Stuart Ching, professor and associate chair of English, will serve as BCLA’s next associate dean for undergraduate education. He will begin his four-year term in May 2023, as Prof. Jennifer Pate cycles out after four years in the role.
Trained in secondary English education, creative writing, and rhetoric and composition, Stuart joined the BCLA faculty in 2001 as an assistant professor of English. He was tenured at LMU in 2007 and promoted to full rank in 2022.
For 21 years, Stuart has been a dedicated researcher and writer who thrives in both critical and creative contexts. His research across education and the humanities focuses on promoting multiculturalism and anti-racism through literacy pedagogy that transforms and empowers students. His scholarly work has been published in leading journals such as Language Arts, the English Journal, International Research in Children’s Literature, and The New Advocate as well as in collections such as Representations: Doing Asian American Rhetoric, The Routledge Companion to International Children’s Literature, and The Subject is Story, among others. His creative work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies: among these, Hawaii Pacific Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Madison Review, Bamboo Ridge, A Voice for Earth: American Writers Respond to the Earth Charter, The Best of Honolulu Fiction, and Growing Up Local: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose from Hawaii.
Stuart’s approach to academic work is innovative, interdisciplinary, and collaborative. His leadership style, in conjunction with his commitment to shared governance and diversity, equity, and inclusion, will be an asset to BCLA’s diverse departments and programs. Over the years, Stuart has served the English Department in many capacities including assistant director of the Liberal Studies Program, acting director of the First-Year Writing Program, acting chair of the English Department, associate chair of the English Department, and director of the Rhetorical Arts Program. He also led or co-led the department through two complex academic program reviews, and co-authored the English Department’s Secondary Teacher Preparation Program curriculum. Beyond the bluff, he served as co-chair of the Asian/Asian American Caucus and as a member of the Inclusivity Task Force for the National Council of Teachers of English, and was a mentor in Northern Arizona University’s Chinle Consortium, which supported schools in Native American Communities.
Stuart is passionate about teaching and fostering student learning and success through high-impact practices. He has co-authored and co-presented research at national conferences with both undergraduate and graduate students. He teaches rhetorical arts, first-year seminar, and creative exploration courses, which are all essential to the development of curious learners, as well as critical and creative thinkers. He is personally committed to underserved student populations and meeting all students where they are through advising, teaching, and research opportunities.
Stuart earned a B.Ed. in secondary education, English, from the University of Hawaii at Manoa; an M.F.A. in creative writing from Colorado State University; and his Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
