| Instructional and Research Facilities and
Programs
Buddhist Studies Program
The Buddhist Studies Program aims at a comprehensive study of Buddhism and its cultural traditions in South Asia, Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan. In addition to having a solid research collection of Buddhist materials, the University also has produced an outstanding number of monographs, journals, and UH Press publications on Buddhism. To supplement its own resources, the University has pioneered cooperative agreements with a number of Buddhist universities in Asia to facilitate exchange programs, joint research projects, and study abroad opportunities for faculty and students. In 1988, the Yehan Numata Chair in Buddhist Studies was established through a 10-year grant.
Center for Chinese Studies
The Center for Chinese Studies aims broadly at an increased understanding of contemporary China in light of its history and its hopes for the future. The Center pursues this goal through instruction from 35 faculty members in 23 departments who teach more than 200 China-related courses; research by faculty, who publish an average of six books and a score of articles on China each year; service publications, such as its semiannual journal China Review International, which provides an overview of current world wide scholarship on China, and an annual resource book, The Guide to Chinese Studies at the University of Hawai'i; and community outreach, conferences, and national and international linkages with institutions such as Peking University in Beijing and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
By interdepartmental cooperation and by creating a stimulating environment for the faculty and the 250 students specializing in Chinese studies, the Center actively supplements the offering of the basic scholarly disciplines at both undergraduate and graduate levels and focuses attention on the University's significant resources for the study of China. These include the Asia Collection in Hamilton Library, the Wong Audiovisual Center in Sinclair Library, and the multimedia collection of the Language Telecommunication Resource and Learning Center.
Center for Hawaiian Studies
The Center for Hawaiian Studies is committed to perpetuating the legacy of Hawaiians through instruction, research, community outreach, and student services. Established in 1970 and made a center in the School of Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Studies in 1987, it is the only academic program in the world focusing on the history, culture, and traditions of the Hawaiian people. The center offers a BA in Hawaiian studies; promotes research in Hawaiian language, culture, history, and politics; offers a wide array of student services to all students of Hawaiian ancestry; and coordinates an active program of outreach to the out-of-school Hawaiian community. On-campus resources include the Kanewai taro garden and the Hawaiian and Pacific Collections at Hamilton Library. Off-campus resources include the State Archives, Bishop Museum, other private collections, and the unique availability of an ancient and rich native culture still present from Ni'ihau to the Big Island of Hawai'i. The native Hawaiian view is emphasized in the major.
Center for Japanese Studies
The Center for Japanese Studies includes 41 professors, 19 language instructors, and two library specialists who offer approximately 200 courses in 20 departments. Important activities of the center include administration of the student exchange program with
Doshisha, Nanzan, and Sophia Universities; coordination of the Japanese Studies Endowment Fund, which makes grants to support faculty and graduate student research, and publication of the quarterly newsletter J-Current and the Guide to Japanese Studies at the University of Hawai'i, published every three years. The center also acts as a coordinating body for Japanese studies on campus and as a clearinghouse for inquiries related to the field; it sponsors visiting colleagues; and it arranges for lectures, performances, and receptions for visiting scholars and artists.
Center for Korean Studies
The Center for Korean Studies coordinates and develops the University's resources for the study of Korea. The 18 faculty members affiliated with the center represent the disciplines of history, language and literature, economics, political science, sociology, communication, urban planning, theater and dance, and ethnomusicology. The center promotes interdisciplinary and intercultural approaches to Korean studies; conducts scholarly conferences; sponsors research projects; presents specialists and visiting scholars in colloquia; publishes scholarly works and an interdisciplinary journal, Korean Studies; and coordinates University resources on Korea and researches the activities of Hawai'i's Korean community. The center maintains a special collection of personal libraries and private papers of distinguished scholars on Korea. It also has a small collection of books, journals, audiovisual materials, and other documents as an adjunct to the University library's Korean collection.
Center for Pacific Islands Studies
The Center for Pacific Islands Studies coordinates aspects of the Pacific-related activities within the University and promotes further study of the region. The center sponsors an annual conference and a seminar series that features a variety of visitors en route to and from other Pacific Islands. The program publishes a bimonthly newsletter, a series of occasional papers, and, in collaboration with the University of Hawai'i Press, the Pacific Islands Monograph Series, South Sea Books, and The Contemporary Pacific: A Journal of Island Affairs.
Center for Philippine Studies
The Center for Philippine Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa is the only university center and academic program for Philippine studies in the United States. The center initiates and conducts Philippine-oriented activities on campus and in the community involving library resources, publications and research, seminars, workshops, lectures, scholarly conferences, and cultural presentations. It also sponsors a regular colloquium series and promotes professional exchanges with Philippine and Philippine-related institutions. The center has more Philippine specialists on its faculty than does any other campus in the country.
Center for Russia in Asia
The Center for Russia in Asia conducts research to promote a more sophisticated understanding of Russia's historical and contemporary presence in East Asia and the Pacific. The center serves as an information resource, encourages international scholarly cooperation, and publishes, in conjunction with the University of Hawai'i Press, studies on Siberia, the Soviet Far East, and Russian East Asian-Pacific relations. Interested students can take relevant courses while pursuing degrees in history, geography, political science, economics, Asian studies, Pacific Islands studies, and other disciplines and programs. The University library has an extensive exchange program with major libraries from the former Soviet Union.
Center for South Asian Studies
The Center for South Asian Studies supports courses, provides opportunities for intensive study of societies and cultures of South Asia, and promotes faculty research and interaction across departmental lines to foster comparative and interdisciplinary research in the region. This area includes contemporary Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldive Islands, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and, for some purposes, Afghanistan and Tibet. The center initiates and supports outreach activities to the Manoa campus, as well as to the wider Honolulu community.
Center for Southeast Asian Studies
The Center for Southeast Asian Studies coordinates and supports many of the resources at the University related to Southeast Asian studies. The center sponsors lectures and seminars given by the 55 University faculty focusing on Southeast Asia, as well as frequent visitors from the region. It arranges faculty exchanges with Southeast Asian universities and publishes the Southeast Asia Paper Series, which began in 1972. The center also produces a journal,
Cakalele, and a student journal, Explorations in Southeast Asian Studies, concerned with the
Moluccas. Outreach is a strong component of the center and includes programs for Hawai'i's public school system and community organizations on a regular basis.
Committee for the Preservation and Study of Hawaiian Language, Art and Culture
The committee was established in 1959 to protect and encourage a deeper knowledge of the language and culture of the native people of Hawai'i. Through the resources and efforts of the committee, more than two hundred projects have been funded in part or in whole over the past 40 years. Examples range from the groundbreaking Hawaiian Dictionary; Hawaiian-English and English Hawaiian, by Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert, to the Na Kanikau Aloha O Hawai'i, a project currently in progress that documents the adaptation of Hawaiian to the written language in the 19th century, focusing on the
kanikau, a chant of mourning and lamentation.
Campus Events and Community Programs
SHAPS and its centers sponsor lectures, colloquia, teacher workshops, conferences, film festivals, concerts, and special events, such as the Grand Kabuki performance, Chinese martial arts performances, and the Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute. The centers' outreach programs take University expertise into the community and secondary schools, and the Center for Hawaiian Studies provides support services for native Hawaiian students. |
