Liberal Studies Faculty

Matthew Bowes, Term Instructor, Liberal Studies, mjbowes@uaa.alaska.edu

Gabrielle Barnett, Assistant Professor of Humanities, teaching for the Department of Theater and Dance as well as the Liberal Studies program, gbarnett@uaa.alaska.edu

Dr. Barnett holds a PhD in Performance Studies from New York University. Her academic writing has appeared in Technology and Culture and Theatre. Her non-academic writing has been published in the Arts section of the Anchorage Daily News, POL, Next Stage, and Wild Voices.  A resident of Girdwood, in 1995 she co-founded Turnagain Arm Conservation League, a grassroots organization devoted to protecting the Turnagain Arm region's natural heritage, and educating local communities about the values of a health eco-system.  She has worked for many Anchorage-based theater organizations, including the Anchorage Opera, Alaska Repertory Theater, Out North Theatre and Alaska Theater of Youth as scenic artisan, director, dramaturg, perfomer, writer, and designer. Most recently she created and performed a one woman show – GroundZero—for Out North's Under 30 program, and co-created  "Moving North" an improvisational dance research project linking movement and place, for UAA's International Polar Year program. She continues to develop her own improvisational dance practice, and facilitates contact improvisation events in and around Anchorage.

Courses regularly taught:  HUM A211, HUM A212, DNCE A370.

Phyllis A. Fast, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Liberal Studies, pafast@uaa.alaska.edu

Dr. Fast has taught at UAA since Fall, 2004.  Prior to that she taught in the Alaska Native Studies Department at the University of Alaska Fairbanks from 1995 to 2004.  2004 she taught for the Department of English at the University of Alaska Anchorage.  Born and raised in Anchorage, Fast graduated from East Anchorage High School.  She received a BA in English from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, an interdisciplinary M.A. in Anthropology and English on Alaska Native Literary Forms from the University of Alaska Anchorage, and a PhD in Social Anthropology from Harvard University in 1998.  After receiving her first degree from UAF, Fast studied both western and Alaska Native art, and developed a career as a gallery artist in Anchorage.  Her research interests are related to Alaska Native peoples, literary, visual and performative arts, as well as areas of transnational political and social economy as it relates to indigenous peoples, particularly in the area of gender relations.  She is the author of Northern Athabascan Survival: Women, Community and the Future.  Fast's most recent artwork is on display at Two Spirits Gallery until November 30th.  Proceeds from some of the work will go to UAA's project, Anchorage's Diverse Voices.

Courses regularly taught: ANTH A200, ANTH A270, ANTH A360, ANTH A437, ANTH A439, LSSS A111 

Sarah Gerken, Associate Professor, of Biological Sciences, saah.gerken@uaa.alaska.edu

Sarah received her B.A. in Marine Biology (1992) and her M.S. in Marine Science (1995) from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She then went on to receive her Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Maine, Orono (2000).

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, her interest in marine life started early. When Sarah was 10, she announced that she was going to be a marine biologist when she grew up. Despite the ephemeral nature of decisions made at that age, she did become a marine biologist. She is still amazed every day at the splendid diversity and beauty of marine life.

Sarah's current research interests are centered on Crustaceans, mostly in the order Cumacea, although she has worked with leptostracans and mysids. The majority of her publications are in taxonomy and systematics, although phylogeny, biogeography, functional morphology and ecology are enduring interests.

The courses that Sarah teaches include:

(Click here to view the syllabi)

• LSIS 201: Life on Earth
• LSIS 101: Discoveries in Science
• BIOL/GEOL 178: Fundamentals of Oceangraphy
• BIOL/GEOL 179 Fundamentals of Oceanography laboratory
• BIOL 478: Biological Oceanography
• BIOL 427: Invertebrate Zoology

Martha Hatch, Assocaite Profossor, Biological Sciences, Program Directior for Liberal Studies, afmah@uaa.alaska.edu

Professor Hatch is returning to full-time faculty status after working the past nine years as the College of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean for Finance and Operations. During her years in administration she continued to teach on a part-time basis, but now looks forward to concentrating on her research and teaching interests.

Her research interests have ranged from seabird ornithology, botany and stream ecology to educational research. Prior to her university career she worked for six years on a variety of field projects in the coastal areas of Alaska. 

She has taught within the UA system for 24 years, beginning her career as an instructional technician at Anchorage Community College, working her way up the food chain, and is currently an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and the Director of the Liberal Studies Program. She was co-leader of the design team for the Liberal Studies program and is committed to the goals of the program. Her educational background includes a B.A. degree in Recreation with an emphasis on Park Administration, a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Botany with additional post-graduate training.

Throughout her career at ACC and later UAA, she has found her work with students to be the most rewarding.  She says, 'The rewards from helping students achieve their professional goals are without question the most memorable and enduring.'

Ann Jache, Term Assistant Professor, Sociology, jache@uaa.alaska.edu

William Jamison, Term Instructor, Philosophy, afwsj@uaa.alaska.edu.

Mr. Jamison completed his B.A. in Philosophy (1973) and M.A. in Philosophy (1978) at West Chester University and then the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Montery, CA graduating in 1979 from the Russian Course.

Bill then enjoyed a career studying and translating languages (with proficiencies in Russian, German and French) for the US Army in Berlin, Germany; the National Security Agency in Maryland; San Angelo, Texas; Fort Devens, Massachusetts; Fort Richardson, Alaska and Kunia, Hawaii, retiring (SFC) in August 1994.  Since Spring Semester 1995, he has been teaching Philosophy at the University of Alaska, and occasionally Alaska Pacific University, Charter College, and the Anchorage School District.  His interest is primarily in studying philosophy, the humanities, the nature of language and human culture and passing on this interest to others both on campus and in the community.  Bill and his wife Donna live in Eagle River.  They have four children all of whom live, study, and work in Anchorage. 

Website: http://afwsj.uaa.alaska.edu

Kimberly J. Pace, Term Assistant Professor, Political Science, afkjp@uaa.alaska.edu
786-4837 office
727-3307 messages only
786-4647 fax

EDUCATION:
B.A., High Honors, University of Montana, June, 1990.
(Major Political Science, Minor History)

M.A., Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, December, 1991.
(Political Science)

ABD Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. (Political Science)

POSITION:
Term Assistant Professor of Political Science
University of Alaska, Anchorage

Faculty Director of Model United Nations of Alaska
University of Alaska, Anchorage

Director of Women's Studies
University of Alaska, Anchorage

COURSES IN THE HOPPER:

Introduction to American Government
Introduction to Political Science
Comparative Politics
International Relations
Power, Authority, and Governance (LSIC)
Model United Nations
Constitutional Law
International Law and Organization

Fran Pekar, Term Instructor/Coordinator, Biological Sciences, affap@uaa.alaska.edu

Travis Rector, Associate Professor, Physics/Astronomy, aftar@uaa.alaska.edu 
Webpage: http://aftar.uaa.alaska.edu