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COMING SOON TO A FACULTY NEAR YOU

By Kalli Sandberg (RPTA '14), Staff Writer

The Cal Poly RPTA family would like to welcome two new faculty to San Luis Obispo. The department is so excited to see these two women at work, making the program  stronger and more dynamic with each and every day. Starting in Fall 2013, the RPTA department classrooms will be filled with Dr. Susan Houge MacKenzie and Dr. Keri Schwab. Both of these talented professors bring new and exciting teaching styles, solid research agendas, and countless experiences with them to help take Cal Poly RPTA to new heights.

Dr. Susan Houge Mackenzie received her B.A. in Psychology from Pomona College and her Ph.D. from the University of Otago (New Zealand).  She spent the past two years in the Recreation program at the University of Idaho and previously resided in New Zealand for 10 years working as a riversurfing and adventure guide while teaching courses in Adventure Tourism Management. Many students were able to see Dr. Houge Mackenzie in her element when she visited during Winter Quarter and taught students about various aspects of sports psychology, including the theories of flow, self determination, and self actualization and how they affect experiences in adventure tourism and recreation settings.

Houge-Mackenzie’s interests in sports, adventure, tourism, and psychological well-being stem from ten years of whitewater riverboard/hydrospeed guiding in areas of New Zealand, the US and Chile and playing competitive soccer in the US, New Zealand, Australia and Spain. She has conducted research using head-mounted video cameras, giving her an opportunity to observe and study individuals participating in recreation from their point of view.

Dr. Houge Mackenzie’s research is rooted in the belief that “engaging in outdoor physical activity is essential to health and mental well-being, and can provide a profound sense of meaning and purpose to everyday life.”

Dr. Houge Mackenzie said that she is very excited to join the RPTA team after meeting so many wonderful faculty and students during her visit. She is currently conducting research in New Zealand and will move to San Luis Obispo in August to prepare for the start of the school year.

Dr. Keri Schwab comes to Cal Poly by way of the University of Utah, where she worked for two years as an Assistant Professor/Lecturer in the Parks, Recreation, & Tourism Department after earning her Ph.D at "the U." Schwab didn’t always think she was going to work in the recreation field, but we are glad she ended up where she is today. She grew up in Virginia and attended James Madison University, where she earned a B.S. degree in Media Arts/Print Journalism, and minored in French and Art History. After college, she worked as a newspaper reporter, and then as a case manager for an early intervention program. Working at the intervention program she realized the power of recreation and its ability to bring people together.

With a love of writing, community recreation, youth development, and teaching, Dr. Schwab decided a career as a professor in the recreation/leisure studies field was the perfect job for her. Dr. Schwab enjoys jogging, road biking, yoga, camping with friends, visiting family, reading, and traveling. San Luis Obispo will give her the opportunities to explore and recreate in between teaching.

Dr. Schwab brings to the RPTA department a passion for, and belief in, recreation as a means to change lives, and strengthen families, communities, and the environment. She is excited to meet RPTA students, who she hears are also very passionate about recreation, events, sports, the outdoors, the department, Cal Poly and SLO!

Dr. Keri Schwab is excited to join the RPTA faculty this fall, and looks forward to working with students, meeting people in different Cal Poly departments, and taking in the sites and activities around SLO. 

Back to Spring/Summer 2013 newsletter

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