Former Resident Director: 2007-2008

From Robert Hughes , UHM English Department (Spring 2008 in London):

Once again, I’d like to thank you for the opportunity to participate in the U.H. Study Abroad Center’s program in London in Spring, 2008.  It was perhaps the most memorable teaching experience of my career.  And, as I am retiring in August of this year, it was also my last teaching experience.  If I could work only with SAC, and not have to deal otherwise with U.H., I would consider staying on, but no faculty member could be so lucky.

I did benefit from being on location where some of the most famous British mysteries have been set and filmed.  I tracked down not only the Sherlock Holmes museum and pub, where I took my students, but also several sites from various Poirot mysteries and numerous Oxford and London locations for the Inspector Morse series.  As well as sites from the Dalgleish and Cordellia Gray mysteries of P.D. James.  And I attended again with my students Agatha Christie’s landmark play, The Mousetrap, as well as frequented “Murder One,” the only dedicated mystery bookstore in London.  I also corresponded with several literary agents in London about my Surfing Detective series, attempting to generate interest in its publication in the U.K.  And finally, I did some significant research for the fourth mystery in the series, Barking Sands, thanks to the wireless internet hookup in the Chaplaincy.  The Program offered much more opportunity to develop myself professionally than I was able to take advantage of.

From Kristin McAndrews, UHM English Department (Spring 2008 in Paris):

In the fall of 2007, I committed to a research project regarding the visits to Paris by Hawaiian royalty from 1850 to 1900.  I began chronologically with the 1850 visit of Prince Lot Kamehameha.  In addition, I decided to do some research into Garritt Parmele Judd, then finance minister of Hawaii.  They came to Paris on a diplomatic mission in order to facilitate a treaty with France. I wondered what the French might have thought about the efforts of the small party to negotiate a treaty.

Before I left Honolulu, I worked at Bishop Museum researching Lot and Judd.  I focused on Lot’s journal from that time period and Judd’s letters as two different types of autobiographical discourse. In Paris, I planned on looking at French newspaper archives in order to see what the French thought about the visiting Hawaiians.  In Paris, in order to proceed, I had to create a dossier at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France in order to use their library facilities at the Mitterand and the Richileiu. Fortunately, I was given a lecturer’s card and quite a thorough tour of the facilities and archives. I researched at the Bibliotheque for three months both in house and on-line.  In addition, I visited the National Archives and the Musee de Paris in order to find more information about the ali’i’s visits. Now I have a substantial research project on tourism in relationship to visiting ali`i.  I recently gave a presentation at the International Conference of Autobiography and Biography held in Honolulu at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa regarding aspects of Lot’s grand tour in relationship to the well-established tourist culture of Parisian society in 1850. 
My project has grown into a book length project that will contribute to studies of tourism, autobiography, biography, Hawaiian culture and Hawaiian studies and the intersection of all these disciplines with French culture and history.

From Rebecca Knuth, Library & Information Sciences Department (Fall 2007 in London)
I had one of the best experiences in my life. It was a wonderful break from administrative duties and committee work. I was able to read extensively, take notes for my book, go to a conference and lectures, meet with colleagues, go to the British Library, travel, etc. I was able to do so much note-taking, coding, and thinking that when I arrived back in Hawaii I was able to write two chapters in five weeks. The book I am currently writing sprang from the preparation I did on the syllabus for the class I taught In London. And I revised that class and am teaching it as a new LIS special topics course over HITS this semester. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE EXPERIENCE!!!!

 

From Patrick Woo, East Asian Languages & Literatures (Fall 2007 – Spring 2008 in Machida, Japan)

This Resident Directorship appointment is an excellent opportunity for professional development. While here in Japan, I was able to do research for my doctoral dissertation. I have successfully located many academic articles, especially those published in Japanese university journals that would not otherwise have been available if I had not come to Japan. Visits to the National Diet Library further helped with my research. I also received a lot of help from the school librarians in obtaining research materials from other universities through inter-library loans.

In addition, I am looking forward to attending the Twelfth Asian Studies Conference in Japan to be held from June 21-22, 2008 and the annual conference of the Society for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language to be held from May 24-25, 2008. Participation in these conferences helps keep me abreast of the latest developments in the fields of Japanese language teaching and Literary Studies.

Furthermore, I benefited a great deal from my interaction with the Japanese language teaching staff at J.F. Oberlin University. I was able to see how differently a Japanese language program is run here in Japan, as opposed to in a JFL environment in America. Exchange of teaching ideas with my Japanese colleagues has been stimulating and as a result I will be able to experiment with new teaching approaches upon my return to the University of Hawaii.

Finally, during my stay in Japan, I was also able to gather a lot of instructional materials such as books, albums, films, videos, recordings of TV programs and other audio-visual teaching aids that will be very useful for teaching both Japanese language and literature in the future.  Most of these learning resources are not readily available in Hawaii and will no doubt enrich students' learning experiences in many years to come.