College of Social Sciences, UH Mānoa

CSS Roundup – Summer 2024

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WGSS faculty recognized for excellence

Two faculty members in the Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) have received accolades. WGSS Chair Lani Teves is the winner of a 2024 Medal for Excellence in Teaching from the UH Board of Regents. The medal is presented to faculty members who “exhibit an extraordinary level of subject mastery and scholarship, teaching effectiveness and creativity, and personal values that benefit students.” Also, WGSS Associate Professor L. Ayu Saraswati has won a Prose Book Award for “Scarred: A Feminist Journey through Pain” (New York Press) in the crowded category of Biography and Autobiography.

Outstanding civil servant

Dana Singer, a secretary II in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, has been honored with the 2024 UH Mānoa Presidential Award for Outstanding Service by a Civil Service Employee. Recognized for her “heartfelt dedication and noble contributions” to the department, she was nominated by Professor and DURP Chair Priyam Das and Alex Narrajos, president of the University Students of Urban and Regional Planning Student Council.

International leadership role

Jessica Gasiorek, professor and director of graduate studies in Communicology, is president of the International Association of Language and Psychology (IALSP). The professional organization of scholars engages in socio-psychological research and analyses concerning the role of language in society, including verbal and non-verbal communication. While it has roots in the discipline of language sciences, IALSP also comprises diverse scholars from psychology, social psychology, sociology, communication, applied linguistics, anthropology, educational sciences and philosophy.

Two Fulbrights in Anthropology

Anthropology Professor and Center for Southeast Asian Studies Director Miriam Stark,  an expert in Cambodian anthropology and archaeology, has earned a Fulbright fellowship to use her decades of research to provide academic and research assistance for the Southeast Asian nation. She is scheduled to spend two weeks from late April to mid-May 2024 at the Royal University of Phnom Penh to complete an academic capacity-building and program evaluation project for the faculty of social sciences and humanities.

Also in Anthropology, Associate Professor Jan Brunson has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award for research in Nepal for the 2024-2025 academic year. She will collaborate with Dr. Suman Raj Tamrakar, head of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Dhulikhel Hospital, on research involving the cesarean section. Brunson is part of the department’s medical anthropology program that seeks to understand the social, economic and political contexts of health and illness.

Emeriti faculty continue to shine

Sumner La Croix, emeritus professor in the Department of Economics, has been elected vice president of the national Economic History Association (EHA). His term runs through the conclusion of EHA meetings in Fall 2024. Also, Beverly Keever, emerita professor of Journalism, has won an Award of Merit for her film, Seven Years A Correspondent, about her career as a broadcast journalist covering the Vietnam War. Winners of the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association’s Sevareid Awards come from a six-state region.


Additional news stories from the College of Social Sciences.

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