The 37th College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) Annual Research Conference was held at the Humanities and Social Sciences building in conjunction with the 48th Annual UOG festival Charter Day, Mar. 8, 2016. The CLASS Annual Research Conference is about students and professors engaged in scholarly and creative work in a variety of topics.
James Sellman, Ph.D., dean of CLASS, explained that the first annual conference came to be from a group of professors back in 1980. Those professors realized that they the need to share their research to the larger community.
Sellman stated that the best part of the conference is seeing the student presenting their topics to the community.
“We have so many intelligent students enlightening research on local and regional issues and then make their poster board or full on conference panel presentations. They are always enlightening,” Sellman said.
Jesse Mantanona, a senior and theater major/communication minor, along with his partners from the theater department presented their topic about bikers being stereotyped from the point of view of Hollywood.
“There’s a lot of stereotypes about bikers that should be cleared up by now. Because what Hollywood puts out there should not be taken that seriously,” Mantanona said.
The conference also included off-island presenters. Sandra Wawrytko, Director of the Center for Asian & Pacific Studies from San Diego State University, was the keynote speaker. It was Wawrytko’s topic for the conference was about Global Aesthetics.
“I wanted to see Guam, never been here, and to try to understand more about the culture and I think it is a very diverse environment. I think it is very receptive to the kind of ideas that I’m interested in my research,” Wawrytko said.
An excerpt from the first conference’s overall goal is explained by Elliot McGinnies.
“One of the unique functions of a university is the pursuit of knowledge without regard to its current utility. Research, or more broadly, scholarly activity is the very hallmark of a university. faculty research not only advances knowledge, it enliven teaching” said McGinnies.