Robyn Tasaka was born and raised on O‘ahu. Her first job was at Chuck E. Cheese’s in Pearl City, where she worked during her freshman year at UH Mānoa. Robyn completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English at UH Mānoa and her Doctoral degree in Rhetoric and Writing at Michigan State University, where she focused on cultural rhetorics, digital rhetorics, identity, self-representation, and language diversity. After earning her Ph.D., Robyn taught developmental, first-year (including early college and interactive television sections), and research writing at Leeward Community College and UH Maui before coming to UH West O‘ahu.
Ph.D. Rhetoric and Writing
Michigan State University, 2005-2009
M.A. English
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, College of Arts and Sciences, 2002-2005
B.A. English
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, College of Arts and Sciences, 1997-2001
August 2015-Present: Tutor Coordinator
University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu
January 2013-May 2015: Instructor in the English Department
University of Hawai‘i Maui College
August 2011-December 2012: Lecturer in the English Department
University of Hawai‘i Maui College
August 2009-May 2011: Lecturer in the Division of Language Arts
Leeward Community College
January 2007-May 2009: Graduate Writing Consultant in the Writing Center,
Michigan State University
August 2005-December 2006 and January 2008-December 2008: Graduate Instructor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures,
Michigan State University
Summers 2002-2008: English Instructor in Hawai‘i Upward Bound
Leeward Community College
June 2002-August 2005: Tutor in Hawai‘i Upward Bound
Leeward Community College
University of Hawai‘i Maui College:
- ENG 316 Advanced Research Writing
- ENG 210 Research Writing
- ENG 100, including via interactive television and at Kamehameha Schools-Maui
- ENG 22
Leeward Community College:
- ENG 100
- ENG 22
Michigan State University:
- WRA 125 Race and Ethnicity in America
- WRA 1004/0102 Preparation for College Writing
- WRA 150 Evolution of American Thought
University of Hawai‘i Mānoa (Undergraduate Tutor):
- ENG 101L Composition I Lab
Robyn Tasaka. “‘Developing professional relationships and personal friendships’: An Interview with Morris Young.” Building a Community, Having a Home: A History of the Conference on College Composition & Communication Asian/Asian American Caucus. Ed. Jennifer Sano-Franchini, Terese Guinsatao Monberg, and K. Hyoejin Yoon. Parlor P, 2017.
Jennifer Sano-Franchini, Robyn Tasaka, and Lehua Ledbetter. “Toward a Reflexive Approach to Remix—or—What Hawai‘i Creole English and Tourism Can Teach Us About Copyright.” Cultures of Copyright. Ed. Dánielle Nicole DeVoss and Martine Courant Rife. Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2014.
Robyn Tasaka. “Rhetoric of the Asian American Self: Influences of Region and Social Class on Autobiographical Writing.” Representations: Doing Asian American Rhetoric. Ed. LuMing Mao and Morris Young. Utah State UP, 2008.
Jeff Grabill, William Hart-Davidson, Stacey Pigg, Michael McLeod, Paul Curran, Jessie Moore, Paula Rosinski, Tim Peeples, Suzanne Rumsey, Martine Courant Rife, Robyn Tasaka, Dundee Lackey, and Beth Brunk-Chavez. “Revisualizing Composition: Mapping the Writing Lives of First-year College Students.” 2010. Available: http://wide.msu.edu/special/writinglives/
Do Writers “Hear” Online Tutors? Assessing the Effectiveness of Online, Asynchronous Writing Feedback at a Four-Year Nonresidential University. National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing. Tacoma, WA. November 2016.
What is “Students’ Right to Their Own Language” and What Does It Mean for My Teaching? Co-presenter. Hawai‘i Strategy Institute. Pearl City, HI. March 2015.
Interdisciplinary Research Writing: Process and Pedagogy. Co-presenter. Hawai‘i Strategy Institute. Pearl City, HI. March 2015.
From Resource to Resourcefulness: English-Library Collaboration to Improve Student Learning in Library Instruction. Co-presenter. Conference on College Composition and Communication. Las Vegas, NV. March 2013.
Asian American Self-Representations in Online Environments. Conference on College Composition and Communication. San Francisco, CA. March 2009.
Talking Back: Applying bell hooks’ Art on My Mind to Online Self-Representations of Race. Computers and Writing. Athens, GA. May 2008.
The Web: Asian/Asian American “Objects” in Personal Profiles. Association of Asian American Studies. Chicago, IL. April 2008.
Roundtable on Cultural Rhetorics. Co-presenter. Conference on College Composition and Communication. New Orleans, LA. April 2008.
Cyberfem Civics: Re-Imagining Alternative Cyberscapes. Co-presenter. Feminism(s) and Rhetoric(s). Little Rock, AR. October 2007.
Performing Exoticism: Asian Americans Writing Online. Computers and Writing. Detroit, MI. May 2007.
old + old = new: writing multimedia, remixing culture, remixing identity. Co-presenter. Conference on College Composition and Communication. New York, NY. March 2007.
Performing the Exotic on Hawai‘i Club Websites. Immigration, Transnationalism, Diaspora: Issues for Asian/American Communities. Chicago, IL. March 2007.
First-Generation Students and College Writing. Conference on College Composition and Communication. Chicago, IL. March 2006.
“It’s Just the Person”: Race and the Personal Writing of Asian American Students in Hawai‘i. Emerging Critical Scholarship on Asian Pacific American Issues. Urbana-Champaign, IL. March 2006.
