Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies

2645 Dole Street
Kamakakūokalani 209A
Honolulu, HI 96822
Tel: (808) 956-0555
Email: chsuhm@hawaii.edu
Web: manoa.hawaii.edu/hshk/kamakakuokalani/ | www.kamakakuokalani.org

Faculty

*K. Beamer, PhD (Director)—Indigenous agency, regenerative economics and the circular economy, Native Hawaiian land tenure, sustainability, water, land, and resource law of the Hawaiian Kingdom
*L. Basham, PhD (Graduate Chair)—Hawaiian perspectives on history, politics, and cultural theory and practice grounded in Hawaiian language sources, including mele, hula, oli, and wahi pana
*M. Akutagawa, JD—State and federal laws protecting and preserving cultural and historic sites, community-based resource management efforts along traditional land divisions, integration of
Native, Indigenous Hawaiian methodologies, customary law, and governance principles
*K. Baclayon, MA—Hawaiian medicinal herbs, advanced Hawaiian medicinal herbs, aquatic medicine and mahi lāʻau lapaʻau (medicinal farming)
*A. A. H. Drexel, MFA—Native Hawaiian visual culture, customary practices and contemporary arts, politics of “imaging,” history, mythology, land tenure, and cultural studies
*A. Freitas, PhD—program development and strategic planning, assessment/evaluation, grant writing, faculty/staff development and student
*R. P. H. Kaaloa, PhD—educational technology, distance education, Indigenous education
E. Kaʻiama, MBA—Hawaiian Studies
*L. Kameʻeleihiwa, PhD—Hawaiian and Polynesian mythology, history, land tenure, literature, genealogies, traditional navigation
H. N. Keala, MLISc—Hawaiian Studies
K.K. Keala, MFA—Hawaiian Studies
*Lia O’Neill M. A. Keawe, PhD—comparative politics, Indigenous studies, political myths, rhetorical tropes, and imaging of Kanaka Maoli identity and culture; educational leadership development, and mentoring
*S. K. Kikiloi, PhD—Hawaiian resource management, traditional society genealogies, cultural revitalization and empowerment
*B. K. Kuwada, PhD—Contemporary and traditional Hawaiian literature, indigenous literature, creative writing, digital media, and translation
N. M. Lopes, MA—Hawaiian Studies
*N. Puniwai, PhD—coastal ecosystems, Indigenous and ethical science, knowledge co-production, climate change, and cultural seascapes
N. K. Ryan, MA—Hawaiian Studies, hula, oli and mālama ʻāina
B. M. Shishido, MA—Hawaiian Studies
W. N. Souza, MA—Hawaiian Studies
*E. K. Spenser, MA—Native Hawaiian visual culture, customary practices and museum studies
*M. K. Wright, PhD—Hawaiian geography; Hawaiʻi territorial time period; land tenure; land laws; political Hawaiian geography; Hawaiʻi homesteading, tourism, & militarism; settler colonialism

* Graduate Faculty

The Academic Program

Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies (HWST) recognizes its kuleana to nurture and educate the next generation of community leaders, teachers, and scholars who will lead Hawaiʻi into the future. Kamakakūokalani offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees that reflect the breadth and interdisciplinary nature of Hawaiian ancestral knowledge. Our BA graduates have moved forward to earn advanced degrees in anthropology, art, botany, business, communications, counseling, education, engineering, English, geography and environment, law, linguistics, medicine, ocean science, Pacific Islands studies, political science, psychology, social work, theater, and urban and regional planning.

The master’s of art degree builds on the BA program by addressing crucial issues such as the sustainability and resource management of the environment that is consistent with the geography and history of Hawaiʻi, Indigenous pedagogy and epistemology, and a political and governmental infrastructure for a Hawaiian nation. The MA also provides professionals in government, law, criminal justice, education, social work, and various health fields, the specialized knowledge in Hawaiian history and culture needed to adequately serve an array of communities.

