With an infusion of Native Hawaiian values, UH Hilo set to host international conference on the humanities
From the planning committee to the plenary speakers — all from the UH Hilo ʻohana — the international conference is infused with the university’s values as a multicultural, community-building, and Indigenous-serving academic institution.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo will be hosting an international conference June 25-27 focusing on multicultural approaches to the humanities with particular attention to the Pacific region. The annual conference was founded in 2003 by the New Directions in the Humanities Research Network, each year attracting scholars and students from around the world through their “common interest in established traditions in the humanities while at the same time developing innovative practices and setting a renewed agenda for their future.”
Patsy Iwasaki, a UH Hilo assistant professor of English and local conference chair of the event, says the event’s theme, “Oceanic Journeys: Multicultural Approaches in the Humanities,” will bring together an “impressive and wonderful group of faculty and scholars from across the globe.”
“This conference is a perfect synergy with UH Hilo’s campus and mission, offering an excellent opportunity to showcase our unique strengths as a multicultural, community-building and Indigenous-serving academic institution,” says Iwasaki.
Previous New Directions conferences have been held at large institutions like Sapienza University in Rome with an enrollment of 104,000 in 2024, and the Sorbonne University in Paris with 55,000 enrollment in 2023. “Can you believe that?” Iwasaki writes in an email. “Doesn’t that seem like the bumper sticker that was popular in Hilo some years ago: London, Paris, Rome and Hilo?!”
Pelehonuamea Harman, UH Hilo’s director of Native Hawaiian Engagement, will be giving a welcome address at the opening session as will Iwasaki; Rodney Jubilado, chair of the Division of Humanities, will also deliver remarks. All four plenary speakers, described as “some of the world’s leading thinkers and innovators in the field,” are also members of the UH Hilo ʻohana: Professor Emeritus of Drama Jacquelyn Pualani Johnson (bio), Assistant Professor of Education Clint Anderson (bio), former Associate Professor of Education Manu Meyer (bio) who is now Director of Indigenous Education at UH West Oʻahu, and Professor of Physics and Astronomy Marianne Takamiya (bio).
Here’s an example of what to expect at the culturally-infused humanities conference:
From planning to programming, an international conference that reflects the values of UH Hilo and its island home
The conference’s steering committee is packed with the expertise of UH Hilo faculty. Along with Iwasaki and Anderson, members are Associate Professor of English Leanne Day, Lecturer of Hawaiian Studies Dane “Malu” Dudoit, Associate Professor of English Francis Dumanig, Instructor of Biology Jenni Guillen, Director of Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center Rachel Hualani Loo, Assistant Professor of Communication Colby Miyose, Professor of English Kirsten Møllegaard, Associate Professor of Communication Rayna Morel, and Lecturer of English Kimberly Russell.
Møllegaard, who along with classic English literature and rhetoric courses also designs and teaches culturally sensitive curriculum through an interdisciplinary course on kuleana (responsibility) and community, is coordinating the pre-conference morning tour to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. In her plans for the conference activity, she draws on her holistic approach to teaching that ensures student success through cultivating a strong sense of community.
“To me, two key elements stand out in this process,” says Møllegaard about her approach to the excursion. “One, to respect, honor, and learn about Hawaiʻi as place through community-based mālama ʻāina (taking care of the land) activities. And two, to build meaningful connections to specific places by exploring wahi pana (storied places) on the island.”
UH Hilo Hawaiian cultural practitioner Dudoit, along with the UH Hilo Kīpaepae Executive Committee, will oversee the kīpaepae (literally meaning steps for entering a house), a traditional Hawaiian welcome ceremony conducted at the start of an event. Anchored in ancient traditions, the kīpaepae will focus attention on UH Hilo as a Hawaiian place of learning, reflecting Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Ao, the UH System’s commitment to be a leader in Indigenous higher education.
To further infuse the conference with Native Hawaiian culture, Dudoit and Loo will be facilitating the hands-on activities of the university’s Uluākea program that immerse faculty from UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College in culturally grounded experiences that teach Hawaiian values and can then be introduced into each faculty’s own curriculum. English lecturer Russell, who is a member of the 2024-2025 Uluākea cohort, will assist with the workshops.
“We wanted to offer conference participants experiences in various cultural practices and art forms to engage in while they are here in Hawaiʻi,” says Dudoit about the planned workshops on ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) and hula, lei making, the cultural art of lau kāpala (printed design), and hei (traditional string art akin to cat’s cradle). “We are excited to facilitate a space of learning on each of the workshop days and share just a piece of who we are with those visiting us.”
Communication associate professor Morel notes the workshops provide unique, hands-on opportunities to immerse conference participants in Native Hawaiian cultural practices. “Rooted in tradition and history, they offer deep engagement and direct facilitation with Hawaiian cultural practitioners,” she says.
In a special collaboration, English professor Day is working with UH Mānoa Professor of Fashion Design and Merchandising Andrew Reilly to bring a vibrant exhibit of aloha wear from the UH Mānoa Historic Fashion Collection to the UH Hilo Mookini Library.
“We are thrilled to be able to showcase vintage Hawaiʻi fashion as part of the conference. I am excited how the exhibit indexes Hawaiʻi’s history and helps center how fashion is a critical site of reckoning with settler colonialism, immigration, and tourism,” says Day, whose literature courses often cover the same reckoning.
The fashion collection — featuring iconic aloha shirts, elegant holoku (seamed dress with a yoke and usually with a train, patterned after the Mother Hubbards of the missionaries), and comfortable muʻumuʻu (loose gown originally without a yoke) — will offer conference participants a rich cultural and visual experience to enhance their time on campus.
Reilly also will be presenting his research in a session titled, “Sustaining Kānaka Maoli Values in Fashion.”
Opportunities for UH Hilo students
Each New Directions conference includes a cohort of university students, each student the recipient of an Emerging Scholar Award that grants waivers on conference registration and offers network membership and opportunities for publishing. At the conference, the students gain professional development through direct engagement with field experts, interaction with international scholars, and opportunities to build networks and connections.
Several UH Hilo students are in-person recipients of the award this year and will be participating in the conference:
- Xailea Anderson-Iopa (English and Administrative Justice, certificate in Creative Writing)
- Alfred Evangelista, Jr (Business Administration)
- Hoolaokealoha Higuchi-Simmons (English)
- Hayate Moro (Finance)
- Kealiʻi Rapozo (Communication)
- Jun Reyes (English, certificate in Creative Writing)
- Sharmin Zaman (Computer Science, minor in English)
(See bios for each student in the list.)
“These Emerging Scholars play a vital role in the conference, moderating conference sessions, leading stimulating discussions and chairing parallel sessions, and are further supported with a dedicated publication pathway for their research,” says Iwasaki.
UH Hilo communication assistant professor Miyose will be working with and coaching the Emerging Scholars with public speaking opportunities during the conference. “This conference offers an immersive and expansive experience for our emerging scholars in helping to develop their professionalism and robust scholarship,” he says.
Opportunities for faculty
Iwasaki says it’s extremely exciting to have the conference held at UH Hilo. Previous New Directions conferences she’s attended abroad have brought her incredible opportunities to connect with, and now collaborate with, faculty and scholars from places such as Japan, Spain, India, and Belgium, “leading to impactful networking and exciting teaching and digital humanities projects.” She knows the same type of professional enrichment will happen for her UH Hilo colleagues and all attendees at the June event.
5/9/2025: Post updated with changes in welcome remarks speakers.
6/18/2025: Post updated with changes in Emerging Scholars list.
8/18/2025: Post edited with change to Emerging Scholars list.
Story by Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
