April 18–24 marks National Crime Victims鈥� Rights Week, an annual commemoration that promotes victims’ rights and services. It鈥檚 an issue alumnus Nicholas Iwamoto strongly supports after surviving a vicious random attack while hiking Koko Crater.

In 2009, Iwamoto was brutally stabbed more than a dozen times and thrown 100-feet from a cliff. The bone-shattering fall left him with a broken neck, fractured skull and collapsed lungs. His attacker was committed to Hawaiʻi State Hospital.

This was a watershed moment for me because I learned the power of my voice
—Nicholas Iwamoto

But in 2016, utter shock crept back into Iwamoto鈥檚 life—he had learned his assailant would be released, which propelled him to fight to protect violent crime victims. He prepared a fiery message to take all the way to the State Capitol.

“I gave them all the gory details. This was a watershed moment for me because I learned the power of my voice,” he explained. “My experience with trauma and my refusal to stay quiet mean I am in a unique position to reach those who are hurting.”

Pushing through pain

Pain is something Iwamoto knows all too well. Physical and emotional wounds sustained from the gruesome stabbing proved too difficult. Drugs prescribed to ease his discomfort manifested into a crippling addiction.

“I lost so much time. I realized in 2015 that if I was ever going to live my second life to the fullest, I would have to get clean. I was the only one who could get myself out of this hole. I consider my sobriety and my survival to be my greatest achievements.”

In fall 2020, Iwamoto celebrated yet another accolade, the 35-year-old graduated with honors from 糖心视频 Hilo earning a BA in European History. For him, school became a desperately-needed sanctuary.

“My time at 糖心视频 was an integral part of my reintegration to the world after many years of reclusion. Going back to school has made me realize the power of my imagination…I want to take my education as far as my mind and body will allow.”

Story of survival featured in Wailau

I want the audience to know that hope can be found in the most hopeless situations. I want them to find a strength within they never knew existed.

Iwamoto is getting ready to share his harrowing story of survival on 糖心视频 Hilo鈥檚 new virtual storytelling program, . The free monthly event was created to empower the community through personal stories. Iwamoto will headline April鈥檚 episode, A Just World, on Saturday, April 24 at 2 p.m.

“I want the audience to know that hope can be found in the most hopeless situations. I want them to find a strength within they never knew existed. More than anything, I want them to know they鈥檙e not alone.”

Iwamoto has his eyes set on writing a book about his unexpected journey.

How abundant Native Hawaiian communities laid a foundation in the fight against climate change is the focus of a new book by a University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 professor.

In Mapping Abundance for a Planetary Future: Kanaka Maoli and Critical Settler Cartographies in Hawaiʻi, Associate Professor Candace Fujikane draws upon moʻolelo (storied histories) involving lands and waters to look at the ways that Kanaka Maoli k奴puna (ancestors) approached climate change events. The book focuses on community struggles over lands and waters and restoration projects in four areas: Waiʻanae, Mauna a W膩kea, Kalihi and Wai膩hole.

Mapping Abundance offers a hopeful view of our planetary future. The book challenges the assumption that we have passed an apocalyptic point of no return. As Fujikane argues, just as a harmful event has exponentially devastating effects, a restorative action catalyzes far-reaching and unexpected forms of revitalization.

with a 30% discount using the code: E21FJKNE.

Motivations behind the book

Fujikane began writing this book thinking about the ways that Kanaka Maoli k奴puna preserved ʻike kupuna (ancestral knowledge) in moʻolelo. She uses the example of Keaomelemele, which describes the migration of the moʻo or reptilian water deities from their home islands in the clouds to Oʻahu. Thousands of moʻo marched from Waialua to Kap奴kak墨 or Red Hill. Fujikane saw that the story was about the ways that k奴puna mapped lands and how the mapping passed on to their descendants the knowledge about elemental laws that protect water.

“As I was thinking about this story, I was also involved in different community struggles to protect lands and waters in Hawaiʻi,” Fujikane said. “I began to see the ways that developers would try to cordon off smaller and smaller pieces of land in order to argue that the lands they wanted to develop are no longer agriculturally productive or culturally significant. As I was giving testimony at land use hearings, I realized that we needed to get outside of a western, Americanized perspective of land to recognize that Kanaka Maoli valued the integrity of land and the ways that land forms are related to each other.”

Extensive research

Fujikane performed a wide range of research to produce the book, including talking with Kanaka Maoli scholars, activists, artists and cultural practitioners; attending community events and court cases; reading different translations in Hawaiian language newspapers; spending time on Mauna a W膩kea; analyzing maps; and taking six years of ʻ艒濒别濒辞 Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language).

“Research for me is relational because it is about growing relationships with people and growing aloha ʻ腻颈苍补 for places because you love the people of a place and realize that the akua (elemental forms) are their ancestors,” Fujikane said.

This work is an example of 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 goals of (PDF), (PDF) and (PDF), three of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

Giving back to the community is at the core of the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 and its generosity was on full display in March 2021. With many school band programs unable to meet in person for more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 糖心视频 Bands organized the first-ever Hawaiʻi high school virtual honor band, which released two video performances. Approximately 50 students representing 24 different high schools on four islands were selected to participate in the online event.

Students received instrumental lessons with 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 faculty, met and worked with guest composers, and talked with Hawaiʻi鈥檚 own singer/songwriter/musician Raiatea Helm about her career in music and the meaning behind the mele (song) Kaulana N膩 Pua, which she performed with the students. They then individually recorded their own parts, which were assembled into video performances.

糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 Director of Bands Jeffrey Boeckman saw this as a chance for young musicians from across the islands isolated due to the pandemic, to come together and make meaningful music.

“It has been a long time for all of us away from each other,” Boeckman said. “From the connection that making music together can bring, we were eager to provide a meaningful musical activity. We are so fortunate to bring these young musicians together with an artist like Raiatea.”

The 糖心视频 Bands acknowledged the for its support of the project.

View the band鈥檚 performances:

This effort is an example of 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 goals of (PDF) and (PDF), two of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

The is among the world鈥檚 best for academic and research excellence across numerous subject areas, according to the released on March 3. These rankings are examples of 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 goals of (PDF) and (PDF), two of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

After being ranked No. 62 nationally and No. 333 out of more than 26,000 colleges and universities worldwide (or the top 2%) in QS鈥檚 latest World University Rankings released in June 2020, 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 was ranked in the top 50 in the world in four narrow subject areas: geology (No. 24 worldwide, No. 15 U.S.), geophysics (No. 26 worldwide, No. 16 U.S.), linguistics (No. 28 worldwide, No. 11 U.S.) and earth and marine sciences (No. 34 worldwide, No. 18 U.S.).

糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 also received the following broad subject area rankings:

• Arts and Humanities: No. 172 worldwide, No. 43 U.S.
• : No. 203 worldwide, No. 49 U.S.
• and : No. 401–450 range worldwide, No. 78 U.S.
• and : No. 401–450 range worldwide, No. 113 U.S.

United Kingdom-based QS is considered one of the most prestigious ranking entities in higher education. QS selected 1,453 institutions to evaluate out of more than 26,000 colleges and universities for its 2021 World University Rankings by Subject using four factors: academic and employer reputation, number of research citations per paper and the h-index, which measures the productivity and impact of published work.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the contribution of a world-class university to a brighter future for Hawaiʻi. The QS rankings affirm 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 resilience and commitment to excellence in a wide range of disciplines,” 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 Provost Michael Bruno said. “The world is undergoing dramatic and in many ways permanent change as a result of the pandemic, and I believe that our graduates will be among those helping to shape it for the better thanks to the strong education our world-class faculty provide.”

Other rankings

糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 has also received these notable rankings:

• Elite international rankings in 2021 Times Higher Education World University Rankings by subject
• High national ranking in U.S. News and World Report 2021 Best Colleges rankings
• 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 in top 1% of worldwide universities by the 2021 Times Higher Education World University Rankings

For a full list of QS subject rankings and for more information, .

—By Marc Arakaki

Academy Award-winning French director, screenwriter and producer Michel Gondry鈥檚 use of music and sounds is spotlighted in a new book by a professor. Professor Kate McQuiston explores Gondry鈥檚 work, including Oscar-winning film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep, and other music videos, commercials and documentaries.

“Michel Gondry provided an intriguing case as a director who began his work in music videos—a genre predicated on music—and grew into feature films and commercials,” McQuiston said. “I wanted to find out how his musical starting point manifested across these genres, and what it revealed about the ways we watch and listen to them.”

McQuiston鈥檚 book features case studies that track Gondry’s sonic and musical treatment of recurring dramatic themes, which often involve the psychological and emotional experiences of the characters. It also reveals how Gondry uses his work as a way to advocate for music as a participatory and democratic activity, from promoting the musical artists he admires (particularly in jazz and hip hop) to appearing as a musician himself in promotional events connected to his work, including writing an original pop song for his most recent feature film, Microbe et Gasoil.

“I discovered that some of the most compelling effects in Gondry’s work come from the input of orchestrators or other creative personnel, prompting me to call Gondry not an ‘auteur’ but a ‘collaborateur,’” McQuiston said. “His deference to musicians and musical characters in his films is a notable feature of his work.”

Music and Sound in the Worlds of Michel Gondry is .

Award-winning poet, writer, editor and filmmaker Allison Adelle Hedge Coke will premiere the film of her keynote address as the spring 2020 at the . Hedge Coke will present a keynote lecture via Zoom on Making Our Measure, Our Motion in Life, on Wednesday, December 16, 4–5:30 p.m.

Hedge Coke will reflect on the past year through poetry, prose and guest commentaries. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, Hedge Coke鈥檚 planned keynote address in the spring was postponed. In lieu of an in-person event, a film was commissioned to capture the poetry and prose of Hedge Coke. Hedge Coke鈥檚 presentation also includes the community voices of Lt. Gov. Josh Green, Hawaiian visual artist Meleanna Meyer, and 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 Indigenous poets Craig Santos Perez and Brandy N膩lani McDougall.

Hedge Coke spent the spring semester at 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补, co-teaching the course “Indigenous Lands and Waters” with American Studies Associate Professor McDougall, in addition to giving lectures, workshops and readings.

McDougall said, “We were very honored to host Allison Hedge Coke, who is among the most important environmental and social justice poets, thinkers and activists of our time. Her literary contributions of poetry and other writings and documentary filmmaking over the past 25 years, as well as her work to create spaces for marginalized voices and to protect plants, animals, and sacred sites, have been tremendous both in scope and impact.”

Following the film premiere, a live discussion will take place with Hedge Coke, facilitated by McDougall and American Studies Assistant Specialist Noelle Kahanu.

. For more information, contact Kahanu at nmkahanu@hawaii.edu.

More on Hedge Coke

A distinguished professor at the University of California at Riverside, Hedge Coke is of Indigenous and European descent, and many of her writings powerfully explore her heritage and coming of age working in fields, factories and waters.

Her works include the poetry books Year of the Rat (1993, 1996), Dog Road Woman (1997), Off-Season City Pipe (2005), Blood Run (2007), Streaming (2014), Burn (2017), a memoir, Rock, Ghost, Willow, Deer (2014), an animated poem, and a play, Icicles. As an editor, her works include Ahani: ToTopos (2006), Sing: Poetry of the Indigenous Americas (2011), Effigies (2009), Effigies II (2014), Effigies III (2019), and she most recently guest-edited World Literature Today (Autumn 2019).

Recent honors include an honorary credential from China for Excellence in Foreign Poetry, the First Jade Nurtured SiHui Female International Poet (2018), a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Native Writers Circle of the Americas (2017), the Library of Congress Witter Bynner Fellow (2016), and Distinguished Writer in Residence at 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 (2014). Current projects include a film, Red Dust: resiliency in the dirty thirties, a new CD, a VA NCA Legacy Program sponsored community project Along the Chaparral, new poems and prose.

Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals

Established in 2005 by the 糖心视频 Board of Regents, the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals brings significant public figures to Hawaiʻi to foster public discourse regarding democratic ideals and civic engagement. The program honors the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye and his wife, Maggie, for their lifetimes of public service. The chair is housed in the 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 Department of American Studies in the College of Arts and Humanities and the William S. Richardson School of Law.

The COVID-19 pandemic is not stopping a project aiming to save 40 years of environmental history in Hawaiʻi.

The Environmental Center at the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 was established in 1970 and generated a large collection of historical material on land use, conservation, economic development and ecological change in the state. Many of the documents are one-of-a-kind and exist only in hardcopy. They include drawings from Honolulu’s Rapid Transit Project from 1971 and a variety of environmental impact statements (EISs). The center closed in 2013 and the collection was left untouched.

