Please join the Cal Maritime community at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7 at Peachman Hall as the Cal Maritime Scholar Series continues with Professor Lauren Hartman from the Department of Culture & Communication.

Hartman will showcase her short film "Dream Resort," a visual investigation into 12 abandoned luxury resorts in the Society Islands in the South Pacific. These sites tell unique stories of nature reclaiming architecture, of temporality, and the impact of resort development. 

"Dream Resort" was filmed on location on the islands of Tahiti, Mo’orea, Huahine, and Bora Bora. The film contemplates the complexities of tourism that lie at the intersection of climate change, ocean dynamics, human action, and economic policy decisions made locally and globally. This project was funded in part by a grant from the Puffin Foundation and a Research Scholarship and Creative Activity (RSCA)  grant from  the Office of the Chancellor and Cal Maritime's Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs. 

“I am excited to share this important work with my students, colleagues, and the Cal Maritime community as a whole,” said Hartman. “My hope is that this film will bring to the forefront the complexities around development in the Pacific Islands and the politics that drive this.” 

Hartman served as a facilitator for the first session of the relaunched Scholar Series this academic year with Science & Mathematics Professor Frank Yip's "Keep on Projecting" presentation held on Tuesday, Oct. 17. The facilitator for Hartman's Thursday's session will be Professor Tamara Burbank, who currently serves as chair of the Department of Marine Transportation.
 

Cal Maritime's Scholar Series was recently relaunched and is open to Cal Maritime faculty, staff, students, and the local community. The series was originally created to promote a culture of research and scholarship at Cal Maritime and aims to share the excitement of research projects happening right now at the University.

The series is sponsored by Cal Maritime's faculty development committee and library department. Each event includes a short presentation on recent research by a Cal Maritime faculty member, to be followed by an interview by a faculty member from outside the main speaker's discipline. The long-term objectives of the series are to encourage participation in undergraduate research activities by both students and faculty, and to increase scholarly collaboration within and across departments.

Check out these stills from "Dream Resort" below and join us at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7 at Peachman Hall as the Cal Maritime Scholar Series continues.

ABOUT CAL MARITIME
Established in 1929, California State University Maritime Academy is the only degree-granting maritime academy on the West Coast. Located in Vallejo, California, the campus offers undergraduate degrees that prepare students for careers in engineering, transportation, international relations, business, and global logistics. Cal Maritime also offers a master’s degree in Transportation and Engineering Management, as well as a number of extended learning programs and courses.