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Center for Biographical Research

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Colleges of Arts and Sciences

Instructional and Research Facilities

Center for Biographical Research

The Center for Biographical Research (CBR) is dedicated to the interdisciplinary and multicultural study of life writing. CBR programs include teaching, publication, and outreach activities.

In conjunction with the Department of English, CBR offers thesis advising for PhD and MA projects. The Department of English also offers a number of graduate and undergraduate courses in life writing. A BA program in biography is offered through the Intedisciplinary Studies Program, and the Biography Prize is offered annually for the best work on any aspect of life writing by a PhD candidate at UH.

CBR publishes Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, the premier scholarly journal in the field. Appearing continuously since 1978, Biography explores the theoretical, historical, generic, and cultural dimensions of life writing. CBR also sponsors the Biography Monograph series, designed to further the study and practice of life writing in all its forms.
CBR maintains a library and resource collection and has hosted, since 1988, the public lecture series Brown Bag Biography, part of the center’s commitment to supporting and publicizing contributions to life writing. CBR is a founding partner of Biography Hawai‘i, a television documentary series that focuses on residents whose lives have had a lasting impact on these islands. The center also hosts iaba-l@hawaii.edu, the listserv and discussion forum for the International Auto/Biography Association.

Language Learning Center

The Language Learning Center (LLC) located in Moore Hall provides technical support services to enhance language teaching and learning in the College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature. The Center facilitates research and development projects and the implementation of innovative language teaching methods and approaches. LLC’s Multimedia Computer Labs include a Macintosh lab networked with G4 computers and a PC lab networked with Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional Pentium computers. Both labs are equipped with a printer, scanner, and LCD projection system. The computers feature a direct Ethernet connection to the Internet and software for a host of languages, including non-Roman script Asian languages. The computer labs are available for drop-in use by students, for class sessions, and for professional development workshops for faculty and staff. The facilities also include broadcast-standard video and audio production studios and a satellite station consisting of C and Ku-band tracking dishes for uplinks, downlinks, and videoconferencing. In addition, the LLC supports language laboratories, a multi-purpose media room, viewing rooms, and a variety of audiovisual equipment available for check out. From its audio library, LLC distributes course materials to students on cassette and CD. The LLC regularly hosts national and international events sponsored by various units in the College.

Manoa Writing Program

The Manoa Writing Program was created by the UH Board of Regents in 1987 to administer General Education writing requirements. Its efforts are guided by a board of seven professors, each from a different department. The faculty board reviews requests to give classes writing-intensive (W) Focus designations, offers faculty workshops on teaching with writing, and surveys students in W Focus classes. The program publishes material on teaching with writing. It also administers the Manoa Writing Placement Examination to all incoming undergraduates who have not met UH’s entry-level writing course requirement. The program’s ultimate goal is to help ensure that all UH Manoa graduates are prepared for the different writing tasks that society and their professions will present to them.

Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center

The Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center was established in 1988 with the broad mission of improving language instruction in the College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature and facilitating cooperative efforts among departments. The center coordinates professional development programs; provides curriculum and materials development services to departments; supports faculty research and development projects, especially in obtaining grants and contracts; and conducts outreach activities to support Hawai‘i’s language-teaching community.

National Foreign Language Resource Center

Under the Language Resource Centers program, the U.S. Department of Education awards grants to a small number of institutions of higher education for the purpose of establishing, strengthening, and operating centers that serve as resources to improve the nation’s capacity to teach and learn foreign languages effectively. In 1989, UH was first granted funds to develop a National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC), one of three such centers at the time–the number since has grown to fourteen.

NFLRC engages in research and materials development projects, conducts summer institutes for language professionals, and makes available a wide variety of publications on center projects and programs. Drawing on the abundance of Asian and Pacific resources afforded by its locale, NFLRC focuses its efforts on the less commonly taught languages, particularly those of Asia and the Pacific, recognizing that competence in these languages is increasingly vital to the nation’s future.

The projects and educational programs that the center undertakes have broader implications for the teaching of all languages.