In 2018, Associate Professor Kieko Matteson from 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 , and Scott Glenn, then-director of the State Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC), kickstarted an effort to digitize the documents and make them publicly available. Sara Bolduc, a PhD graduate from 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 and former Environmental Center employee, also joined in the effort.

“There are essentially two goals, one is the goal of preservation, to make sure that regardless of what happens to the physical copies, we have a digital version,” Matteson said. “The other is to make the environmental impact statements that we are digitizing widely available to everyone for research.”

With the help of four student assistants over the past two years, the team has catalogued and processed more than a third of the 1,400 EISs in the center鈥檚 collection. The EISs shed light on important environmental issues in the state, such as sea-level rise in Waik墨k墨 and the protection of the Hawaiian monk seal, one of the most endangered marine mammals in the world.

COVID-19 challenges

Many of the documents are themselves “endangered,” in that they are the only existing copies and are disintegrating from age. To digitize the materials, which vary widely in size and condition, Matteson and Bolduc formed a partnership with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) , which granted the student assistants use of an oversize document scanner and computers. However, due COVID-19 restrictions, the facility temporarily closed in March, and reopening plans remain uncertain.

Fortunately, the students had scanned a large number of documents before the pandemic, so they were able to compile and catalogue them from home throughout the spring and summer. The Department of History has since stepped up to provide access to its own scanner and a computer so that the project can continue.

Additional partnerships

Partnerships have been key to the project from the start. In addition to OHA, the Department of History, and the OEQC, which helped launch the project with combined grants of $20,000 in 2018–19, the project is collaborating with the at 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 Hamilton Library, where many of the physical copies of the EISs will eventually be housed. The project has also received logistical and financial support through a $15,000 grant from the , which will keep the project going through 2021.

View the documents

The documents that have been scanned and catalogued so far are . They offer insight into the vast range of development initiatives in the state since the 1970s and reveal how environmental decision-making has affected Hawaiʻi鈥檚 land, water, flora and fauna.

“There hasn鈥檛 really been one good way to get at the policy changes over the last 50 years,” Matteson said. “This is one way to provide that information.”

—By Marc Arakaki

Works by animation students in the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 were featured at a virtual film showcase, September 25–28. The (CAFF), hosted by the Honolulu Museum of Art Doris Duke Theatre, highlighted unique animated films based on diverse cultures.

Flight by senior Nalu McFadden-Rios and The Girl and the Kappa Monster by spring 2020 graduate Gavin Arucan were featured in a showcase of animated films for kids. Flight is about a young and lonely seagull who seeks friendship, but due to her inability to fly and concerns of leaving the safety of her buoy, she finds it difficult to meet others. However, after an encounter with a beluga whale, the seagull realizes that leaving her comfort zone leads to new friends.

The Girl and the Kappa Monster is about Hiriko, a lonely, young Japanese woman, who develops a close friendship with an injured kappa monster, but it takes a stronger grip on her life than she would like.

Pua ka uahi by Kalilinoe Detwiler, a current MA student in English and spring 2020 graduate in English and creative media, was spotlighted in CAFF鈥檚 opening night celebration, along with Arucan鈥檚 The Girl and the Kappa Monster. Detwiler鈥檚 film is about Pele, a young and hot-tempered volcano goddess, who has been challenged by Kamapuaʻa, a shapeshifting trickster in a race around Hawaiʻi Island.

“CAFF is a kaleidoscopic event that brings artists from around the world to Hawaiʻi and opens communication between these cultures,” Detwiler said. “It was a valuable opportunity for me and my fellow animators from Hawaiʻi to learn about stories outside of the Pacific as well as for filmmakers from all over, including Australia, Europe, and Asia to see Hawaiʻi-based films.”

Inspiring a new generation through culture

Detwiler was one of four panelists from Hawaiʻi, Australia and the Netherlands in a talk story session at the end of the opening night celebration. “Guided by Hope: Cultural Inspiration for a New Generation” was moderated by Cheng-Cheng Li, a 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 PhD student in political science and graduate degree fellow at the East-West Center.

The panelists discussed issues related to their own cultures. Detwiler conveyed that her film, Pua ka uahi, aimed to open a conversation about ethical indigenous storytelling practices when representing an indigenous culture on screen.

“I wanted young Native Hawaiians to see themselves on screen, to relate to these characters, to get the jokes and allusions, to hear their own language being spoken, and to know that their moʻolelo (story, legend and history) can go beyond Oceania by adapting culture to technology and new forms of communication,” Detwiler said. “My film isn’t unproblematic, but it is a series of careful choices and a step toward ethical indigenous storytelling through the practice of kuleana in the pre-production, production and post-production stages.”

Detwiler added, “When we seek to communicate our stories across cultures, we grow as individuals who must now make choices based on those audiences while also inviting them to learn about our culture and how it’s evolving.”

—By Marc Arakaki

The civil rights activist who co-founded the Black Lives Matter movement has been selected as an endowed chair at the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补. Alicia Garza, a special projects director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance and principal at the Black Futures Lab will headline a

The keynote address is named after Garza鈥檚 first book set to be published in October 2020. In 2013, her Facebook post after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin helped inspire the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. She assisted with the establishment of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, which has grown to include 40 chapters in four countries. Update: Garza made the TIME 100 list, along with her BLM co-founders, which was announced on September 22, 2020.

“Garza is today鈥檚 leader for a better tomorrow. She has led in the most challenging of eras, forcing us to address the uncompleted work of civil and human rights in our midst. I commend the selection committee for recruiting Alicia Garza—I am very much looking forward to learning from her and I know we will all be encouraged and inspired by her message and ongoing work,” said 糖心视频 law school Dean Camille Nelson.

Garza was selected to serve as the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals at 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 for fall 2020. She will be in virtual residence for the month of September, participating in a variety of events with students, faculty and local activists. The chair is hosted in the in the College of Arts and Humanities and the and was created to bring significant public figures to Hawaiʻi to foster public discourse regarding democratic ideals and civic engagement.

A new musical genre with a centuries-old sound is sweeping YouTube, and a professor is featuring it in her courses.

The trend called “bardcore” involves musicians transforming pop songs into a “medieval” style. It took off as people who like to play with music on their computers stayed home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Bardcore” has only been around for several months, but , one of the originators of the genre, have each received more than four million views.

糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 Assistant Professor Elina Hamilton, who specializes in medieval music, said it is common for music and art to reflect the medieval time period. Hamilton said examples include composers like Richard Wagner turning to medieval subjects for his operas; painters and artists, led by people like William Morris, were inspired from the plants and creatures featured in medieval manuscripts; and recent film series such as Harry Potter and The Hunger Games.

