The University of Guam welcomes the following new faculty members to the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences:

Hope M. Ananich
Instructor, Communication

Hope M. Ananich joins the University of Guam as an instructor of communication. She has been an adjunct instructor at the University for more than 10 years teaching the Fundamentals of Communication and Public Speaking Forum courses. She has also owned and operated several small businesses on island.

Ananich holds a bachelor’s in communication and a master’s in public administration from the University of Guam. Her passions are teaching and helping students overcome their fear of public speaking. She also sponsors several youth and adult sports organizations on Guam and is a Special Olympics Advocate.

Rika Dunlap
Assistant Professor, Philosophy

Rika Dunlap joins the University of Guam as an assistant professor of philosophy. She comes to UOG from Seattle University, where she was an instructor in the Department of Philosophy. She holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Her research interests include Asian philosophy, ethics, applied ethics, and aesthetics.

 

 

Michael J. Hemmingsen
Assistant Professor, Philosophy

Michael J. Hemmingsen joins the University of Guam as an assistant professor of philosophy. He comes to UOG from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, where he was a teaching fellow. He holds master’s degrees in international relations and philosophy from Victoria University of Wellington as well as a doctorate in philosophy from McMaster University in Canada. His research interests include social and political philosophy, critical theory, environmental philosophy, ethics, and non-Western and indigenous philosophy.

 

Barbara Gail Jacala-Whalen
Instructor, English and Applied Linguistics

Barbara Gail Jacala-Whalen joins the University of Guam as an instructor of English and applied linguistics. She was most recently working on Washington State’s pilot project called Integrated Basic Education Skills Training, an approach to serve non-native English speakers seeking workforce training. She holds a master’s in education.

Kenneth Gofigan Kuper
Instructor, Political Science

Kenneth Gofigan Kuper joins the University as an instructor of political science. He is a CHamoru, born and raised on Guam. He is in the doctorate program in political science at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Guam and a master’s degree in Pacific Islands Studies also from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. His research interests include decolonization, the militarization of Oceania, critical security studies, indigenous politics, and language revitalization.

 

Chris Rasmussen
Assistant Professor, History

Chris Rasmussen joins the University as an assistant professor of history. Rasmussen comes to UOG from Nebraska Wesleyan University, where he was a visiting professor from 2017–2018. He has also previously served as a docent at Perm State University in Russia and as an American and world history teacher at five different colleges and universities and one high school in Nebraska.

Rasmussen holds a 2000 bachelor’s in history and journalism from the University of Iowa, a 2003 master’s in history from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a 2008 doctorate in history from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He studies 20^th century American culture with a focus on media and is working on a project on international summer camps in the Cold War.

David A. Ruskin
Assistant Professor, English and Applied Linguistics

David A. Ruskin joins the University as an assistant professor of English and applied linguistics. Originally from Wisconsin, Ruskin earned his bachelor’s in linguistics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a doctorate in brain and cognitive sciences from the University of Rochester in New York. His research focuses on the formation and development of the world’s youngest languages.

 

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The University congratulates the following CLASS faculty members on their promotions:

Francis S. Dalisay
Associate Professor

Francis S. Dalisay has been promoted from assistant professor to associate professor of journalism and communication within the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. He has been with UOG since 2015.

Dalisay presently serves as publisher of the Triton’s Call student newspaper and on the Institutional Review Board Committee and University Web Presence Committee. He is also a co-principal investigator for the UOG Campus Climate Survey.

He holds a bachelor’s in communication with a minor in English from the University of Guam and a master’s and a doctorate in communication from Washington State University.

Evelyn R. Flores
Professor

Evelyn R. Flores has been promoted to professor of English. She previously had been an associate professor of English for 15 years and has been with UOG for more than 30 years.

Flores is presently the chair for the Master of Arts in English program. She has previously chaired the Division of English and Applied Linguistics, the Senate Committee on Institutional Excellence, and various curricular committees.

She holds a bachelor’s from Walla Walla College in Washington, a master’s from Andrews University in Michigan, and a doctorate from the University of Michigan.