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Timothy Pasch Personal Statement

University of North Dakota 12/2010

RESEARCH

Publication of Dissertation

My dissertation fieldwork took place while living with a community of Inuit in the Canadian Arctic.
During this time I collected a unique dataset that I used in my dissertation at the University of
Washington in Seattle. Additionally, I kept a blog of notes and thoughts while on a hunting expedition
during this fieldwork experience. I am currently writing up the findings for peer-reviewed journal article
submission. I have generated two papers from this project. One paper related to qualitative interview and
experiential data, Starting Fire with Gunpowder revisited: Inuktitut New Media Content Creation in the Canadian Arctic
(Pasch 2010), has been accepted for publication in vol. 34 (2), Special Issue on Creative Technologies, by
the premier North American journal related to the Inuit, Études Inuit/Studies, Laval University Press. A
second paper, Language Loss Online in the Canadian Arctic: Bebo and the Challenges of Digital Inuktitut, written in
collaboration with statistician David Roth from the University of Alabama, is in progress for submission to
the Cambridge Journal Polar Record, a scientific journal focused on peer-reviewed Circumpolar Research.

Métis/Inuit Language Portal

As co-chair for the UND Institute for Borderland Studies Conference (see below), my work relates to issues
moving across borders and nations. Part of this work focuses on traditional and tribal language
preservation online. The international component reflects my collaborative proposal with a French-
Canadian researcher in Manitoba working together to link the Métis in Manitoba with the Inuit in the
community of Inukjuaq, Arctic Québec. A web portal I am creating, based on Michef language
preservation, is another aspect of this Portal-related research focus.

One important element that I have encountered in preparation for data collection for this project, is the
nature of conducting studies with First Nations/American Indian Communities. It is not possible for a
researcher to simply conduct research for his or her own ends, delivering no benefit to the tribal
community. As I learned in the Arctic, a reciprocal relationship must develop between researcher and
subject in these special cases. For this reason I am working to design the web portals to directly assist with
language preservation in French, Michif and Inuktitut at Turtle River Tribal College, the Métis
community in Manitoba, and in Inukjuaq, respectively.

Multitouch Interface Design Paper

This paper, Multitouching toward Cultural Empowerment: Alternate Interfaces; Disparate Paradigms is a more
technical piece designed for peer-reviewed publication in the Sage Journal New Media and Society. I am
expanding on a theoretical chapter that I published as a book chapter entitled Cloud Communication: A Daoist
Perspective. In N. Van Leuven & A. B. Chan (Eds.), The Dao of communication (pp. 221-244). Toronto: Ginger Post
Imprints (Pasch, 2009). The expanded piece explores the current state of cloud-based software in
Communication, and theorizes new input mechanisms designed to empower social networking
interactivity, especially for linguistically and culturally marginalized groups. Through an analysis of
current evolutions in input design (multitouch, multiswipe, gesture-based computing) the potentialities of
integrating more than simply mouse/keyboard/headset into the social networking experience are
explored. Submission of this piece is anticipated in early 2011.

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UND Center for Borderland Studies

Along with Dr. Kyle Conway (Communication/English), I am co-chair of the UND Center for
Borderland Studies. Together, we ran an international conference entitled The Great Plains, the Prairies, and
the US/Canadian Border.

To briefly sum up the conference, the event was an international, interdisciplinary conference focused on
the role played by the US-Canadian border in the American Great Plains and the Canadian Prairies. The
conference has the support of the Canadian Consulate in Minneapolis and took place at the Alerus
Center in June 2010. The book resulting from the conference is entitled: Conway, K and Pasch, T. (Eds.)
(2011). Borderlands and Breaking Points: Tension Across the 49th Parallel. McGill University Press (or University of
Manitoba Press, depending on Canadian Content regulations). I believe that my joint leadership role in this
conference and Institute will prove fruitful in terms of continued collaboration with Dr. Conway, further
publications, and funding sources on both sides of the border.

In regards to the Center and conference website, I designed the logo, layout of the call for papers, and
created the interactive web content. The logo complies with UND requirements for graphic design, and
was approved by Peter Johnson from UND Media Relations. From a technical perspective, the website
itself incorporates advanced elements including animated and fading text, AJAX powered forms, MySQL
database and integrated spam blocking. Further features incorporated as the conference date approached
included online automated paper submissions and conference registration capability. The website can be
seen at http://undborderlands.org/

SERVICE

Last year, as a joint member of both the Psychology Department and the Communication Program, I
worked in a dual service role. I served on the Online Committee in the Psychology Department, and
attended all departmental meetings in addition to the Experimental Group meetings. I implemented the
SONA system for online experiment management, which has now been adopted as the primary on-
campus experimental data gathering tool for the entire department. This was a significant effort and has
impacted most of the researchers and all graduate students in that department. http://undpsych.sona-
systems.com/

In addition to this work in Psychology, I served on the Communication Program Graduate Curriculum
Development Committee, and attended all weekly Communication Program meetings. I was additionally
a member of the Alice T. Clark Mentorship Program.

I continue to work very closely with the director and campus network administrators in the CILT center
(the Center for Instructional and Learning Technologies) and was nominated by the director as faculty
chair of the CILT advisory committee. In addition to this work with instructional technology, I work
directly for the CIO and Dean of Outreach Services and his project manager. I have been given the title
of Faculty Consultant for Campus Information Technology Development, and wrote the
recommendation to the President and Dean’s Council for UND’s Unified Presence in Online and Mobile
(Portal). This is work in progress in conjunction with the UND Web Team and is not yet ready for broad
distribution i.e., a confidential project that I am listing here for the purpose of my evaluation. I was also
team leader working under project manager of the CIO for the Collaborative Workstation project of
which there are now ten units on campus.