“The medieval world can be the otherworld escape that we long for when we want something different from the present,” Hamilton said. “Artists, and then consumers, might turn to the medieval period repeatedly because they are wanting to escape from a world that is less desirable, or just need something that reminds us of a long-standing tradition.”

糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 ‘bardcore’ course lessons

Although “bardcore” is a very new genre, Hamilton was quick to integrate it in her classes. She has already introduced an assignment in her MUS 265 course requiring students to find a popular song that they think could be turned into a medieval-style pop song.

“One of the aspects I try to reiterate with my students in class is that people were people in the Middle Ages, just like people are people today,” Hamilton said. “I know this seems obvious, but sometimes we forget this when we study history. When we observe the images they left behind, the music they thought was worth preserving, and stories they told and retold, we acknowledge that they had troubles and victories, and plenty of escapism too.”

Hamilton鈥檚 favorite cover is by , a song originally sung by Dolly Parton.

“I have always found the lyrics of this song somehow timeless, and enjoy the way that the arranger has changed the words to reflect an early modern English style that we think of as ‘ye olde,’” Hamilton said.

—By Mark Arakaki

Sixty-two students at the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 (ACM) and (LAVA) will showcase their works at , one of the largest and most prestigious annual conferences for computer graphics and interactive techniques.

Originally planned as an in-person event in Washington, D.C., the conference will be held virtually from August 17–28, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pieces were submitted by ACM Assistant Professors Brittany Biggs and Laura Margulies, and ACM and (ICS) Professor and LAVA Director Jason Leigh.

“ACM 惭腻苍辞补 is very proud of the accomplishments of the students in ACM/ICS,” ACM 惭腻苍辞补 Chair Christine Acham said. “The sheer number of projects that have been recognized also speaks to the mentorship of the professors Brittany Biggs and Laura Margulies as well as LAVA Lab Director Jason Leigh. As the program continues to grow, I look forward to celebrating their continuing accomplishments.”

“Conferences like SIGGRAPH are a great way to network and jumpstart careers,” Biggs said. “Being able to highlight that their work was showcased at SIGGRAPH is a significant accomplishment and one that will help their resumes stand out to recruiters and hiring managers.”

Showcased work

Pieces from three of Biggs鈥檚 courses will be highlighted at the conference. They included completed projects from a “minion style character” assignment, where students had to model, texture, rig and pose a minion-style character (a cylindrical shaped character with arms, legs and a face); a compilation of short 3D character animation performances that focused on a certain action while also exhibiting personality; and two short, animated films produced by group teams

“The most memorable piece for me from these assignments is witnessing the excitement students experience when creating something from nothing—whether it’s creating a digital environment from scratch, breathing life and personality into a digital character, or visually sharing a story they’ve only envisioned in their minds,” Biggs said.

Works from Margulies’s courses included a compilation of short 2D character animation performances that focused on a certain action or technique; and short, animated films that were experimental in nature, method, content, tone or presentation.

“These high quality works show strong personal and artistic visions,” Margulies said. “While the projects started with specific prompts, these students took the idea and grew them, following their own inner narrative. The creative pieces that resulted are original and surprising and bring something new to animation.”

Featured works from Leigh鈥檚 course involved working in teams to develop a multiplayer video game for a 20-foot tiled display wall with a resolution of 10K x 3K. Leigh said creating video games will not skip a beat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Developing video games is one of those things that is easy to do during a pandemic lockdown,” Leigh said. “You just need computers, imagination and some technical, artistic and musical skills. That鈥檚 what you get when you combine students from computer science, creative media and music together.”

—By Mark Arakaki

Stories from across the breadth of the Asian American diaspora are featured through a new online theatre series. The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa collaborated with the (CAATA) to launch a virtual monthly series featuring the work of Asian American artists and theatres from across the country on .

糖心视频 Mānoa was scheduled to host the 7th Annual Asian American Theater Festival and Conference (ConFest) Kuʻu ʻĀina, Kuʻu Piko, Kuʻu Kahua-Return to the Source in August but the COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to postpone until May 2021. Instead, 糖心视频 Mānoa Hawaiian Theatre Program Associate Professor Tammy Hailiʻōpua Baker launched the nine-episode on August 10 to highlight artists, topics and themes set to be featured in the upcoming festival.

“The curated monthly series is also a means to connect theatre artists, to begin conversations on issues that we face, and to amplify the efforts of Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latino/x, Middle Eastern and North African artists,” explained Baker.

Baker, who was featured in the series鈥� inaugural episode, previewed performances audiences can expect at the 2021 festival, which will include an excerpt of work by Hana Keaka, the Hawaiian Theatre Program at 糖心视频 Mānoa. Cast and crew from the program鈥檚 Hawaiian language play, ʻAuʻa ʻIa: Holding On, performed Off Broadway in New York City in January. The major accolade made 糖心视频 history. It was the first time a 糖心视频 Mānoa production had been selected to perform in the Big Apple.

• Related 糖心视频 News story: 糖心视频 Hawaiian language play invited to perform ‘Off Broadway,’ December 10, 2019

The virtual series鈥� first episode showcased interviews with three 糖心视频 Mānoa alumni selected as featured artists for the festival. Actors Kealiʻikeola Simpson, Moses Goods and Melissa Orozco Vargas shared their connection to ʻāina (land), piko (source) and kahua (foundation). Each is scheduled to present productions at ConFest 2021.

Monthly episodes will run through April 2021 in anticipation of ConFest and will include stories from Hawaiʻi, Egypt and Vietnam.

—By Moanikeʻala Nabarro

Education during the COVID-19 pandemic has changed drastically for both students and instructors. Here in Hawaiʻi, educators that teach on ʻāina (land)-based educational sites are coming together to share challenges and lessons learned. The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa American studies department has organized the Huakaʻi Education Initiative (HEI) and will host a two-part webinar series, “Planting Pilina Amidst a Pandemic” on July 16 and July 23.

The series is open to the public and . Leaders from various ʻāina organizations will be featured as panelists.

“We trust that participants in our series will be inspired by the deep relationships shared between our panelists and the ʻāina that they steward,” said Logan Narikawa, an American studies graduate assistant. “It is our wish that attendees will commit themselves to take care of ʻāina and nurture reciprocal relationships with organizations that manage ʻāina. We further hope that attendees will understand this dual commitment to be a way of clarifying our priorities in this moment of tremendous societal transformation.”

