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The Center for Pacific Islands Studies (CPIS) at the University of Hawai'i promotes understanding of the Pacific Islands and Islander lives.

Check out CPIS' Tarcisius Kabutaulaka's latest pie Check out CPIS' Tarcisius Kabutaulaka's latest piece in the Diplomat, co-authored with AUT - Auckland University of Technology's Sione Tekiteki. CPIS was delighted to co-host Sione as a visiting expert with the Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs and Department of Asian Studies back in April. During his visit Sione gave an insightful talk on "The Blue Pacific Continent: Striving for Real Influence in the Indo-Pacific" as well as meeting with campus leaders and students.

In their piece, "Between Partnership and Primacy: Australia’s Diplomatic Posture in Southeast Asia and the Pacific," Tekiteki and Kabutaulaka highlight the uneven projection of geopolitical influence by Australia in Oceania and Southeast Asia. In the midst of these framings, they pose a new arrangement, "And it is this reality – partnership in ASEAN and strategic dominance in the Pacific – that exposes an often-overlooked opportunity: the potential for Pacific and Southeast Asian states to forge closer alignment and to maximize their collective leverage."

Read more here: https://shorturl.at/5hIvD
Join the Hawaiʻi Workers Center for a Know Your W Join the Hawaiʻi Workers Center for a Know Your Workers’ Rights training! 

This training will have a focus on immigrant and COFA migrant workers’ rights.

🗓️ Saturday, April 26
🕐 10:00AM - 12:30PM
📍 HWC Office at Towers at Kuhio Park
1545 Linapuni St Suite 112

📧 To RSVP email hiworkerscenter@gmail.com
🍽️ Lunch will be provided!
🗣️ Interpretation in Chuukese & Pohnpeian will be available
Last call for PACS Summer Classes in Session II! R Last call for PACS Summer Classes in Session II! Register now!

Summer Session II | PACS 108: Pacific Worlds | MTWRF 10:30-11:50AM | Online Synch | Instructor: Ulamila Cagivanua

PACS 108 introduces students to the geography, societies, histories, cultures, contemporary issues, and arts of Oceania, including Hawai‘i. Combines lectures and discussion that emphasize Pacific Islander perspectives and experiences.

Summer Session II | PACS 492: Community-Based Fisheries Management in Oceania | M 12-1:25 PM Synch & ASynch | Instructor: Ron Vave

This course will introduce you to indigenous peoples and local communities in the Pacific Islands region known as Oceania including their dependence and management of coastal fisheries resources. We will explore how aspirations, beliefs, reciprocal relationships, traditions, and cultural practices of these communities shape their understanding and utilization of the marine environment. This includes examining the innovative actions they take to protect and maintain a way of life that ensures a sustainable future for present and future generations. Read more here!
Last call for PACS Summer Classes! Register now! Last call for PACS Summer Classes! Register now!

Summer 2025 | PACS 108: Pacific Worlds | Online Async Course | 16 June - 25 July | Dr. Julie Walsh

This specific PACS 108 is 
-specifically offered to teachers, 
-doesn't require a portfolio
-the 'final' is a unit/lesson plan for one of the 10 7th grade Social Studies (Pacific Islands Studies) standards. 
-a friendly environment for busy teachers (one of the weekly quizzes can be dropped)
-weekly brief Zoom (30 minutes) is not required but helpful and encouraged
-friendly for multiple teachers at the same school or complex to take together
-designed to produce lesson plans that are shared; each participant will have access to all other teachers' lesson plans to better serve our 7th grade students and teachers
-limited to 20 students 

The first step in the registration process is to please complete this short form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwwRHC4-Yn2nEQCl-VzaC_hGp30cyUNIp3WNsI3AaIISfatA/viewform

The next step involves a 15 minute application to Outreach College (which takes 7-10 days to process). The rest is fast and easy!  Please register soon!

Summer Session II | PACS 108: Pacific Worlds | MTWRF 10:30-11:50AM | Online Synch | Instructor: Ulamila Cagivanua

PACS 108 introduces students to the geography, societies, histories, cultures, contemporary issues, and arts of Oceania, including Hawai‘i. Combines lectures and discussion that emphasize Pacific Islander perspectives and experiences.