Undergraduate Study

Bachelor’s Degree

Students design their program around a selected area of concentration. Third-year fluency in Hawaiian language is required, as well as familiarity with Hawaiian history and literature, culture and creative expression, politics and integral components of governance, resource management and sustainability, and comparative Indigenous studies.

A Native Hawaiian perspective is emphasized in the major. The following are the student learning objectives for the undergraduate program of study:

Students will understand our genealogical ties to Papahānaumokuākea, our mother earth, and ko Hawaiʻi paeʻāina as our ancestral homeland.
Students can explain that Kanaka Maoli are one lāhui connected by our ancestors Hāloa and Haumea across nā kai ʻewalu.
Students can discuss the history, culture, and politics in academic and non-academic settings.
Students can explain the interconnectedness of all knowledge, contemporary and ancestral, from a Kanaka Maoli perspective.
Students are capable of Kanaka Maoli applications, protocols, and disciplines.
Students can discuss, practice, and advance Kanaka Maoli experiences in the context of world Indigenous peoples.

Graduate Study

Admission Requirements

Admission to the Hawaiian Studies program is only for the fall semester. Students must meet the requirements set by the Graduate Division. In addition to the requirements of Graduate Division, prospective students must also submit the following application materials directly to the Hawaiian Studies department via the Graduate Application Supplemental Documents Upload site, except letters of recommendation can be mailed or emailed (with signatures) by the deadline:

Hawaiian Studies Graduate Application Information Form
Writing Sample: a five to ten page research paper done for a class and for which the applicant received a grade and credit as an undergraduate (any course, any topic). Paper must be a clean copy with no comments from professor. In lieu of such a document, applicants may write an original essay five to ten pages in length as an overview that conveys the nature of the applicants’ undergraduate major field of study.
A two-page statement of intent describing the applicant’s proposed thesis topic and its basic relationship to the interdisciplinary field of Hawaiian Studies.
3 current letters of recommendation from the applicant’s former professors of which at least 1 must be from either a Hawaiian Studies faculty member (not to include GTAs, lecturers, or academic advisors) or from the Hawaiian Studies graduate chair after an interview (if applicant is unable to obtain a recommendation from a Hawaiian Studies faculty member).

Note: Application materials are available on the department website or from the Native Hawaiian Student Services Office in Room 211.

Dual Master’s Degree Program

Students may pursue a Master’s in Hawaiian Studies and a second master’s concurrently in Library and Information Science. Students enrolled in either program may apply for admission in the other degree program. The dual master’s option allows sharing of elective courses. For more information, contact the HWST graduate chair or a LIS advisor.

Kūʻokoʻa ʻĀina Based Leadership Master’s Certificate

The Kūʻokoʻa ʻĀina Based Leadership graduate certificate is designed to cultivate aloha ʻāina leaders connected to and caring for Hawaiʻi’s ʻāina (land and resources) using interdisciplinary skills grounded in a strong foundation of ʻike kūpuna (ancestral knowledge). This certificate is designed for individuals interested in or professionals already working in mālama ʻāina fields.

Scholarships

These scholarships support degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate students in the area of Hawaiian Studies at the UH Mānoa’s Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge.

Center for Hawaiian Studies Scholarship Fund
Dr. Paul and Marilyn Stader Hawaiian Studies Scholarship
George A. and Annette B. Barnard Center for Hawaiian Studies Scholarship
Gladys ʻAinoa Brandt Scholarship Endowment in the Center for Hawaiian Studies
John Dominis Holt Scholarship
Nā Lei ʻŌiwi Scholarship
Pacific Islands Institute Hawaiian Studies Graduate Scholarship

To Apply for These Scholarships

1. Connect to www.star.hawaii.edu;
2. Log in with your username and password or ID number;
3. Select scholarship tab;
4. Search for scholarships;
5. Follow the directions for each scholarship.

Programs

Bachelor’s

Hawaiian Studies, BA

Master’s

Hawaiian Studies, MA

Graduate Certificate

Kūʻokoʻa ʻĀina Based Leadership, Graduate Certificate

Minor

Hawaiian Studies, Minor

Combined