Panel 1: July 16, 11 a.m.–12p.m.

• Chanel Wong (Papahana Kuaola)
• Kaleo Wong (Kauluakalana)
• Maya Saffery (Kauluakalana)

Panel 2: July 23, 11 a.m.–12 p.m.

• Sayo Constantino (Mālama Loko Ea)
• Noʻeau Peralto (Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili)
• Andre Perez (Hanakēhau Learning Farm)

During the 2020–21 academic year, the Huakaʻi Education Initiative funded by the 糖心视频 Mānoa Strategic Investment Competition will reorganize a large, undergraduate lecture class around students鈥� relationships to ʻāina and build relationships with ʻāina-based educational sites across Oʻahu.

—By Moanikeʻala Nabarro

A collaboration that was fostered at the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 more than a year ago resulted in groundbreaking guidance on artificial intelligence (AI) surrounding areas of indigenous concern.

The Indigenous Protocol and Artificial Intelligence (IP AI) working group, comprised of more than 30 participants from diverse communities in Aotearoa, Australia, North America and the Pacific, released offering numerous ideas to consider when prioritizing indigenous perspectives in developing AI and suggesting ethical approaches to advanced computational systems.

“The position paper is rooted in multiple contexts, histories, languages and lands,” said Noelani Arista, associate professor and one of the group organizers. “It allows readers to see that while indigenous approaches are related, the knowledge that arises from different places have much to contribute to the discussion in their specificity. Native, indigenous, these catch-all descriptors are necessary where useful, but there is no one-size fits all indigeneity.”

Position paper details

The IP AI position paper features three pages of guidelines for indigenous-centered AI design. The recommendations provide a description of the issues that participants agreed were most important when building AI systems. Leaders also said the document has a broader reach for policy makers and technology developers who seek to better understand and develop ethical AI systems.

The remainder of the paper describes indigenous knowledge systems and technological practices. The diverse collection of texts include design guidelines, scholarly essays, art, descriptions of technology prototypes and poetry.

“I am most proud of the work we did in the prototyping group as we had a production manager, engineers and language and knowledge keepers from M膩ori, Kanaka Maoli, Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Gadigal and Dunghutti nations, who worked on the theory and design for an image recognition application that we actually produced,” Arista said. “Getting to work together, eat together, go beach together became the basis for good relations and the foundation of our work.”

Bridging cultures

A majority of the discussions took place during two workshops at 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 from March 1–2, and May 26–June 2, 2019. Arista and 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 political science PhD student Michelle Lee Brown organized the sessions along with several others. Participants came from diverse communities and most practice indigenous culture and digital technologies.

“These conversations have transformed my work as a historian because I think now about the archives, how we might organize and build its future digital bodies, and where Hawaiian knowledge will go in the future,” Arista said. “I was energized by meeting other indigenous people from the Pacific and U.S. whose work is very different from my own but who have projects that can inform my work.”

Arista added, “what was memorable was to foster a working group where people could let down their guard and not have to explain or educate all the time. A memorable moment was when we realized that we had that freedom to get on with our work without the burden.”

Other workshop participants included Jason Leigh, professor; Ty K膩wika Tengan, and associate professor; Kaipulaumakaniolono Baker, a 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 student; Kari Noe, a 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 information and computer sciences student; and Isaac ʻIkaʻaka Nahuewai, a 糖心视频 Hilo student.

Nahuewai will also be translating the position paper into ʻ艒濒别濒辞 Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language), which will be available in fall 2020.

—By Marc Arakaki

A book detailing Native Hawaiians鈥� experience with colonialism in the 19th century won a first place award by a leading international scholarly organization on indigenous issues.

University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 Associate Professor Noelani Arista鈥檚 was the winner of the Best 2019 First Book in Native American and Indigenous Studies Prize by the (NAISA).

“I hope this award inspires Hawaiian students to become more interested in history, and to think that they can do what I am doing,” Arista said. “I think this award shows that Hawaiian history has a lot to offer scholars everywhere, not just those studying Hawaiʻi or indigenous history.”

Documenting historical records

Arista combed through Hawaiian language documents to recount the history of the encounter between Hawaiian and non-native people in the 19th century. The book addresses political formation, indigenous law and encounters with missionaries and traders. Arista鈥檚 research involved travel to archives in Massachusetts and England.

“People find this astonishing, but an easy way to think about the archives needed to write Hawaiian history is to recall Hawaiʻi鈥檚 connections through trade, religion, family and labor,” Arista said. “Everywhere there was a connection to Hawaiʻi through these things—chances are there is an archive there.”

Research sources Arista utilized in Hawaiʻi were the and the . Arista said the largest textual collection in an indigenous language in North America and the Pacific is written and published in the Hawaiian language, and located in multiple U.S. archive sites.

“Most people assume that natives learn history from an ‘oral tradition,’ that we can only speak to our elders to learn, as if interviewing people constitutes the transfer of knowledge,” Arista said. “But in Hawaiʻi, we have the luxury of having some manaleo (native speakers), elders, who do not speak the language, and a huge textual archive.”

Arista said one of the most interesting things to focus on was correspondence between Hawaiians writing to one another, which is often sidelined in favor of accounts only in the English language.

“I also was surprised by the history I was able to relate when I put together pieces of the record, Hawaiian language sources written by Hawaiians to each other, sources which are often overlooked—together with the sources written in Hawaiian and English by non-native people,” Arista said. “This approach revealed the complexity of the past, rather than focusing on just a ‘perspective’ or different ‘accounts,’ but histories unfolding in worlds that were really just meeting for the first time.”

Reaction to the book

Shana Brown, associate professor and Department of History chair said, “Dr. Noelani Arista鈥檚 work is a transformative intervention in both Hawaiian and U.S. history. Her work challenges the idea of Hawaiʻi as passively impacted by U.S. law and institutions, instead offering a counternarrative of sophisticated and robust consensus-based political practice. She illuminates the historical legacy of the Hawaiian Kingdom as one of indigenous modernization, cultural flourishing and legal sophistication.”

The NAISA awards committee called Arista鈥檚 book “a rich history that draws extensively on previously unused Hawaiian language sources and the interpretation of cultural modes of political and legal speech. Arista offers a compelling new story of how Native Hawaiians exerted political influence and Indigenous law in the 19th century in response to colonial missions and markets.”

—By Marc Arakaki

Four University of Hawaiʻi media students showcased their works in front of a national audience.