Summer Session II | PACS 492: Community-Based Fisheries Management in Oceania | M 12-1:25 PM Synch & ASynch | Instructor: Ron Vave

This course will introduce you to indigenous peoples and local communities in the Pacific Islands region known as Oceania including their dependence and management of coastal fisheries resources. We will explore how aspirations, beliefs, reciprocal relationships, traditions, and cultural practices of these communities shape their understanding and utilization of the marine environment. This includes examining the innovative actions they take to protect and maintain a way of life that ensures a sustainable future for present and future generations. Read more here!
Please join us at a special PACS 120 Poem Poster E Please join us at a special PACS 120 Poem Poster Exhibition today, Thursday, 1 May 2025 from 9 am- 3pm in Hamilton Library 306!

Our PACS 120 students are required to write a poem, create art, and produce a poster about climate change for one of their final projects. The aim is to highlight the role of creative expression in creating awareness and advocacy about climate change issues in Oceania. 

Come learn and enjoy the beautiful art and poetry!

#CPIS #PacificStudies #CPIStudentLife
Please kōkua! The Celebrate Micronesia Festival r Please kōkua! The Celebrate Micronesia Festival returns to Bishop Museum on Saturday, May 3 — this vibrant, annual event brings together Micronesian voices from across the Pacific for a day of music, dance, art, food, and storytelling.

Support the people and cultures of Micronesia by donating what you can via the link in our bio. Thanks to the generosity of Dr. Mary Therese Perez Hattori (@maryhattori), every donation will be matched up to $5,000, meaning every dollar donated makes double the difference!

Videos and photos in this video are courtesy of the Pacific Islands Development Program (Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP) @east.west.center).
The Blue Pacific narrative and the subsequent 2050 The Blue Pacific narrative and the subsequent 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent articulate the region’s collective aspirations and priorities from a Pacific centric perspective. As a region that has been, and remains, dominated by foreign powers and external influence, this strategic frame asserts that Pacific nations as a political bloc will not wither under the weight of the unprecedented geopolitical interest and geostrategic competition playing out in the region. Instead, it seeks to place its own regional priorities at the forefront of the global agenda. 

More broadly, Tekiteki will argue that Pacific nations must strengthen their association with “like-valued” nations—particularly in the Indo-Pacific—aspiring to protect their interests in a world that is fast becoming more uncertain, more complex, and more polarizing.
Alyes Wong, CoreCHI-P, is the Business Manager of Alyes Wong, CoreCHI-P, is the Business Manager of Interpreting and Translation Services at UCSF Health in San Francisco, California. She received her BA degree in Asian Studies with a certificate in Chinese from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Ms. Wong is certified in Cantonese by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) and is also qualified to interpret in Mandarin. She was awarded Interpreter of the Year in 2014 by the California Healthcare Interpreting Association.
Join us for a FREE dynamic workshop highlighting c Join us for a FREE dynamic workshop highlighting career paths for interpreters across various sectors. While the speaker will focus on medical interpreting, the session is open to students/ professionals and aspiring interpreters in all fields, including legal, human services, and more. Gain insights from an expert in healthcare interpreting and discover how your language skills can make a meaningful impact in your community. This workshop offers valuable opportunities for career growth and community support through interpreting.

Wednesday, 23 April 2025 from 1:00-5:00 PM in 1727B & 128 Kopiko Building

Thursday, 24 April 2025 from 9:00 AM-1:00 PM in 1727B & 128 Kopiko Building
Please join us with Professors Dean Saranillio and Please join us with Professors Dean Saranillio and Candace Fujikane next week Tuesday the 22nd at Moore Hall 319 from 3:30 to 4:30, for an Intertidal Chat about how we can have critical conversations with different disciplinary lenses. Snacks and beverages will be provided!
We are excited to announce we are recruiting volun We are excited to announce we are recruiting volunteers for this year’s Celebrate Micronesia Festival on Saturday, 3 May 2025! Volunteers will receive free entry to the event as well as a delicious complementary lunch! If you’re interested in applying to be a volunteer please fill in this form by 18 April 2025.

Bishop Museum @bishopmuseum  in partnership with the Pacific Islands Development Program @pidp_ewc , East-West Center @east.west.center , is proud to celebrate Micronesian voices, Micronesian cultures, and Pacific communities. The annual Celebrate Micronesia Festival showcases traditional and contemporary art, dance, fashion, stories, poetry, food, and music of the people and cultures of Micronesia. 

Warm thanks to @localslimited  for designing a logo and graphics for CMF 2025!
On 27 March 2025, CPIS was pleased to welcome Fiji On 27 March 2025, CPIS was pleased to welcome Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister, Honorable Professor Biman Prasad to campus for a sevusevu and talanoa with faculty and students. 

