MANGILAO \u2013 Several years ago,\u00a0James Viernes, Ph.D., couldn\u2019t decide on a career to pursue. Although attending college was a natural choice for him, he was not set on a specific\u00a0degree path. He bounced around programs, including political science and criminal justice, but none of these majors appealed to him.<\/p>\n

Viernes\u00a0often hung around UOG\u2019s English and Communication building, which eventually piqued his interest at pursuing an English degree. He enrolled in English classes and eventually decided to major in English with an emphasis in literature.<\/p>\n

Viernes said\u00a0that it was around that time when UOG\u00a0professors started to\u00a0introduce him\u00a0to\u00a0the idea that\u00a0the Pacific was\u00a0a place that was ripe for studying.<\/p>\n

In 2003, Viernes graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in literature. Viernes recalls that time telling himself that he never wanted to attend school again.<\/p>\n

After college, he held several jobs, but none of them really stuck with him until he came back to the university to work on a three-year grant. From this work, he realized that graduate school may actually be a possibility for him.<\/p>\n

Viernes applied for a fellowship at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and was granted the award. This allowed him to pursue a master\u2019s degree. He chose Pacific Island Studies as his field.<\/p>\n

His MA thesis entitled \u201cFanhasso\u2019 I taotao Sumay<\/em>: Displacement, Dispossession and Survival in Guam,\u201d which argued that the U.S. military on the removed the people of Sumay village so that it could build the present day naval station. Viernes eventually published his thesis into a book in 2013, which he aptly named \u201cSumay: Rikuetdo Para I Famagu\u2019on-ta\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

After receiving his master\u2019s degree in Pacific Island Studies, Viernes decided to pursue a Ph.D. at UH Manoa. He was awarded another fellowship to do so. His dissertation examined gender and masculinity among Chamoru men in the pre-war period. Viernes explored the issues of masculinity and manhood within Chamoru men. He was particularly interested in determining what makes a Chamoru man and whether it depends on being Chamoru or being colonized.<\/p>\n

Viernes finished his dissertation in 2015 and received his Ph.D. in \u201cHistory With an Emphasis in Pacific Island History\u201d.<\/p>\n

Viernes is now an adjunct faculty member at the University of Guam, teaching courses such as History of Guam and Pacific literature. His decision to come back to Guam and teach was driven by his desire to want to help other aspiring college students to realize that there are more options in life than just joining the military or moving off-island.<\/p>\n

Viernes plans to continue teaching, researching and publishing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANGILAO \u2013 Several years ago,\u00a0James Viernes, Ph.D., couldn\u2019t decide on a career to pursue. Although attending college was a natural choice for him, he was not set on a specific\u00a0degree path. He bounced around programs, including political science and criminal justice, but none of these majors appealed to him. Viernes\u00a0often hung around UOG\u2019s English and … <\/p>\n

Read more “Local academic from Santa Rita remains passionate about studying the Pacific”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[329],"yoast_head":"\n