Films by 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 (ACM) spring 2020 graduates Gavin Arucan and Suky Zhao, and Kapiʻolani Community College (NMA) students Hannah Woodward and Raleigh Harris, were selected for the , hosted by the Animation Educator鈥檚 Forum.

“ACM is very proud of the films created by Gavin and Suky,鈥� said Christine Acham, ACM 惭腻苍辞补 chair. “As seniors, they were an important part of the 2020 animation cohort. The acceptance of their films into this competitive showcase is symbolic of the bright future that lies ahead for these graduates.”

“I’m proud to say that Kapiʻolani‘s New Media Arts program is a part of this international showcase,” said Adam Moura, Kapiʻolani CC鈥檚 NMA coordinator and assistant professor. “It shines a light on the dedication and talent of our students.”

Midnight Showing

Arucan鈥檚 film Midnight Showing is a horror/comedy short about an exhausted movie theater usher who is tormented by a phantom haunting his workplace. Arucan called it one of the most ambitious projects at ACM 惭腻苍辞补 due to its 10-minute duration and use of mixed media such as stop motion animation. He said stress levels were high, but the crew of approximately 20 people was able to complete the film on time.

“With a lot of film festivals being postponed or done virtually due to the pandemic, I’m glad that this showcase got put together to feature student work,” Arucan said. “I was afraid our film wouldn’t be getting the same attention it might get in any other year.”

Since graduating, Arucan has been working on perfecting his capstone films. He is also beginning freelance animation director jobs and sharpening his skills to pursue a story art job in the TV animation industry.

Poked

Zhao鈥檚 film Poked is about a “clumsy, quirky aloe plant” in a flower shop that wants to be sold to find a forever home. However, when it meets a cactus plant in the shop, it learns “that dreams are best achieved when done with a companion.”

“Being able to see my work alongside the works of such talented animators from both our animation department and other schools in the 2020 Animation Virtual Showcase is nerve-wracking,” Zhao said. “But I’m grateful to Professor Brittany Biggs for giving me and all my crew members/animators this opportunity.”

Zhao said there were some challenges during the production process but credits her production manager and other animators who persevered and got the job done. Since graduating, Zhao has worked on animating sequences for two documentaries and background art for another animated film.

Frog Birthday

Woodward, a Kapiʻolani CC New Media Arts major with a concentration in animation, loves creating whimsical and fantasy worlds. Frog Birthday started from a vision of what a birthday party for a frog would look like. It was inspired by concepts and illustrations from Alice in Wonderland. Woodward said all of the different moving parts and animations keep the film interesting and unpredictable.

“Collecting all of the textures and assets took a bit of time,” Woodward said. “Trying to find the right image and then editing it to fit the scene was a large part of this project. Each scene file has about 100 layers of images and textures to get everything to look just right.”

Up in Smoke

Based on the style of a 1920s black and white cartoon, Up in Smoke is an anti-vaping PSA that mimics old commercials promoting smoking as a healthy behavior. Harris said the implication was that the claims that vaping is healthy and safe may be false in the future. The film features two classic cartoon characters selling a vintage-style vaping device in a tongue-in-cheek manner. In addition to being selected for the Class of 2020 Animation Virtual Showcase, Up in Smoke was nominated for an ADDY award presented by the American Advertising Federation.

“I was pretty surprised, I wasn’t expecting it to go as far as it had but I’m glad that people are enjoying it,” Harris said. “The hardest part was learning how old cartoons were styled and trying to match their animation to make the film look as authentic to the 1920s look as possible.”

—By Marc Arakaki

The University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 is merging the College of Arts & Humanities (AH), College of Languages, Linguistics & Literature and the School of Pacific and Asian Studies into a single college named the College of Arts, Languages & Letters (CALL), effective July 1. The goal is to reinvigorate the liberal arts at 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 with a focus on Asia and the Pacific, for which 糖心视频 is internationally known. The collective resources of the new college will create more opportunities for students and faculty by facilitating stronger interdisciplinary collaboration while attracting more students and enabling financial stability. Current AH Dean Peter Arnade will be the dean of the new college.

“We anticipate that increased faculty collaboration under the leadership of a single dean will enable more flexible engagement of faculty, for example in teaching the culture, history and language of a region,” said 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 Provost Michael Bruno in the merger action memo to 糖心视频 President David Lassner. “It will inspire stronger cohesiveness across language, literature and culture and enhance cross-disciplinary scholarship and studies to attract more students to CALL‘s academic offerings and better prepare those students for the requirements and challenges they will face as global citizens.”

Consultation with stakeholders on the merger began in October 2018 and included faculty and department chairs from the affected units, the 惭腻苍辞补 Faculty Senate and unions. After continuous discussions, the consultation led to an updated plan that includes retaining the School of Pacific and Asian Studies as a school within the new college and retaining Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures as a department.

In approving the recommendation from Provost Bruno, 糖心视频 President David Lassner stated that “this reorganization will strengthen the ability of the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 to advance our unique mission, especially in light of the financial challenges now before us.”

The new college is the latest step in the ongoing discussions regarding the reorganization of the 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 that began in 2016. It follows the merger of the School of Travel Industry Management and the Shidler College of Business in August 2019, the creation of the 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 Provost position and recombination of the 糖心视频 President and 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 Chancellor positions approved in April 2019, and the integrated coordination of administrative services between the campus and system.

will further refine and sharpen the mission, leadership, and functions of the various support units primarily reporting to the 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 Provost. The formal consultation on that phase will begin in fall 2020 with a goal of implementation beginning in January 2021.

“It鈥檚 a longer battle than we really understand,” Michael Bennett said addressing the fight to end racism and the Black Lives Matter movement in the aftermath of George Floyd鈥檚 death.

The author, humanitarian and NFL Super Bowl champion was the featured panelist in a virtual forum on June 17. Reclaiming Humanity: Racism, Violence, Resistance, Love was moderated by Associate Professor Robert Perkinson.

Bennett has a growing connection to 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补. He co-taught AMST 440 with Perkinson in spring 2020 and served as the spring 2019 commencement speaker, while still an active player in the NFL.

Bennett is also the author of the New York Times bestselling book, Things That Make White People Uncomfortable. He said he felt a need to speak out long before becoming one of the first NFL players who joined in the national anthem protests before games.

“My first reaction was just as a human being, what is it that I see when I see a person losing their life and how am I connected to that even though I鈥檓 distant and this may not be my relative,” Bennett said. “My experiences being involved visiting families who were suffering from police brutality or suffering from injustices around the world was there was a certain empathy that creates a certain anger towards you.”