Born into a rice farming family in Dreketi, Vanua Levu, Deputy Prime Minister Prasad rose to become one of Fiji’s most influential public figures. Before entering politics, he was an economics professor and earned his PhD from the University of Queensland. His life’s work has centered on social justice and inclusive growth.

Penitiko Taoi, CPIS MA student, and Ron Vave, CPIS Assistant Professor, facilitated the sevusevu, a kava ceremony of welcome. The talanoa after featured sharp insights from Prasad as well as a lively discussion with students and faculty, including CALL Dean Peter Arnade and Center Director Alexander Mawyer. 

Warmest thanks to Honorable Professor Prasad and his wife for visiting and to our students and faculty for welcoming our guests with dignity and respect.

Read more about the event at @uhmanoanews  here: https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2025/04/08/fiji-leader-inspires-students-faculty/
Aloha and warm Pacific greetings, For 75 years, t Aloha and warm Pacific greetings,

For 75 years, the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa has stood as the intellectual heart of Pacific scholarship, shaping generations of thought leaders, political actors, artists, and scholars from Hawai‘i, across the United States, and throughout Oceania. Our graduates and affiliates have gone on to lead in government, academia, and the arts, advancing knowledge, advocacy, and policy in service of Pacific peoples and places. The center’s award-winning publications—the Pacific Islands Monograph Series, the esteemed journal The Contemporary Pacific, and the Teaching Oceania open-access textbook series—have redefined how the world engages with Pacific studies, ensuring that the voices, histories, and futures of the region are centered in global conversations. As a hub for research, public discourse, and university leadership, the center has been instrumental in shaping Hawai‘i’s and the nation’s understanding of Pacific issues, from climate change and regional governance to language revitalization and cultural resurgence. 

This legacy, however, depends on sustained support. Your contribution to the Center’s Outreach Fund will strengthen our ability to train the next generation of Pacific leaders, expand our impact, and continue our vital work. Join us in honoring 75 years of excellence and in securing the future of Pacific Islands Studies for the decades to come. 

To make a charitable gift to the Pacific Islands Studies Outreach Fund, please visit https://go.hawaii.edu/86P or click the link in our bio.

Alexander Mawyer, Professor
Director, Center for Pacific Islands Studies
Acting Chair, Department of Pacific Islands Studies
Listen to the latest episode of Oceania Currents f Listen to the latest episode of Oceania Currents focused on nuclear testing in the Pacific. 

Between 1946 and 1996, the US, Great Britain and France tested over 300 nuclear weapons in the Pacific. The legacies of those nuclear weapons tests continue to affect Pacific Islanders and Islands today.

In this episode, we speak with Nic Maclellan, an Australian journalist who has worked on nuclear issues in the Pacific for decades. After that, we talk story with Mililani Ganivet and Marie-Helene Villierme from Tahiti about their audio-documentary podcast project Nu/clear Stories, which shares stories of everyday life and grapples with the legacies of the period of nuclear testing in French Polynesia. 

Listen to Oceania Currents wherever you access podcasts, or on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4El6icplIEjxOgY6d5Ivfv

Listen to Nu/clear stories on Spotify or wherever you prefer to enjoy your podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DqOxreTxTQ58RLVIAGeTL
Please join us TODAY at 12PM, in Moore Hall Room 2 Please join us TODAY at 12PM, in Moore Hall Room 258, for an ecotone session with Dr. Manuhuia Barcham, Associate Professor of the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. The last half century has seen a dramatic shift occur in Western academia and practice around the recognition of Indigenous Knowledge (IK). We see examples of this shift in the adoption of IK in health management programs or the granting of legal personhood to mountains and rivers. However multiple critiques have emerged around this shift seeing it as often still being situated within specific socio-technical power structures which continue to be extractive in practice. Investigating these ideas through examples drawn from my empirical design work I propose different ways in which we might be able to explore bringing different knowledges and knowledge traditions together in a way that provides value for multiple stakeholder groups but maintains the dignity and integrity of these different traditions and knowledges.
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School of Pacific & Asian Studies
College of Arts, Languages & Letters
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
1890 East-West Road, Moore Hall 209
Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822


Outreach and resource inquiries: cpis@hawaii.edu
Academic program and advising inquiries: pacs@hawaii.edu
Telephone: (808) 956-7700
Fax: (808) 956-7053

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