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 Alaska 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 Alaska 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:

Alaskan and Northern Canadian Literature
Images of the North

Research specialities and interests:

Alaskan 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
Alaskan 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 Alaska 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 Alaska
HIST 483/ ACNS 683: 20th Century History of the Circumpolar North