Charitable work

As the co-founder of the Bennett Foundation, which promotes health and nutrition in underserved and minority communities, he constantly sees these issues on a daily basis and turns to his spirituality to keep from getting overburdened.

“It鈥檚 overwhelming to walk into some of these rooms and really feel the anger and really feel the pain of the families…your spirit has to be right,” Bennett said.

“Bennett is amazing,” Perkinson said. “He鈥檚 a star athlete, a Super Bowl champion. He鈥檚 also a best-selling author, an activist and a deep thinker on a range of issues, from food justice to Native Hawaiian rights. In the classroom, he鈥檚 a compelling, dynamic, thoughtful teacher. The students really liked him.”

Panel members

Joining Bennett on the panel were Akiemi Glenn, a 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 PhD and MA in graduate, and the founder and executive director of the P艒polo Project; and Ken Lawson, faculty specialist and co-director of the Hawaiʻi Innocence Project.

“Now, it鈥檚 socially acceptable to have a radical idea,” Bennett said. “Before, to have a radical idea, you were kind of an outlier, kind of standing alone in this open forum. But now, everybody鈥檚 there because now companies are buying into it and everybody is seeing the importance of Black lives.”

See the entire conversation on the .

—By Marc Arakaki

“A celebration of a person’s 100th birthday is not unusual when a person reaches that milestone in life; however for me, though I never expected to reach it, the year 2020 is more important as the 70th anniversary of my moving to Hawaiʻi, and even more important as the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the MA degree in Music with concentration in Ethnomusicology. I deeply appreciate the extensive celebration of my 100th birthday.” —Barbara B. Smith

A pioneer for cultural diversity for the and the state, who has championed the music and dance of Hawaiʻi, the greater Pacific and Asia, Professor Emerita of Music Barbara Barnard Smith will celebrate her 100th birthday on June 10.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, a year-long celebration honoring Smith and her contributions and achievements included a series of concerts, museum exhibitions and an international symposium, The Barbara B. Smith Conference on Ethnomusicology. The conference, which coincided with her 100th birthday, has shifted to webinars on Zoom. All other canceled events may be rescheduled to a later date.

Smith, fondly known as “Miss Smith” to her students, immersed herself in the music of Asia and the Pacific, and advocated for its integration into the music department. She established and developed the internationally-recognized at 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补, whose graduates also became advocates in culture and the arts throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. Among Smith鈥檚 earliest students were Herbert Ohta (Ohta-san) and Eddie Kamae, both recognized artists in the Hawaiian music industry.

In memoriam: Barbara Smith, ethnomusicology program founder
—July 3, 2021

While Smith retired from full-time teaching at 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 in 1982, she remained engaged with the department and university through her fieldwork, advocacy for research and as a mentor to international graduate students. Her relentless dedication and commitment was evident as she continued to mentor dissertation students, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Barbara Smith is one of the true treasures of Hawaiʻi and our university,” said 糖心视频 President David Lassner. “She is both a highly-recognized academic and an engaged community member with a remarkable generosity of spirit. Her impact throughout Hawaiʻi and the Asia Pacific region, and on the thousands of people she has has touched directly and indirectly, cannot be measured.”

Making an early impact

Smith, who had earned her master’s degree in Music Literature at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., came to Hawaiʻi in 1949 to help develop the 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 . The California native was hired to teach piano and music theory for the department in its infancy.

She was immediately interested in her students as people and their ethnic backgrounds, and was also impressed with how eagerly they were learning what she was teaching them. However, Smith came to realize that it was contributing to their problems of self-esteem because what they were learning at the university was limited to Euro-American culture. While they did not criticize her for it, she felt she was contributing to their problem.

That triggered Smith to push for a course that would acknowledge the artistic validity of the music of her students鈥� heritages. However, she could not find anyone willing to develop such a course. Rather than returning to the continental U.S. to look for other job prospects and “feel guilty for the rest of my life for failing to meet the deeply felt needs of those who had come to trust me, I devoted myself to trying to learn enough to teach an introductory course about their music. I have never regretted my decision to stay,” explained Smith.

She began to learn to perform the music of various ethnicities. Then she introduced classes in hula and Hawaiian chant, Korean dance, Chinese butterfly harp and Japanese gagaku (court music) at the music department. When the (EWC) was established in the 1960s to bring together people of the U.S., Asia and the Pacific to research and study in Hawaiʻi, Smith recommended that EWC and 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 could learn from visiting scholars and performances of world music, dance and theater.

These seeds blossomed into the master鈥檚 and doctorate programs in ethnomusicology at 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 that emphasize learning from “living cultures” in Hawaiʻi and the surrounding Asia Pacific region.

Students sing her praises

The program developed through the years with the help of one of Smith鈥檚 former students and now a professor emeritus of ethnomusicology and , Ricardo Trimillos.

“Barbara has been a valuable mentor, a wonderful colleague and a good friend,” said Trimillos. “It has been a joy to see a vision of ethnomusicology flourish in Hawaiʻi built upon her two ‘pillars’: a commitment to intellectual rigor and a respect for artists and their communities.”

For Terry Liu, the program built a foundation for a successful career in the arts. The former executive director of the Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance and administrator for the National Endowment for the Arts, said “The ethnomusicology program at 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补, a rainbow bridge to m膩lamalama, lit my path in life.”

Smith was a mentor to many students, including Patricia Dunn. A student at 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 in the 70s, Dunn accepted an invitation from a friend to take a new Javanese dance and music lecture class, which made her “fall through the looking glass.”

Miss Smith鈥檚 gift was more than the pedagogy of learning music and dance but one of opening up the world…
—Patricia Dunn

Dunn, who now serves as an undergraduate student advisor in the Asian studies program, credits Smith for her vision and desire to have her student鈥檚 ethnic roots reflected in the curriculum.

“Miss Smith鈥檚 gift was more than the pedagogy of learning music and dance but one of opening up the world to a girl born and raised just over the hill in the next valley over,” she said. “She instilled a curiosity and appreciation for the cultures the world could offer and an understanding of what made us unique and yet also the same.”

Another of Smith鈥檚 students was Dean R. Anderson Sutton, who pursued his MA in ethnomusicology starting in 1971. With an interest in the music of Asia, he had heard from his undergraduate professors the praises of Barbara Smith and the 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 program that she founded.

