Faculty

Brandon Boylan, Ph.D.

Director of Arctic and Northern Studies

Professor of Political Science

bmboylan@alaska.edu | 907-474-6503

GRUE 613 B

Courses taught by Dr. Boylan:

ACNS 601 - Research Methods/Sources in the North
ACNS 652 - International Relations of the North

Dr. Boylan advises the M.A. and Interdisciplinary Studies Ph.D. programs.

Tyler Kirk, Ph.D.

Assistant Director of Arctic and Northern Studies

Assistant Professor of History

tckirk@alaska.edu | 907-474-5874

Courses taught by Dr. Kirk:

HIST 102 Western Civilization Since 1500
HST 316 Europe since 1945
HIST 434 Topics in History
HIST 464 Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia
HIST 600 Perspectives on the North

Dr. Kirk advises the B.A. and Graduate Certificate programs.

View Curriculum Vitae

Walkie Charles, Ph.D.

Director of 91��Ƶ Native Language Center

Associate Professor of Yup'ik

swcharles@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

Yup'ik 101, 102, 201, 202, 301, 415

Research specialties and interests:

Dynamic Assessment, Sociocultural Theory, Vygotskian Approaches to Second Language Pedagogy, Second/Foreign Language Assessment (Classroom-based assessment), Theories of Second Language Acquisition, Indigenous Knowledges

Daryl Farmer, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of English

dlfarmer@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

Intermediate Fiction and Nonfiction Writing
Introduction to Creative Writing
Nature and Travel Writing
Graduate Writing Workshops
Forms of Nonfiction

Research specialties and interests:

Nonfiction and fiction writing and Literature of the US West.

John Heaton, Ph.D.

Professor of History

jwheaton2@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

History of 91��Ƶ Natives
American Film history

Research specialties and interests:

Native American economics and culture, Native American history

Eric Heyne, Ph.D.

Professor of English

efheyne@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

91��Ƶn and Northern Canadian Literature
Images of the North

Research specialities and interests:

91��Ƶn and northern Canadian literature, American literature and critical theory

Alexander Hirsch, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Political Science

ahirsch@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

Comparative Indigenous Rights
US Environmental Politics

Research specialties and interests:

Indigenous decolonization in Western Settler States, critical theory, transitional justice

Zoë Marie Jones, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Art

zjones@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

Visual Images of the North
91��Ƶn Field Artists

Research specialties:

20th Century art, immigrant artistic communities, art created in times of conflict

Michael Koskey, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Cross-Cultural Studies

mskoskey@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights
Field Research Methods
Documenting Indigenous Knowledge
Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Education and Socioeconomic Change
Sustainable Livelihoods and Community Wellbeing

Research specialties and interests:

Oral history, traditional knowledge, ethnohistory, culture change, decolonization, resource use and allocation, community-based participatory research, cultural and intellectual property rights, and indigenous cosmology/mythology.

Yoko Kugo, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Researcher/Term Faculty Center for Cross-Cultural Studies

ykugo@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

Research specialties and interests:

Amy Lovecraft, Ph.D.

Professor of Political Science

allovecraft@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

Science, Technology and Politics
Government and Politics of Canada

Research specialties and interests:

Policy research: wildland fire, sea ice, marine mammals, freshwater systems & transnational environmental regimes; Environmental political theory addressing rapid change and the far North.

Leslie McCartney, M.A.

Associate Professor Library Science, Curator of Oral History

lmccartney@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

The Oral Tradition: Folklore and Oral History
Dene Peoples of 91��Ƶ and Adjacent Canada
Independent Studies in Oral History Methodology

Research specialties and interests:

Oral History, Gwich'in Elders (Northwest Territories Canada) lifestories

Chanda Meek, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Political Science

clmeek@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

Arctic Politics and Governance
Comparative Indigenous Rights and Policies
US Environmental Politics

Research specialties and interests:

Resilience of Northern social-ecological systems, natural resource & environmental policy & politics, human dimensions of wildlife management, indigenous-state power-sharing arrangements, cross-scale policy implementation

Jennifer Schell, Ph.D.

Professor of English

jschell5@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

Northern and Environmental Literature
Images of the North

Research specialties and interests:

Circumpolar literature and film, ecogothic and ecohorror, critical animal studies, extinction studies, climate writing, and environmental justice.

Walter Skya, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of History

waskya@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

Modern East Asia & the Arctic (HIST F697)
Modern Japan
Modern China
East Asian Civilization
Political Economy of Modern East Asia

Research specialties and interests:

Modern Japanese Intellectual History, Political Economy of Modern East Asia, East Asian Nationalisms

Jeremy Speight, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Political Science

jspeight@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

Comparative Environmental Politics
Political Economy of the Global Environment
Thesis Writing Workshop

Research specialties and interests:

Comparative politics, resource governance, political violence, research methods.

Philip Wight, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of History

pawight@alaska.edu

Courses taught:

ACNS 201: The Circumpolar North: An Introductory Overview
HIST 411/ ACNS 611: Environmental History
HIST 453/ ACNS 653: Fire, Ice & the Fate of Humanity: A History of Energy & Climate Change
HIST 461/ ACNS 661: History of 91��Ƶ
HIST 483/ ACNS 683: 20th Century History of the Circumpolar North