Why Are You Talking?: Cultural Difference and Personal Writing. Conference on College Composition and Communication. San Francisco, CA. March 2005.
Peer Review. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. October 2017.
Working Effectively with the No'eau Center. Co-presenter. UHWO Professional Development Day, Kapolei, HI. Multiple dates.
How to Write a Literature Review. Co-presenter. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. Multiple dates.
APA Formatting. Co-presenter. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. Multiple dates.
Transitioning to College. Communication Skills. Co-presenter. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. June 2017.
Communication Skills. Co-presenter. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. August 2017.
How to Write a Research Paper. Co-presenter. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. Multiple dates.
Stress and Time Management. Co-presenter. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. Multiple dates.
Senior Capstones. Co-presenter. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. Multiple dates.
Analyzing Literature. Co-presenter. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. Multiple dates.
Applying to Graduate School. Co-presenter. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. Multiple dates.
Avoiding Plagiarism. Co-presenter. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. Multiple dates.
Creating a Successful Presentation. Co-presenter. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. Multiple dates.
Exam Prep. Co-presenter. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. Multiple dates.
Learning Styles and Note-Taking Skill. Co-presenter. No’eau Center ASK Workshop, Kapolei, HI. Multiple dates.
Basic Design Principles for Teachers. Inspired Teaching Committee (ITC) Workshop. Kahului, HI. September 2013.
Preparing Our Students for Research Writing. Co-presenter. Inspired Teaching Committee (ITC) Workshop. Kahului, HI. September 2012.
Communicating Effectively with PowerPoint. Success Connection workshop. Learning Resource Center. Pearl City, HI. October 2010.
From PowerPoint Slides to Concert Flyers: Using Basic Design Principles to Create More Effective Documents. Success Connection workshop. Learning Resource Center. Pearl City, HI. March 2010.
Social Networking and Collaborative Writing Places and Practices. Co-presenter. Teaching with Technology workshop. Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures. East Lansing, MI. November 2008.
Consulting on Literature Reviews and Annotated Bibliographies. Co-presenter. Writing Center Workshop, Michigan State University Writing Center, East Lansing, MI. April 2008.
Communicating Effectively in Multiple Media. Co-presenter. Writing Center Workshop, East Lansing, MI. February 2008.
Representations of Race in Online Personal Profiles. EDGES: A Graduate Conference in the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI. February 2008.
Communicating Effectively with PowerPoint for Teaching Assistants. Co-presenter. Writing Center Workshop, East Lansing, MI. Fall 2007.
Communicating Effectively with PowerPoint. Co-presenter. Writing Center Workshop, East Lansing, MI. Multiple dates.
Composing Curriculum Vitae for the Job Market. Co-presenter. Writing Center Workshop, East Lansing, MI. Fall 2007.
Communicating Effectively with Poster Displays. Co-presenter. Writing Center Workshop, East Lansing, MI. Spring 2007.
Writing in the Sciences. Co-presenter. Writing Center Workshop, East Lansing, MI. Spring 2007.
Peer Response. Co-presenter. Writing Center Workshop, East Lansing, MI. Multiple dates.
- September 2016: Campus Security Authority (CSA) Training (through UH West O‘ahu Office of Compliance). Learned about the kuleana of our campus and myself in keeping UH West O‘ahu safe.
- August 2016: Learning with a Learning Disability with UH West O‘ahu campus psychologist. Learned strategies to help students with reading.
- Summer 2016: Starfish. Learned about the Starfish system in order to implement it in the No’eau Center and support campus-wide implementation.
- January 2016: Fund Your Future. Learned about FAFSA and different scholarship opportunities from UH West O‘ahu financial aid officer and representatives from different scholarships, in order to be able to help students with applications.
- January 2016: VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) Training. Learned to help taxpayers file simple taxes.
- January 2016: Working with Difficult Students with UH West O‘ahu campus psychologist. Learned strategies for myself and for student employees about when to call security and how to calm students who are upset.
- January 2016: Title IX (through UH West O‘ahu Office of Compliance). Learned about our kuleana as a campus.
- November 2015: Behavior Intervention Team (through UH West O‘ahu Office of Compliance). Learned about who to contact and what types of incidents to report in order to prevent incidents like the Virginia Tech school shooting.
- November 2015: EEO and the Recruitment Process with UH West O‘ahu Human Resources specialist. Learned about procedures for reviewing applications and interviewing and how to respect applicants’ legal rights.
- August 2015: SafeZone/LGBTQIA through UH West O‘ahu Office of Compliance. Learned about working with LGBTQIA students, faculty, and staff.
College Reading and Learning Association.
Fall 2017-Present: Served as Faculty Senator
Fall 2015-Present: Served on Faculty Senate Distance Education (DE) committee. Brought relevant concerns from DE students and No’eau Center staff to the committee and worked with instructional faculty to ensure that tutoring resources were available to support DE courses.
Served on hiring committees:
- December 2015: No’eau Center administrative position
- June 2016 and again in September/October 2016: DE advisor
- October 2016: Coordinator of Disability and Compliance Support
- August 2015 and August 2016: La Punua. Led group activities, helped new students find their classrooms and other resources, coordinated and trained student employees.
- December 2015 and May 2016: Commencement. Helped with decorations, set up, ushering, clean up, and coordinating student employees.
- April 2016: Get Connected. Provided information about No’eau Center tutoring and testing services for prospective students and families.
- Summer 2016: ‘Ohana Orientation. Provided information about No’eau Center tutoring and testing services for families of incoming students.