Chaminade University of Honolulu

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Chaminade Professor’s New Book Reveals Robert Louis Stevenson’s Importance in Illustrated Literature

Dr. Richard Hill

Congratulations are in order for Richard Hill, Ph.D., assistant professor of English.  His book Robert Louis Stevenson and the Pictorial Text: A Case Study in the Victorian Illustrated Novel has been recently published by Routledge (2017).  The book is a scholarly analysis of the lifetime illustrations to the fiction of Robert Louis Stevenson.  A famous 19th-century writer, Stevenson wrote books such as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the great pirate novel Treasure Island. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Stevenson also spent time in Hawaii as well as traveling through the Pacific.  Over the years, Stevenson has been the subject of much serious critical scholarship. Hill’s book contributes to this scholarship by examining how Stevenson sought illustration for his work and how illustration succeeded or failed according to Stevenson’s opinion.

Dr. Richard Hill Book: Robert Louis Stevenson and the Pictorial Text - A Case Study in the Victorian Illustrated Novel

Hill initially did his doctorate work on Sir Walter Scott, Stevenson’s literary forebear. Hill received his Ph.D. from Edinburgh University, the alma mater of Scott and Stevenson.  After Hill completed his work on Scott, he targeted Stevenson for his next endeavor. “Stevenson became the natural focus of my work,” Hill recalled. “Stevenson was another famous Scottish author but one who had come to the Pacific, like me!  It was a natural fit for my focus of research.”

Hill completed the book through a series of challenges and distractions, including illness, moving from Oahu to Maui, and the birth of two children to whom the book is dedicated. “I’m very proud of the fact that the entirety of the book, from conception to publication, was produced while being a faculty member at Chaminade University,” he added.  “Thanks must go to my department, dean, and the Sullivan Family Library for their support through the process.”

Faculty Hui Spurs Enthusiasm

Before the start of the semester, faculty huddled together to prepare themselves to give their best to their students and new classes.  At the opening breakfast of the 2017 Faculty Hui, they shared what they did over the holidays and the classes they would be teaching. The gathering came to order with prayer and an ‘oli, which quietened the room and focused the faculty on the purpose of their individual curricula in light of Marianist educational values.

2017 Faculty HuiDuring the two-day gathering held January 11-12 on campus, Bro. Bernard Ploeger, S.M. presented his presidential address with an open forum to discuss the state of the university. Divisions met to hone their strategies and goals to ensure student success. In addition, Janet Davidson was announced as associate provost of Academic Affairs. Faculty Development and Assessment with Brian Richardson (Faculty Center director), Cari Ryan (Assessment specialist) and Makana Mattos (Institutional Design) will be led by her.

Breakout sessions were well-received. Faculty shared with their colleagues on innovative ways to teach, scholarship and research involvements, and the distinctiveness of a Marianist education.  Faculty genuinely enjoyed exchanging ideas and expertise with one another.  Sessions included:

  • Google for Education – Elizabeth Park
  • Writing Learning Outcomes – Brian Richardson and Candice Sakuda
  • Speech Choir Performance of Forgiveness for English Language Learning – Eva Washburn-Repollo
  • Experiential Learning – Gail Grabowsky
  • Grant Writing Strategies – David Carter
  • Yale Summer Fellowship: Why Should We Teach Slave Narratives? – Allison Paynter
  • Teaching Students the Value of Using Evidence in Practice-Based Professions – Julie Elting
  • The Larger Perspective of Video in Education – Tom Galli and Allison Paynter
  • Strategies for Interdisciplinary Pedagogy: A Report from the Watery Field – Scott Wylie, Katrina Roseler
  • Strategies for Using Rubrics – Brooke Carlson
  • Breakout Edu – Makana Mattos
  • Train the Mind and Cultivate the Heart: Marianist Education – Dave Coleman, Edna Magpantay-Monroe, Charlie Peterson

Discussions inspired at the Faculty Hui carried into the first week of classes as faculty continued to ponder new ways of teaching.  It was a great start to a new beginning.

Saint Louis School Agreement Sets Stage for Chaminade’s Athletics Locker Room and Training Facility

Chaminade University has successfully completed its athletics agreement with Saint Louis School.   In exchange for a payment of $3.5 million to Saint Louis on December 30, Chaminade received:

  • 50 year ground sublease for the site mauka of McCabe Gym, the first 40 years of rent pre-paid;
  • 30 years of prepaid rent for the use of St. Louis’s athletics facilities for 1,150 hours per year for the gym and 350 hours per year for the field.

With the granting of the sublease Chaminade will now be able to build a locker/training room facility, which is projected to open in time to use for the fall 2018 season.

Chaminade University Selects New Associate Provost for Academic Affairs

Janet Davidson

Chaminade University of Honolulu announced that Janet T. Davidson, Ph.D., has been selected as the University’s new associate provost for Academic Affairs.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Davidson into the Office of the Provost and the Center for Teaching and Learning,” said Chaminade University provost, Helen Whippy, Ph.D. “Dr. Davidson will bring her teaching expertise, academic scholarship, and capability of collaborating with colleagues to Academic Affairs as our new associate provost.”