“Knowing I had been introduced to Asian music at Wesleyan, where the emphasis had been primarily on performance, she looked me squarely in the eye, smiling, and said, ‘Here at 糖心视频 we put more emphasis on the ‘ology’ in ethnomusicology,’“ Sutton said of his first encounter with Smith. “All of the graduate students in the program soon learned that she was a demanding teacher, with high standards: no tolerance for sloppy writing or superficial research, nor for anyone who did not treat with respect the musicians with whom they studied.”

Sutton added, “We learned by her example to prioritize ethics in our encounters and clarity and consistency in our writing. For that guidance I remain very grateful.”

Chiao-Wen Chiang is a PhD student and fellowship recipient in the ethnomusicology program. Chiang recalled Smith recently joined a two-hour thesis defense held via Zoom due to COVID-19. “She sat through the entire session and provided comments,” she said. “I’m very impressed with her energy and enthusiasm for learning, and for continuously showing her support to students, the program and the field. Prof. Smith and her Aloha spirit inspire me profoundly.”

A pioneer of music and cultural diversity

As a woman and an academic, Smith can be credited with a number of firsts. She was the first 糖心视频 professor to study the music of Asia and the Pacific. She was the first woman and non-Japanese person to drum for local Bon Dance observances as a member of the Iwakuni tradition. She was the only non-Japanese person to be accepted by the Japanese koto (zither) master Michio Miyagi as a student. She produced the first performance instructional film for hula, with kumu hula Eleanor Hiram demonstrating the mele “Ula no Weo.” She released the first long play recording ever of an extended performance of the Korean classical music genre sanjo, performed by kayakeum (zither) virtuoso Hwang Byong-ki. She was the first American and the first woman to undertake field research and the collection of music in the various regions of Micronesia in the 1960s and 70s.

Beyond her contributions to the university, Smith has been a role model for cultural citizenship. At EWC where she maintains an active interest in the arts program, she planned and developed short-term training courses for mid-career cultural workers from Asia and the Pacific in arts development and management. In 1961, she organized court testimony to protect the Hawaiian musical instrument ʻulīʻulī from being exploited by a foreign businessman. She has supported cultural and education projects for the Bishop Museum, the Honolulu Museum of Art and the former Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. Perhaps her most significant contribution to the Hawaiʻi cultural community is as editor for the completion of The Queen鈥檚 Songbook, an annotated anthology of the compositions by Queen Liliʻuokalani. Smith has continued to be a supporter of projects in ethnomusicology, contemporary music and Asia Pacific cultural performance but humbly takes no credit and insists her generous donations remain anonymous.

Among her many accolades are earning the distinction as a “living treasure” from the 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 ; being recognized as a “pioneer” by a resolution of the Honolulu City Council; the 2018 Hawaiʻi Arts Alliance Alfred Preis Honor; and the Governor鈥檚 Award for the preservation of Hawaiian Language, Art and Culture.

Smith has left a lasting impact on those she has taught and touched at 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 and in the state of Hawaiʻi, which she has proudly called her home since arriving some 70 years ago.

Sutton鈥檚 sentiments are undoubtedly shared among the many students fortunate to have been under Smith guidance. “(Due to) the ongoing legacy of the program she built and has actively sustained, even long after her official retirement, music at 糖心视频 and in the wider community would not be what it is today without her efforts. Mahalo nui loa, Professor Emerita Barbara B. Smith!”

Email for more information on the 2020 Barbara B. Smith Webinar Series: A Legacy for Ethnomusicology.

—By Arlene Abiang

Lisette Marie Flanary鈥檚 documentary could be headed for the Oscars. But, the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 (ACM) associate professor is taking it one step at a time.

贵濒补苍补谤测鈥檚 Tokyo Hula follows the daily lives of hula teachers and students in Japan as they overcome struggles and challenges of practicing a cultural art form in a foreign country.

It was selected from thousands of films to be showcased at three festivals this summer, including an Oscar-qualifying film festival in New Zealand. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of an in-person event, the will be showcased online from June 5–July 12. Tickets will be available for purchase by viewers only in New Zealand. The Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will then select the Oscar nominees from a list of winners from qualifying festivals around the world, including Doc Edge.

“I鈥檓 just really happy to be screening my film in such a prestigious festival and honestly, I am not hoping to win an award or be shortlisted for the Oscars but am much more excited to be able to screen the film with audiences in Aotearoa,” Flanary said.

The film will also be featured virtually at the in June and a tentatively scheduled in-person on Hawaiʻi Island in July where the film is nominated for best feature film with winners selected by the Hawaiʻi Film Critics Society.

Tokyo Hula is the third film in a trilogy of documentaries detailing how hula traditions have evolved. Flanary, a lifelong hula dancer, said while producing the film, she was surprised at how many people were practicing hula in Japan.

“When I first started filming in Tokyo, there were estimates of 400,000–500,000 people dancing hula in Japan,” Flanary said. “Today, there are between 1–2 million people dancing hula in Japan and the numbers and interest only seems to continue to grow.”

“As a filmmaker, one of the most interesting things that I shot was a woman who teaches workshops on how to do exercises to work on perfecting a great smile for dancing hula. I had never really thought about what goes into a smile before in such detail but it was fascinating to find that one of the cultural challenges for Japanese hula students is working on a natural smile that is not necessarily something that is very common in everyday life in Japan.”

Previous accolades

Flanary had a whirlwind 2019 and early 2020. Tokyo Hula was selected for the in October 2019. However, due to Typhoon Hagibis, all flights were canceled and Flanary conducted Q and A sessions virtually.

Then, the film was featured in the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival in November 2019 and the (FIFO) in Tahiti in February 2020. However, due to COVID-19, Flanary never imagined her trip to FIFO was going to be her last in-person screening on the documentary for a while.

“Once we all were given stay at home orders and the world began experiencing lockdowns, all film festivals that the film had been accepted into were postponed—or in some cases canceled,” Flanary said. “It was really heartbreaking but I am still hopeful that there will be opportunities and new ways to share the film with people.”

ACM 惭腻苍辞补 Chair Christine Acham said “The ACM faculty and staff were there to see Tokyo Hula premiere at the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival at two sold out screenings. Therefore, we were very excited, but not surprised to learn of Professor 贵濒补苍补谤测鈥檚 acceptance into the Doc Edge, Made in Hawaiʻi and Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festivals. Lisette has put in tremendous effort to see her project to fruition and it is wonderful that festivals worldwide are acknowledging her talent. Lisette鈥檚 accomplishments are a great reflection on ACM; she is an inspiration to her students.”

—By Marc Arakaki