Faculty
Directors
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Brandon Boylan, Ph.D.
Director of Arctic and Northern Studies
Professor of Political Science
GRUE 613 B
Courses taught by Dr. Boylan:
- ACNS 601 - Research Methods/Sources in the North
- ACNS 652 - International Relations of the North
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Tyler Kirk, Ph.D.
Assistant Director of Arctic and Northern Studies
Assistant Professor of History
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
Affiliated Faculty
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Walkie Charles, Ph.D.
Director of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Native Language Center
Associate Professor of Yup'ik
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
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Daryl Farmer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of English
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.
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John Heaton, Ph.D.
Professor of History
Courses taught:
- History of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Natives
- American Film history
Research specialties and interests:
Native American economics and culture, Native American history
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Eric Heyne, Ph.D.
Professor of English
Courses taught:
- ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñn and Northern Canadian Literature
- Images of the North
Research specialities and interests:
ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñn and northern Canadian literature, American literature and critical theory
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Alexander Hirsch, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Political Science
Courses taught:
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Comparative Indigenous Rights
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US Environmental Politics
Research specialties and interests:
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Zoë Marie Jones, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Art
Courses taught:
- Visual Images of the North
- ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñn Field Artists
Research specialties:
20th Century art, immigrant artistic communities, art created in times of conflict
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Michael Koskey, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Cross-Cultural Studies
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.
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Yoko Kugo, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher/Term Faculty Center for Cross-Cultural Studies
Courses taught:
Research specialties and interests:
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Amy Lovecraft, Ph.D.
Professor of Political Science
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.
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Leslie McCartney, M.A.
Associate Professor Library Science, Curator of Oral History
- The Oral Tradition: Folklore and Oral History
- Dene Peoples of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ and Adjacent Canada
- Independent Studies in Oral History Methodology
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Chanda Meek, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Political Science
Courses taught:
- Arctic Politics and Governance
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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
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Jennifer Schell, Ph.D.
Professor of English
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.
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Walter Skya, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History
Courses taught:
- Modern East Asia & the Arctic (HIST F697)
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Modern Japan
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Modern China
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East Asian Civilization
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Political Economy of Modern East Asia
Research specialties and interests:
Modern Japanese Intellectual History, Political Economy of Modern East Asia, East Asian Nationalisms
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Jeremy Speight, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Political Science
Courses taught:
- Comparative Environmental Politics
- Political Economy of the Global Environment
- Thesis Writing Workshop
Research specialties and interests:
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Philip Wight, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of History
Courses taught:
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ACNS 201: The Circumpolar North: An Introductory Overview
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HIST 411/ ACNS 611: Environmental History
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HIST 453/ ACNS 653: Fire, Ice & the Fate of Humanity: A History of Energy & Climate Change
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HIST 461/ ACNS 661: History of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ
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HIST 483/ ACNS 683: 20th Century History of the Circumpolar North
Research specialties and interests: