Assistant Professor of Vocal Performance
Office Location:
EC 118A
ABOUT
Colleen Jennings recently completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at The University of Iowa and is pleased to join the Fine Arts faculty at the University of Guam. She comes to UOG with diverse national and international experiences. Previously, Colleen taught at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand.
She has sung for King Bhumibol Adulyadej in a command performance featuring his compositions. She appeared with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra in performances of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Mahler’s 4th Symphony. Colleen sang in Myanmar on a US Embassy sponsored concert tour and sang for the heads of state of the nations of Asia and Oceania at the ASEAN Summit. She also sang Donna Anna in Don Giovanni under the direction of Georges Delnon in Milan, Italy.
She appeared as Mimì in The University of Iowa School of Music’s 100th Anniversary production of La Bohème. Colleen appeared with Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre as Young Artist in productions of L’elisir d’amore, Madama Butterfly and Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, where she also served as the understudy for the title role.Colleen appeared with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra of Jackson, Michigan singing Italian arias and duets. Colleen has appeared as soprano soloist in Westminster Fine Arts series productions of Poulenc’s Gloria, PDQ Bach’s The Seasonings, Orff’s Carmina burana and the American premiere of John Tavener’s Fall and Resurrection.
Colleen received a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from Drake University and a Bachelor of Arts from the College of St. Catherine.
CREDENTIALS
- B.A., Sociology, The College of St. Catherine (Minn.)
- M.M., Vocal Performance and Pedagogy, Drake University (Iowa)
- DMA, Vocal Performance and Pedagogy, The University of Iowa
Adjunct Instructor of Women & Gender Studies and Sociology
Office Location:
HSS 205
CREDENTIALS
- B.A., Psychology and Philosophy, Elon University (N.C.)
- M.Ed., Counseling and Guidance, University of Guam
Professor of Sociology
Office Location:
HSS 318D
ABOUT
Dr. Kirk Johnson was raised for most of his childhood in the mountains of Western India, where he attended an International Baha’i School with students from over 34 different countries. This experience had a profound and indelible impact on his life, world view, and the course of his future career. He returned to the United States for university at the age of 17 and found himself drawn to the social sciences while an undergraduate at Fort Hays State University in Kansas. After earning his baccalaureate degree, he moved to Ohio University, where he earned two master’s degrees in sociology and in international development. Dr. Johnson’s doctoral research while at McGill University in Montreal Canada took him back to the mountains of his youth where he explored the influence of television on the lives of villagers in India.
He then moved to the Pacific, where he has worked at the University of Guam as a professor of sociology for the past two decades. Dr. Johnson has served as director of the Bali Field School, a community development project, since 2004, providing students an opportunity to explore, through a cross-cultural lens, the dynamics between tradition and modernity, globalization and the survival of indigenous peoples and cultures, and highlights the complexity and tensions of social change in the 21st century. His work and service has taken him throughout the Pacific to island nations including Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Kiribati, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Hawaii, the Northern Mariana Islands, and New Zealand. His work in Asia has been primarily in India and Indonesia.
He has published numerous books and journal articles, given over 30 conference presentations around the world focusing on research in the areas of development and social change, religion and education, human ecology, and sustainability. Dr. Johnson’s ongoing work in the Pacific Asia region has allowed him to learn firsthand about the processes of community development and capacity building at the grassroots in many different settings.
Professional history
EDUCATION/credentials
- B.A., Sociology, Fort Hays State University (Kansas)
- M.A., Sociology and International Development, Ohio University
- Ph.D., Sociology, McGill University (Canada)
Bali Field School
Click on the links below to find out more about the Bali Field School, an annual course that is held each year over spring break.
- "Stairs, Prayers, & a Thousand Temples"- Bali Field School 2017
- View Highlights from the 2015 Bali Field School
- Bali Field School
- More on Bali Field School
- Bali Field School Assessment
- Video Highlights from the 2011 Bali Field School
Student Research and Service
- Student Research and Service
- SO202 Sociology Student Service Learning Initiative 2011 at Hurao Academy
- SO202 Sociology Student Service Learning Initiative 2011 Fundraising to support Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Guam
DOCUMENTARY
The 2007 Bali Field School produced a five-part documentary series titled "Casting Our Net: Rediscovering Community in the 21st Century." It has been screened at three international academic conferences as well as in Bali, Indonesia.
