Oxy Stories | Occidental College

From academics to real-world impact, explore stories from our community that highlight the people and experiences making Occidental College a place of opportunity, discovery, and success.

Zachary Silver

Faculty Psychology

Meet Zachary Silver of psychology, whose research and teaching interests involve how animals learn from and about humans.

Faculty Philosophy

Meet Susan Blake of philosophy, whose teaching and research interests include theory of knowledge, early Chinese philosophy, philosophy of perception, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mind.

Dhyandra Lawson ’08

Alumni Art & Art History

Shaped by her experiences at Occidental, Dhyandra Lawson—now a curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)—brings her artistic vision to life as she plans a new exhibit.

Jamie Amemiya

Faculty Psychology

Meet Jamie Amemiya of psychology, a developmental psychologist interested in the development of social cognition as it relates to how children and adults think about and respond to societal problems.

Natasha Sekhon

Faculty Geology

Meet Natasha Sekhon of geology, a low-temperature geochemist and paleoclimatologist whose research combines concepts from karst and speleothem sciences to investigate the hydroclimate of terrestrial environments varying on seasonal to millennial time scales.

Faculty Urban & Environmental Policy

Meet Claire Cahen of Urban & Environmental Policy, an urbanist, researcher and educator, who studies municipal austerity and public sector union renewal.

Faculty Religious Studies

Meet Sohaib Khan of religious studies, whose research and teaching lie at the intersection of Islamic legal studies, anthropology, postcolonial studies, and histories of capitalism in South Asia and the Middle East.

Sophie Prado-Tucker '25

Sophie Prado-Tucker

Student Art & Art History History

During her time as an intern at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Sophie Prado-Tucker has been able to actively engage with a forthcoming exhibition, gaining firsthand experience and insight into the art world.

Bella Kwan

Student Media Arts & Culture Sociology

Bella Kwan is a development & communications intern at Visual Communications, an organization dedicated to developing and supporting the voices of Asian American and Pacific Islander filmmakers and media artists.

Abigail Lee '24

Student Biology Music

An avid cellist and pre-med student, Abigail Lee was drawn to study both disciplines at Occidental, recognizing a critical link between preparing for musical performances and conducting scientific research.

Elizabeth Wiener

Elizabeth Wiener

Faculty Politics

Meet Elizabeth Wiener of Politics, whose research interests include U.S. legislative institutions; representation of marginalized groups; interest groups, political organizations, and lobbying; public policy design, processes, and analysis; and U.S. state politics.

Yumi Pak

Faculty Black Studies

Meet Yumi Pak of Black Studies, whose research and teaching specializations include Black literary and cultural studies; critical ethnic studies; Black feminist theory; queer theory and queer of color critique; performance studies; U.S. multi-ethnic literatures; American literature; and American studies.