Editor's Note, March 2005
Elizabeth Haller
PhD Student and Instructor, Kent State University
E-mail: editoraee@hotmail.com
It has arrived. March brings with it the first day of spring and that week which most of us look forward to--those who have the good fortune to travel may perhaps look forward to it a bit more than others--known as spring break. I have big plans. Yes, this year, as in virtually all others since I started teaching, I will be staying home and getting caught up on all the rough drafts I will be collecting the day before the break. I look forward to the day students return so that I can unload the drafts into their rejuvenated hands and enjoy what can only be considered my very own late spring break. Ahhh, spring.
As always, enjoy this issue's submissions and, as you do, consider offering us a piece of your work for publication. Perhaps it could be one of those "smaller, attainable goals" I talked about in the January issue (remember those resolutions?). We invite your continued perusal and encourage you to submit articles, poetry, and fiction for consideration in future issues of AEE. Please review our Call for Papers on this site for more details on submission requirements. If you are unsure whether your contribution would be suitable under the terms of our Call for Papers, please send along an inquiry, and I will be happy to respond forthwith. As always, do not forget to check out Grist for the Mill for possible submission ideas.
Lynne Fukuda provides us with the second of four insightful and intriguing entries in a series titled "Curses, Nightmarchers, Wasps, and Archaeology: My Summer Adventures with the University of Hawaii Archaeological Fieldschool" for her monthly column, "The View From Here." According to Fukuda:
The more I learned about how the ancient Hawaiians lived, the more I envied them. My grandparents, too, who lived on the North Shore of Kauai, lived a traditional life in the years prior to electricity. They had a small farm, mostly for subsistence. Growing taro roots to make the paste-like poi, fishing, raising chickens, and tending a garden with bananas, citrus, sweet potatoes and vegetables, they raised their family to be healthy adults. My grandparents died in their late 90s, never suffering illness until the last few years. The ancient Hawaiians, too, lived this life, an envied life where work was only a few hours a day, and they had all they ever needed--a safe place to live, good and abundant food, caring chiefs (if they were commoners), and caring commoners (if they were chiefs). The rulers were not the kings of Europe but worked to serve their people, looking after all their needs and offering the much-needed protection from hostile outsiders. Their religion was based on nature-worship, giving thanks to all things. It is from them, before the demise of the Hawaiian religion after King Kamehameha died, that I have learned to give thanks to all I have in my daily life. I pray in thanks for the food, the beauty of nature, the kindness of people, and the privilege to live in the land of the Hawaiians. It is my desire to give back to them by writing about their past history and introducing their plight. The true inhabitants of the Garden of Eden--with no diseases, no poisonous plants, and no dangerous animals--had perished. In their stead, I hope that many newcomers and the descendants of the Hawaiians will preserve their treasures, whether the sacred site or area consists only of a natural lava rock and nothing more. Ancient Hawaiians did not leave behind great pyramids, but rather they left behind soft, gentle footprints in the Earth, so that when they left this world, it was as if they had never disturbed it at all.
Our opening featured article is the first in a series written by Donovan Landers. Stay tuned to the next and future issues of AEE to see where Landers will take you. I assure you it is well worth both the read and the wait. In this first installment, he "introduces us to his bathroom-classroom, and to some of his troubled students. The stage is set for dramatic conflict and bizarre adventures. Hold on for a wild ride."
Jeannie Ludlow's, Laurie Rodgers', and Mary G. Wrighten's collaboration titled "Students' Perceptions of Instructors' Identities: Effects and Interventions" is the second feature of this issue. This article recognizes that "the impact of perceived identity upon learning is a crucial area of scholarly focus. Most studies in this area center around students' identities; however, this study focuses on instructor identity. This study investigates the effects of students' perceptions of instructors' race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality on teacher performance evaluations. It also assesses faculty cognizance of the effects of student bias in the classroom. This study was conducted as part of an on-going interest in the recruitment and retention of faculty from "minority" populations. It is believed that the results will contribute to an increased understanding of the ways instructor success, tenure, and promotion can be negatively affected by student bias."
Tim Clukey's contribution to this month's issue is a work of fiction titled "Looking Back from the Looking Glass." Clukey provides his inspiration for the piece: "Going on long vacation drives with my daughter, the topic would frequently turn to ghost stories and campfire tales to help pass the time. On one strange occasion we encountered a thunder/lightening storm--without the thunder. The strange flashing of heat lightening on a hot summer's night with no accompanying sound of thunder is truly an eerie experience--and one that led me to spin this tale." This is a story that will stay with you long after you've read it.
Samaa Gamie's contribution to AEE is comprised of six poems. Three appear here, and the remaining three can be seen in the upcoming April 2005 issue. Gamie has provided the following abstract for her poetry:
"These poems reflect on the life of an Arab woman struggling to establish her self-worthiness and sense of self as opposed to all the inadequacies she was raised to embrace. They reflect on the loss of loved ones and the confusion and sense of injustice many Arabs feel as they live in countries controlled by autocratic regimes. I also reflected on the different thoughts and feelings that arise out of the constant media portrayal of Arab countries as the possible new 'enemy' after the end of the cold war and the defeat of communism. I tried to present in the poems an insight into who I am as an Arab woman and my deepest and innermost thoughts, insecurities and hopes."
Enjoy!
Academic Exchange Extra invites reader response to any writings in this issue--especially articles advancing the scholarly debate of issues raised.
- Web Editor
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Citation Reference: Haller, Elizabeth. (2005). AE-Extra. March. Available Online. [URL: < >. Created: 2 March 2005. Updated: --. Accessed: ] |