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Adjunct Professor of Music / Director of The Latte Tones
Office Location:
Fine Arts Building #124
CREDENTIALS
- B.M., B.A., M.M., D.M.A., University of Washington
Professor of Japanese / I Meyeng UOG-Certified Online Teacher
Office Location:
HSS 120D
CREDENTIALS
- B.A., South Asian Studies, Osaka University of Foreign Studies (now Osaka University) (Japan)
- M.A., Japanese Language Studies, Osaka University of Foreign Studies (now Osaka University) (Japan)
- Ph.D., Language and Culture, Linguistics, Osaka University of Foreign Studies (now Osaka University) (Japan)
- I Meyeng UOG-Certified Online Teacher
Professor of Psychology
Office Location:
HSS 220E
ABOUT
Yoshito Kawabata is an associate professor with a background in developmental psychology. He received a B.A. and a M.A. in psychology from the University of Oregon and a Ph.D. in child psychology from the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota.
Yoshi’s research interest focuses on interpersonal relationships and psychopathology and the roles of contextual factors such as schools, neighborhoods, and cultures on these domains.
He is particularly interested in examining risk and protective factors that may influence developmental processes involving parenting, peer relationships, and forms of psychopathology (i.e., anxiety, depression, and aggression) with a cross-cultural and ethnically diverse sample. In another line of research, Yoshi uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative data and analyzes how and why children and adolescents accept or reject intergroup contact or cross-ethnic friendships.
He has supervised undergraduate and graduate students with their thesis and provided considerable support for research and writing. He has enjoyed these mentoring experiences and is excited to work with students at University of Guam.
eDUCATION/CREDENTIALS
- B.A., Psychology, University of Oregon
- M.S., Psychology, University of Oregon
- Ph.D., Child Psychology, University of Minnesota
Associate Professor of Art
Office Location:
EC 117E
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Tel:
(671) 735-2700
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irenakeckes.wixsite.com/irenaart
ABOUT
Irena Keckes is an Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Guam. She received her Ph.D. in Fine Arts from The University of Auckland, New Zealand (2015), MFA in printmaking from Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan (2005) and B.A. in art education from the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb, Croatia (2000). Integrating theory and practice has been a key element to her research through which she has been exploring connections between eco-Buddhism and printmaking, extended forms of print and art/craft relationship.
Her practice involves large-scale monochrome woodcuts and print installations. Irena’s artwork has been exhibited internationally in many group and independent exhibitions. She presented at the SGCI Print Conference 2016 in Portland, IMPACT 9 International Printmaking Conference in China (2015), 4th International Printmaking Symposium at The University of Auckland, New Zealand (2015), IMPACT 8 in Scotland (2013) and the 2nd International Mokuhanga Conference at Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan (2014).
She exhibited at the Festival of Pacific Arts in Guam Museum and Isla Center for the Arts (2016). Irena curated the International Exhibition of Contemporary Print UOG 2016 at Isla Center for the Arts (2016). Her work is exhibited the International Print Biennial, Northern Print, UK (2016), and SGCI Print Conference 2017 in Atlanta.
Education/CREDENTIALS
- B.A., Art Education – Printmaking, University of Zagreb (Croatia)
- MFA, Printmaking, Tokyo University of the Arts (Japan)
- Ph.D., Fine Arts, The University of Auckland (New Zealand)
Instructor of CHamoru Studies
Office Location:
HSS 120H
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Tel:
(671) 735-2810
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Professor of Theatre
Office Location:
EC117G
CREDENTIALS
- BFA, Theater Technology, Drake University (Iowa), 1998
- MFA, Theater Design, Tulane University (La.), 2004
- Ed.D., University of Southern California, 2017
Instructor of Psychology
Office Location:
HSS 318C
ABOUT
Camarin G. Meno (Familian Lucas, Liberato, and Estefania) returned home to Guam and her alma mater at the University of Guam in 2021 to serve as a member of the psychology faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. She is a doctoral candidate in the Clinical-Community Psychology program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on historical and community-based perspectives on social and psychological problems, including culturally relevant responses to gender-based violence and contemporary indigenous resistance to colonization.
CREDENTIALS
- Ph.D., Clinical-Community Psychology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- M.S., Clinical Psychology, University of Guam
- B.A., Psychology, University of Guam