Davidson has been at Chaminade University in a full-time capacity since fall 2005. She has served as an associate professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice. At the undergraduate level, Davidson taught: Introduction to Criminal Justice Systems; Women and Crime; Ethics in Criminal Justice; Criminology; Corrections: Prisons and Community Alternatives; as well as statistics. At the graduate level, she taught: Research Methods; Inmate Rights; and Reentry and Rehabilitation. In addition, Davidson advised both undergraduate and graduate students regarding their programs of study. Most recently, she co-managed Chaminade’s inaugural undergraduate research program.

Davidson published numerous peer-reviewed and applied research publications. Most recently, she published “The Challenges of Determining Student Engagement in a Digital, Mobile Learning Age” in a special-edition Mobile Learning themed volume of GLOKALde, which she co-edited. She also coordinated the blind peer review of five of her Chaminade colleagues’ manuscripts, also published in the special edition volume focusing on mobile learning.

Prior to Chaminade, Davidson worked at the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General as a research analyst. She earned her doctorate in Sociology with specific focuses on crime, law, and deviance, as well as her M.A. and B.A. in sociology from the University of Hawaii – Manoa. Her research interests include institutional and community corrections, recidivism, and issues related to gender and crime.

Developing Leadership through Historical Context

Six Dickinson College students flew from Carlisle, Pennsylvania to Honolulu this winter to join six Chaminade University students for a 5-day intensive leadership seminar. The seminar, taught by Dickinson professor, Jeff McCausland, Ph.D., used the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, as a historical case study to examine enduring concepts of leadership and organizational theory.

McCausland with Alaka’ina Foundation vice president of Pacific Operations, Roy J. Panzarella, Ph.D. spearheaded the opportunity for the 12 students. Thanks to sponsor, Alaka’ina Foundation, and Chaminade University, the Chaminade students participated for free.  The Foundation also provided a dinner for the group on one of the evenings. For the Foundation, supporting the Pearl Harbor Leadership Seminar matched its goal of developing a new generation of leaders.

The twelve students participated in an overview workshop on the first day and continued formal discussions and exercises from January 9-13. They reflected daily on the meaning of the places visited with efforts focused on connecting leadership concepts and principles discussed.

The core question asked daily was the “so what?” question as it pertained to leadership concepts and individual or organizational development.  Students pondered over the power of assumptions, leading in a crisis, the value of diversity, organizational culture and change, resilience and effective communications.

The group hiked up to Diamond Head observation point and to Opana Point at Turtle Bay. They visited the Tropic Lightening Museum, Schofield Barracks, Wheeler Airfield, and Hickam Harbor. They solemnly toured Pearl Harbor WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument, its museum, and the Arizona Memorial. They took in the USS Bowfin Museum and then a nuclear submarine at the U.S. Submarine Command Pacific – a juxtaposition of past and present technology. They also made it to Punchbowl National Cemetery, the Pacific Aviation Museum, Ford Island, and the USS Missouri. In addition, the group spent an evening at Polynesian Cultural Center, as a valuable opportunity to understand diversity and culture. Learning to appreciate cultural diversities and geographic differences (Atlantic Coast meets Pacific Islands), the students strengthened their team’s capacities to work together on various exercises.

Gabriel Torno, a graduate student with Chaminade’s Hogan Entrepreneurs program, found the week to be of exceptional value. He wrote that the experience gave him unique insight of leadership concepts as he took in the historic events of Pearl Harbor. “The attack on Pearl Harbor is an excellent case study for the program. I learned more about the concepts of challenging assumptions and organizational culture,” Torno reflected.  “Some high points for me was the overall visitation of Opana Point at Turtle Bay as a vehicle that ignited World War II and our last visit to the USS Missouri that concluded the war.”  Torno also found the group’s visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center to be meaningful in exploring the concept of diversity.

On Friday, Pacific Forum CSIS prepared for the students a special half-day event, which focused on leadership for the future.  Jim Kelly, the former assistant secretary of State, and Pacific Forum officials, spoke to the students on the future of United States leadership in the Pacific. The Pacific Forum CSIS provides timely, informative, and innovative analysis of political, security, and strategic developments in the Asia-Pacific region.

Steeped in history and informed of future projections, the students made connections with the past, present, and future. They considered the mindsets of the major players of a historic event and now had a leadership framework for their future use.

Center for Teaching and Learning Selects New Assessment Specialist

Cari Ryan, Assessment Specialist

Chaminade University welcomed Cari Anne Ryan as its new assessment specialist for the Center for Teaching and Learning. With her hire, the Office of the Provost completed its trifecta of director (Brian Richardson), instructional designer (Makana Mattos), and assessment specialist (Cari Ryan). Ryan will work with the faculty on course and program assessment, program review, designing and implementing assessment plans, and closing the loop on assessment.

Previously Ryan taught Writing and Research Methods at Pacific Rim Christian University.  She also served there as a Student Learning assessment coordinator and library director.

Ryan earned a B.A. in Art History and English from Seton Hall University in New Jersey and an M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.