Earned degree: November 2009
Dissertation title: Yuraryaraput Kangiit-llu: Our Way of Dance and Their Meanings
http://ankn.uaf.edu/Curriculum/PhD_Projects/Arevgaq/Yuraryaraput_Kangiit-llu.pdf

"The old and new stories alike on the critical role of Yup’ik dance as an important aspect of the Yupik social infrastructure provides context and body to my work. The unique and diverse indigenous knowledge system that covers time span from early twentieth century into contemporary times reflects life stories as it was than and as it is told today through aesthetic art of oratory."

Currently, Dr. Theresa Arevgaq John is an Associate Professor for the Department of Alaska Native and Rural Development at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her latest distinguished recognition came from President Barack Obama in April 2011 when he appointed her to the National Advisory Council on Indian Education. She is the first Alaska Native to receive this prestigious award.

http://www.uaf.edu/danrd/faculty-staff/

Email: tjohn @ alaska.edu

Earned degree: March 2011
Dissertation title: Young Native Fiddlers: A Participatory Action Research Project

"Alaska Native students are seen by some as being less successful than other  ethnic groups due to their disproportionately high rate of leaving school before  graduation.  This dissertation studies an Alaska Native view of success.  As a  participatory action research project, members of the community, including  musicians, young fiddlers, and their parents and grandparents are collaborating to  create a culturally‐based youth group focused on Athabascan fiddling.  Their goal  is to develop successful youth; youth who are developing individual strength and  leadership skills as well as sharing their strengths with their community, thereby  contributing to its well‐being."

Date entered into PhD program: 
Advisor: Beth Leonard

Cheryl Jerabek
Aniak, Alaska

Research Title:  Russian Impact on Cultural Identity and Heritage in the middle Kuskokwim region of Alaska

Progress:   I have completed core classes, am now taking thesis credits, and am in the process of working on my comps.  I have compiled extensive research on the history of the middle Kuskokwim region during the Russian Era and the changes that occurred after the sale of Alaska.    I have completed the IRB process and have begun elder and community interviews.  I had the great opportunity to travel to Greenland a year ago and participated in the IPSSAS (International PhD School for the Studies of Arctic Societies).  My projected graduation date is May 2014.  

Date entered into PhD program: 2009
Advisor: Ray Barnhardt

The photo was taken near the Ice Cap in Greenland

Sean Asiqłuq Topkok

Uvaŋa atiġa Asiqłuq. My Iñupiaq name is Asiqłuq, which means "Bad Boy". I am named after one of my great-uncles Johnny Kakaruk, who was an author and dance group leader. My white fox name is Sean Topkok. I am Iñupiaq, Sámi, Irish, and Norwegian. My parents are the late Aileen and Clifford Topkok from Teller, Alaska. My father was Iñupiaq and Sámi, and his first language was Iñupiaq. My mother was born and raised in Teller, learning to speak a little Iñupiaq. My paternal grandparents were Fred and Gussie Topkok; and my maternal grandparents were Edgar and Mary Tweet. My Tlingit name is Deikeejaakhw.

Hello, my name is Timothy Murphrey. My Iñupiaq name is Nuyuqqun. After a stint of rich and colorful living, I settled in Fairbanks twenty years ago, where over the years I fell in love with Alaska, the land, its people, and my wife.  I received my BA in English in three years here at UAF, focusing on creative writing and poetry, with a minor in Alaska Native Studies.  Knowing that poets do not get paid so well, I earned my teaching certificate and M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction.  I served our district as a federally highly qualified teacher at Hutchison High School for seven years, during which time I developed the Senior Project, which was the subject of my master’s project.  For eight years I have taught English for the Rural Alaska Honors Institute, and in August of 2011, left the high school sector to move into the position of Assistant Manager for the program.  I will be teaching six credits for the program this summer.  I am currently an Indigenous Studies Ph.D. student, focusing on Native and rural education.

My wife Carol is Iñupiaq from Atqasuk, just sixty miles inland from Barrow; she is an advisor for Rural Student Services, and we are fortunate enough to work closely together on many things. Together with our children Michaela and Conor, we enjoy the outdoors of Alaska, and are very content to practice subsistence hunting for all of our meat and fish; practicing the Iñupiaq value of sharing has come to mean a great deal for our family.

Judith Ramos, PhD Student