NOTE: Faculty, if you are interviewed and quoted by news media, or if your work has been cited, and you have an online link to the article or video, please let us know. Contact us at news@csusb.edu.

CSUSB professor helped animators bring a furry character to life in Pixar's Hit 'Soul'
KVCR
Jan. 21, 2021

Pixar’s latest animated hit Soul, about the life-after-death adventures of a jazz musician, has an Inland Empire connection. Cal State San Bernardino biology professor, Dr. Stuart Sumida, worked with animators to help create one of the movie’s central characters, a very round cat named Mr. Mittens.

“He’s built a little bit more like a hamster, but he has to convince the audience he is a cat, that he is acting like a cat,” said Sumida.

This is what storytellers call suspending disbelief which, Sumida, who has worked on more than 70 films over the past 30 years, said is important when you are dealing with creating cartoon-like characters.

Audiences may not be experts in animal biomechanics like Sumida, but they will know if something is off. Sumida, an animal biologist who specializes in paleontology (think fossils), knows a lot about the way muscles and bones work together to create movement. His job is to translate that information to animators who already know a lot about structure.

Read the complete article, and listen to the audio report, at “CSUSB professor helped animators bring a furry character to life in Pixar's Hit 'Soul.'”

CSUSB’s Kevin Grisham: Far-right groups move to messaging apps as tech companies crack down on extremist social media
The Conversation
Jan. 22, 2021

“For years, social media allowed far-right violent extremists to recruit and organize on a multitude of platforms. This online bridge between violent and nonviolent individuals helped lay the groundwork for the events Jan. 6,” wrote Kevin Grisham, associate director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and professor of global studies, in an opinion piece.

“Now, with scores of arrests for the Capitol attack, Trump out of power and Joe Biden in office, far-right groups are using platforms like Telegram and Gab to take stock of their setbacks. If they do regroup and plan further violent actions, they are likely to do so on the same platforms.”

Read the complete article at “Far-right groups move to messaging apps as tech companies crack down on extremist social media.”

CSUSB professor discusses reaction of QAnon conspiracy theory adherents in response to Biden’s inauguration
Rolling Stone
Jan. 21, 2021

Kevin Grisham, associate director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, discussed the disarray among adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory that predicted Donald Trump would emerge on Jan. 20 to retake power.

Grisham forecasts that brewing anger within the community will lead to an increase in protests, possibly on the local level or at state capitols. “I’m seeing a lot of ‘we lost the battle, but we’ll continue to fight the war’-type sentiment,” he says.

Read the complete article at “QAnon believers struggle with the two hardest words: ‘President Biden.’”

CSUSB professor comments on relative lack of violence in inauguration day
KNX Radio (Los Angeles)
Jan. 21, 2021

A segment on the “flood of relief” following a mostly quiet inauguration day – authorities nationwide had braced for possible violence by right-wing extremists – included interview with Brian Levin, director of the CSUSB Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.

A number of things, including the relative quiet of outgoing President Donald Trump, whose social media accounts had been suspended after the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot, as well as a clamp down on extremists’ on the platforms, he said. “Trump is not only damaged with respect to the mainstream. He’s damaged with respect to the extreme,” Levin said. “What has been so interesting has been the sudden shift, the  disappointment and shock coming from QAnon, but also the disappointment that is coming from groups like the Proud Boys, who were saying, like, you know, ‘We still have things to do, but Trump’s not the one to lead us.’”

These news clips and others may be viewed at “In the Headlines.”