DATA AND DISCOVERIES

A new archive will feature comics and illustrations made during WWII internment.

Internment Camp L Ife

Because those held in World War II internment camps were not allowed to take photographs, Japanese Americans turned to drawing and illustration to document their daily lives. Now Chapman sociologist Stephanie Takaragawa is creating the first comprehensive catalog of comics and illustrations made both inside and outside the camps. In fall 2022, Takaragawa was awarded a grant of just under $125,000 from the California State Library’s California Civil Liberties Public Education program to create an archive of the internment experience for scholarly and public use.

“This project is personally important to me because I learned about this history from external sources and not from my family that was incarcerated at Heart Mountain internment camp during WWII,” said Takaragawa, director of the Asian American Studies program at Chapman. Also in 2022, Takaragawa earned Chapman’s largest grant ever from the National Endowment for the Humanities to launch the Asian American Studies minor at Chapman. The project, “Images and Imaginings of the Japanese American Internment: Comics and Illustrations of Camp,” teams Takaragawa with Chapman English professors Jan Osborn and Rei Magosaki as well as Jessica Bocinski of the university’s Escalette Permanent Collection of Art. In addition to serving college and university research scholars, the archive will be accessible to high school and middle school students.

RESEARCHERS IN TOP 2%

The volume of evidence keeps growing as Chapman University continues its rise as a research institution.

In the latest edition of an internationally recognized Stanford University research database, 24 Chapman faculty members rank among the top 2% of researchers worldwide, based on the high volume of their citations. The number of Chapman honorees represents a 50% increase from a year ago.

Among the Chapman researchers honored for career impact are Nobel Prize-winning economic scientist Vernon Smith and National Medal of Science recipient Yakir Aharonov. Those recognized for their single-year work include Earth systems scientist Joshua B. Fisher. A story on Fisher’s breakthrough research predicting food security crises globally begins on Page 12.

A key measure of Chapman’s research success is its growing number of citations, said Chapman President Daniele C. Struppa, who points to two decades of progress. In 2000, work produced by Chapman faculty was cited 100 times.

“In 2020, we were up to 9,455 citations, which means that 26 times a day someone was citing the work of our scholars,” Struppa said. “That upward trajectory makes us almost unrecognizable from where we were 20 years ago. It shows that not only do our faculty publish a lot, but people pay attention to the work we’re doing.”

By The Numbers

100% that Chapman ecosystem scientist Joshua B. Fisher and his research colleagues were able to predict within record at least three months in advance. Story on Page 12.

Percentage of global food security crises

Contracts uniting Chapman faculty researchers with industry partners

80 + during FY 2021–22. Projects include new foodprocessing techniques, peptide designs for improving medications, and antimicrobial treatments addressing drug-resistant bacteria.

“ Sometimes it’s as if we disrupted –which is a strong word –but we disrupted the classical form. Not in a violent way or a derogatory way –it’s more about looking at what the possibilities are with the ”body.

Dwight Rhoden, on his vision for dance choreography that blends classical ballet with movements evoking jazz, hip-hop and other forms.

Read more about Rhoden’s boundary-breaking work on Page 22.

Speed of the ECOSTRESS

17,000 MPH research instrument aboard the International Space Station. providing images of Earth that Chapman and Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists are turning into insights on plant resilience and adaptation.

8 QUADRILLION achievable by a new supercomputer cluster that puts Chapman at the cutting edge of AI research. Calculations per second

$13.3M for the research and technical assistance programs of Chapman’s Thompson Policy Institute on Disability, making education more inclusive. Total amount of foundation grant and donor support

“ When collaboration works like this, it’s quite ”magical.

Grace Fong, on Project Metamorphosis. The acclaimed pianist and director of Piano Studies at Chapman worked with colleagues in computer science and machine learning to develop a tool that translates classical compositions into “moving paintings,” making music more accessible.

The story begins on Page 16.

Hours of research time

1,000 invested by Chapman sociologist Pete Simi poring over hateful messages online before a trial of white nationalists. Simi’s testimony led to a judgment against the hate group leaders.

“ One day a student said, ‘What about stuff in space?’ Bing. Lightbulb. As soon as she asked the question, I thought, of course, stuff in space is heritage ”too.

Justin Walsh, describing a discussion in his ethics course “Cultural Heritage in the Art World.” The moment helped spark the first archaeological dig in space, aboard the International Space Station.

Read more on the project beginning on Page 6.

BY TOM ZOELLNER