Meet the Curators
Bryce Van Ross - Lead Curator
B.S in General Mathematics from California State Univesity, Los Angeles
Bryce Van Ross is pursuing a M.S. in General Mathematics, graduating in Spring 2022. His short-term goals are to pursue a Ph.D. and his long-term goals are to teach math as a college professor or high school teacher. Bryce has worked with Cal State LA Special Collections and Archives as a Student Assistant since Fall 2018, and among his favorite archival projects was weeding through the Rare Books Collection. As one of the originators of this exhibit, he helped lead the exhibit team and the development of the exhibit since Fall 2020. Specifically, Bryce curated the section Community Setbacks and Response: United Peoples in the Midst of Hardships, and edited other sections. During the quarantine, outside of school and work, Bryce self-learned Latin among other hobbies.
Jocelyn Acosta - Co-curator
B.A. in Anthropology from California State University, Los Angeles
Jocelyn Acosta is earning her Master’s in Archaeology at Cal State LA. She is currently a Student Assistant Lead at the University Library’s Special Collections and Archives. Her career goals are to become a professor and continue her research on sacred caves and subterranean spaces in Honduras. She enjoyed working alongside the Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, Azalea Camacho on instruction sessions and processing the Wayne Ruwet Collection which compasses the Mesoamerica and Colonial Mexico Collection. Her highlight was being able to curate an exhibit called Mesoamerica Archaeology Exhibit in fall 2018. During the pandemic she’s mainly working on her thesis, watching movies and TV series.
Cyrene Cruz - Co-curator
M.A. in History with a focus on Ancient History from California State University, Los Angeles
Cyrene Cruz completed her M.A. in History in Fall 2020. Her work focused on gender and ethnicity in the ancient world and the manipulation of cultural identity in Hellenistic Egypt. She has been employed at Cal State LA Special Collections and Archives since Spring 2018 and has enjoyed working with the Mesoamerica and Colonial Mexico Rare Book Collection, MAW Collection of Mesoamerican Ceramics, and the Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy. In 2019, she curated Pulps, Films, and Sex Politics: The Astounding History of Science Fiction and in 2018 assisted in the curation of an exhibit on Mesoamerican archaeology. In addition to her work with Cal State LA, she is employed as Processing Archivist at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History where she is working on a project to recontextualize and reimagine the museum’s hundred-year-old diorama halls. In the future, she plans to pursue an MLIS degree and continue working in archives. During quarantine, she has been practicing Ancient Greek, learning to work with resin, and watching horror movies.
Keshy Jeong - Co-curator
B.A. in Art - Option in Animation from California State University, Los Angeles
Sae Hee "Keshy" Jeong is graduating with a B.A. in Art - Animation in Summer 2021 and applying to MLIS programs to further a career in arts and audiovisual archives. They were responsible for this exhibit’s “Zoom University”: Adapting to Virtual Education section and editing Pandemic Diaries Project videos. They have been a student assistant at Cal State LA University Library’s Special Collections and Archives since Summer 2019, previously employed at CalArts Library Film & Image Services and Warner Bros. Animation production. During the pandemic, they’ve been helping transcribe Cal State LA’s Chinese American Oral History Project and observing the “Lipstick Effect” as a cosmetics warehouse worker.