From the Editor

This year, San José State is home to a series of major athletic events, including Super Bowl LX, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, and the FIFA World Cup. Each of these events offers a spotlight on our region, as well as opportunities for Spartans to demonstrate their talent, expertise and welcoming spirit to visitors and residents alike.

Faculty members like Digital Media Art Professor G. Craig Hobbs, Digital Media Art Assistant Professor Esteban Garcia Bravo and Art and Art History Department Chair Rhonda Holberton have collaborated with a host of SJSU students, alumni, City of San José and nonprofit partners to create artwork that both shows visitors “the way to San José” while demonstrating cutting-edge innovations in augmented reality, mixed media sculptures and interactive light displays. The stories included in this issue reflect only a fraction of the ways Spartans are contributing to SJ26, a collaborative initiative that brings together creators across our region during this exciting time.

There are so many ways to bring cultures together. SJSU Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Sukanya Chakrabarti’s new translation of Nobel Prize-winning writer Rabindranath Tagore’s “Kingdom of Cards,” which she is adapting alongside playwright and SJSU Performance Studies Professor Matthew Spangler, offers an enriching pathway into the world of South Asian theater. Funded in part by the South Asians in Silicon Valley initiative through the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, the production gives SJSU students an insider’s view of the creative process.

This issue showcases a number of examples of Spartan spirit, ranging from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories researchers to engineers gaining hands-on experience in local industries, scientists tagging insects and civic leaders establishing mentorship opportunities for foster youths. Inherent in the Spartan spirit is a desire not only to learn, but also to apply knowledge for the greater good.

This year, when you tune in to sporting events in the Bay Area, we hope you recognize the Spartan spirit in motion through art, theater, science, engineering or community service.

With gratitude, as always, for the people who make these stories possible. Julia Halprin Jackson Managing Editor