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CAMPUS ASSOCIATIONS AND GRANTS

During this past year, I was awarded a combined grant from the Office of Instructional Development and
the College of Arts and Sciences. This grant, offered jointly by the Communication Program and the
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, funded equipment for enhancing New Media content creation
in the COMM 204 Graphic Design and COMM 319 Digital Imaging Courses.

From a grant-related perspective, I am confident that my research into sociocultural effects of

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), social network analysis, linguistic preservation
online, ramifications of cloud computing, and analysis of technological disparities in First Nations and
other minority groups, is relevant and highly fundable. My record in funding to this point has been
successful, with grants from the U.S. Department of Eduction (FLAS), the Government of Canada
(Embassy Grant, Graduate Student Grant), and the Province of Québec, along with having worked under
NICHD and NIH grants while working at the UW Medical Center.

Currently my grantwriting is focused on NSF-targeted internal grants in addition to relevant Federal

Stimulus Grants related to technological disparities in minority groups. I am additionally continuing my
relationship with researchers at other institutions. My contacts with the Center for Social Scientific
Computation and Research and the Northwest Center for Excellence in Media Literacy at the University
of Washington continue to be strong, and my fluent language ability in French and Japanese has made
international native language collaboration possible. Particularly, I work with Communication researchers
in the Province of Québec, and in the Kanto region of Japan in my International analyses. I retain
friendships with Inuit community members in Arctic Québec.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

I believe that true teaching goes beyond the unidirectional concept of a professor transmitting
information to students. The purpose of a Communication educator is to create a stimulating intellectual
environment for the exchange of information, with continual awareness of applicability to the student’s
career and future demands of the industry. In my experience, motivation suffers when students are
required to study material with which they feel no affinity or that contains no applicability to their
personal and professional learning goals. In order to link theory to student experience and employability,
my course design continuously strives to demonstrate the direct relationship between theory and practice.
Accomplishing this goal is a constant work in progress, and I am consistently discovering new and
innovative ways to relate student learning to new technological and social developments. The essence of
my teaching philosophy is to require student participation not only as active learners, but also as teachers
and sharers of their own experiences. In my courses, students are encouraged, and indeed required to
actively participate in their learning community, preparing materials that are designed to educate,
persuade, and hone their content creation skills in a professional, respectful and rigorous learning
environment.

In addition to active student participation, a hallmark of my classes is the high quality of external,
professional guest speakers I recruit to present to the students. In my Concepts in Digital Media course at
the University of Washington, for example, guests from Microsoft, Amazon.com, Seattle-based startup
corporations and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Division on Cybercrimes spoke to the class and
gave them concrete, real-world applications for the theories that student had been learning. Here at the
University of North Dakota in Fall 2009, professional graphic designers spoke to my students and gave
demonstrations of their software workflows. A visit to Studio One and the the Skalicky Technology

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Incubator here at UND exposed student learners to real-world applications of their areas of study. When
students see the direct applicability of the theories and technologies they study, to the careers they seek,
their motivation is never a concern; and their passion and desire for excellence increases dramatically. I
am proud of the fact that my course evaluations at the University of Washington were commended by my
Department Chair and Dean of Arts and Sciences, however I cannot take full credit for these accolades.
Much of my past evaluation is related to the fact that the students in my classes also learn from each other.
I consider myself primarily a facilitator of knowledge rather than the sole source of it in the classroom.

As an Information and Communication Technologist, I realize that knowledge of advanced

computer software packages is essential for success in Communication industries. That said, the
complexity of technology, if used incorrectly, can certainly detract from the learning experience. My
teaching involves the incorporation of technologies designed to enhance the teaching and learning
component of the material without obscuring course content. This fall semester of 2010, I am using
advanced technologies such as collaborative workstations and virtualization to enhance student learning of
the Adobe Creative Suite. My training as a research software consultant proves its value during my courses
as I continually work with students and resolve software concerns related to qualitative and quantitative
data analysis, social network exploration, web design, graphic layout, and video and audio editing among
other areas from an expanding list that continues to grow as industry and student demands evolve. I am
fully aware that many students will have less experience in these areas than others, and I work to adapt my
teaching to specific student requirements.

In my courses, students create ‘talking-points’ in order to stimulate discussion and debate among
their peers, and to use their newly-assimilated theoretical knowledge to prove their hypotheses. Students
additionally access peer-reviewed academic journal articles to hone their perspective, while simultaneously
improving their database and information retrieval skills. When creating their final projects, or working in
teams, students in my classes use digital technologies to present their information. In past courses these
presentations have ranged from simple Powerpoint or Keynote presentations, through advanced Flash-
based websites with streaming video and audio. The range and scope of the tools employed will depend
on student skill and interest, and I strive to be available for consultation and assistance in these areas.

Positivity is an essential component of my philosophy as well, and I am rigorous with my

positivity: meaning that I continually strive to perceive challenges as opportunities, and treat student
questions with respect and intellectual consideration. I endeavor to continually remind myself that any
question asked, no matter how seemingly elementary, has some value; and that the act of asking such
questions takes initiative and courage. I believe that the relationship between educator and student is a
relationship of trust, and that the effectiveness of the educator is more than simply the information shared
in the classroom, but rather, should be measured as a continuum that extends through to attitude,
appearance, skill, and personality as well.

I have been told at times in the past that I am an effective teacher, however I do not believe this to
be solely due to my own efforts. I believe rather that my greatest asset in the classroom lies in my ability to
listen. Through active listening to students, and understanding intuitively to the best of my ability the
communication that the student is seeking to impart, I strive to create a professional, academically
rigorous, and emotionally satisfying learning environment. It is within such an optimal learning
environment that each student can take their knowledge and skill to a higher level, preparing them for
success in the field of their choosing.

Timothy J. Pasch

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