the college experience is being a theatre major, in hopes of exciting the next group of artists to carry it forward.”
With more outreach opportunities on the horizon, Maturo shows no signs of slowing down.
“To undervalue the arts or the humanities,” she says, “is really like undervaluing the human relationship. It’s the reason we’re touched by it. It brings some sort of truth to us, or it’s some sort of fantasy world that we dream might exist in the world one day, and all of that is valuable to creating whatever might come next for people. The entertainers are the ones who carry our story and our humanity.”