Another semester has come and nearly gone, and there have been a slew of new professors across El Camino’s campus in every department, from the Humanities all the way to the Arts departments.
One of the new adjunct professors for the Arts Department is photography teacher Aaron Giesel, who helms from Cal State Long Beach (CSULB) and has taught at five different campuses as an adjunct professor.
Giesel began his teaching career shortly after graduating with a master’s degree in fine arts in 2012 from CSULB, officially teaching in the fall 2013 semester with a class at Long Beach City College and spreading out to Cal State Northridge, CSULB and now El Camino.
Even with having to drive from campus to campus during the week to teach, Giesel thinks it’s “great,” joking that he’s “making enough money” thanks to both CSULB and EC.
Giesel has also found working with EC students to be very rewarding, thanks to the students’ interest in the class.
“The students are really invested into the program,” Giesel said. “They’re bringing in good work, which makes it fun as a teacher.”
When it came time for hiring Giesel, he was actually hired at the last minute by former Dean of Fine Arts Constance Fitzsimons before her retirement on the Friday before the semester started.
“I’m still acclimating (to EC),” Giesel said. “I was ready to go on that first night (of the class).”
Upon arriving to EC, Giesel was taken under the wing of longtime EC photography professor Darilyn Rowan, who has helped Giesel get accustomed to the campus, and who he says he worked with in “bringing a unique vision” to teaching students.
“The Photography Department is very happy to have Aaron,” Rowan said. “He joins us with a very strong technical and creative background in photography.”
Rowan also believes that professors who have worked on a campus for a long time should mentor new professors.
“I’ve tried to introduce various facets of campus, along with introducing (Giesel) to colleagues,” Rowan said. “(I also given) him an effective introduction to our digital and wet lab facilities.”
Giesel also had his work featured in the “Mas Attack” exhibition in the Torrance Art Museum on Saturday, Nov. 12, according to Rowan.
