Joice Chang, Department of Politics
Where are you originally from?
California
Where did you complete your education?
B.S. UC Berkeley
J.D. The Ohio State University
Ph.D. Indiana University
Where have you taught prior to coming to HSU?
Indiana University
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
What do you feel are are your specific areas of expertise?
Law and policy
Environmental policy
What classes are you teaching this year?
American Constitutional Law
Research Methods
What attracted you to Humboldt State?
Its emphasis on excellence in teaching and the opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary research with other faculty members at HSU.
What do you do in your free time (if you have any) outside the classroom?
Football, reading, learning new sports and cooking.
What is your favorite classroom technique to engage students?
The Socratic Method (when used properly and judiciously)
What is the best thing about being a university professor?
Working with—and in many ways, learning from—students
If you weren’t an HSU professor, what would you be?
A writer
What superpower would be most valuable to your research?
A photographic memory
Jen Maguire, Department of Social Work
Where are you originally from?
I was born in D,C,, raised in southern California and have been slowing moving northwest ever since I graduated from high school.
Where did you complete your education?
I earned my associate degree from Orange Coast College, my B.A. in Liberal Studies and Masters of Social Work (MSW) from Chico State and Ph.D. (expected graduation fall 2013) in Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS) from Oregon State University.
Where have you taught prior to coming to HSU?
I taught upper division undergraduate courses in HDFS at OSU while I was working on my Ph.D. My two favorites were Families and Poverty and the capstone class for the human services option called Program Development and Grant Proposal Writing.
What do you feel are your specific areas of expertise?
Rural poverty, home energy policy, social inequality, food/housing/energy security, program development, evaluation and implementation, and qualitative and ethnographic research methodologies
What classes are you teaching this year?
Research I: Philosophy & Methods for first year MSW graduate students
Advance Year Internship Seminar for 2nd year MSW graduate students
What attracted you to Humboldt State?
I was attracted to HSU’s reputation for excellence in research regarding alternative energy and sustainability and the Department of Social Work’s central purpose to improve the well-being of individuals, families, organizations and communities, particularly for rural and indigenous populations. Additionally, the emphasis of this institution on teaching excellence and developing students into ethical and environmentally conscious leaders.
What do you do in your free time (if you have any) outside the classroom?
I enjoy spending my free time outdoors with my awesome husband and three great children!
What is your favorite classroom technique to engage students?
I most enjoy engaging students in critical dialogue by getting them to talk to each other about social and environmental justice issues and how to translate what we are learning in class to their fields of practice. One way I do that is to get them to work together to find solutions to real-world problems witnessed in their social work internships where none appear possible.
What is the best thing about being a university professor?
Watching my students evolve into expert social work practitioners and scholars in their own right or simply working toward their dreams. I enjoy mentoring students in the way that I was encouraged by my own professors.
Where is the strangest place you’ve done research?
In the living room of a trailer in remote rural Oregon while people were drinking beer, playing music, and telling tall tales about fishing, hunting and racing trucks in the mud.
If you weren’t an HSU professor, what would you be?
I would still be involved in social service work in some capacity. I enjoy helping people.
What superpower would be most valuable to your research?
Either super-speed or super-multi-tasking. I’m not sure which would be more productive, doing everything fast or all at once!