معرفی
Dr. Yifen Beus serves as Associate Academic Vice President for Faculty at Brigham Young University–Hawaii, where she holds a Professorship in the Department of Visual Arts and Communication within the Faculty of Arts & Letters. Her academic career spans over two decades at BYUH, progressing from Assistant to Associate to Full Professor while simultaneously holding significant administrative roles including Dean of Arts & Letters (2018-2021) and Department Chair positions.
Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature with Film Studies minor from Indiana University (2000), an M.A. in Theatre & Film from Brigham Young University (1989), and a B.A. in English from National Chengchi University, Taipei (1987). Her doctoral dissertation examined Schlegelian Irony in German and French Romantic Drama.
Dr. Beus's research centers on the intersection of visual culture, postcolonial theory, and indigenous epistemologies, with particular focus on Pacific narrative cinemas. Her scholarly trajectory evolved from European romantic drama studies to contemporary investigations of mana as causal agent in Oceanic storytelling, cinematic migration tropes in Chinese film, and cross-cultural adaptations of Carmen narratives. She employs comparative frameworks analyzing Sinophone, Francophone, and Pacific cinematic traditions through lenses of cultural identity, globalization, and intertextuality.
Her 15 most recent publications reveal a decisive turn toward Pacific indigenous cinema since 2016, with increasing emphasis on mana, talanoa storytelling, and decolonial frameworks. Earlier works examined Chinese diaspora cinema and African film festivals, demonstrating consistent methodological engagement with postcolonial theory and transnational narrative forms across all outputs.
- David O. McKay Lecturer (2023)
- Honors Professor of the Year (2014)
- Exemplary Faculty of the Year (2011)
- Multiple Faculty Research Grants (2003-2014)
- “Heart of Germany” Fellowship (1991)
Dr. Beus has secured multiple Faculty Research Grants supporting her Pacific cinema studies and has directed significant study abroad programs in Cambodia, Shanghai, and Xian. Her administrative leadership extends to chairing the China Study Abroad Committee and serving on university-wide promotion, tenure, and scholarship committees. She actively mentors through student-centered film festivals and has presented teaching methodologies at international workshops including the National University of Singapore.
Her scholarly ecosystem integrates language expertise (native Chinese, near-native English, fluent German/French) with professional affiliations in the New Zealand Studies Association, Society for Cinema and Media Studies, and Modern Language Association. Current work examines indigenous protest sites in Pacific cinema and dehistorying through visual narrative.
