Acclaimed novelist Gina Apostol will be in residency at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa this spring semester as the .

Novels birth characters and impart ideas; however Apostol, an award-winning author, argues that they also build nations, as well as resistance within them. Using the Philippines and U.S. as case studies, she argues that novels have shaped national cultures while seeking to broaden the meanings of democracy and to hold the nations to their revolutionary promises.

“Having Gina Apostol here as our spring 2024 Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals provides us with an opportunity to honor the legacy of Dan and Maggie Inouye and to showcase how the creative arts both respond to and shape the civil and civic spheres,” said Peter Arnade, dean of the UH Mānoa .

During her residency at UH Mānoa, Apostol will teach a semester-long American studies graduate research seminar on “Narration and Nation.” Apostol will also meet with students, faculty and the broader community in a series of free public events.

• Brown Bag colloquium “Writing A Novel About My Mother: What the Hell Was I Thinking?” February 8, 12–1:15 p.m., Kuykendall Hall 410.
• Keynote Address “No Democracy Left Behind: On Novels, Nation, and Resistance,” February 22, 6:30 p.m., UH Mānoa Art Auditorium. .
• Colloquium sponsored by American Studies, Ethnic Studies, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: “Women in War: Bodies and Minds as Sites of Resistance in Novels,” March 8, 12–1:15 p.m., Kuykendall Hall 306.
• Panelist at Project 1898 initiative, April 13–14 (time and location to be determined)

Apostol has written five novels, among them Insurrecto and La Tercera. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books and Washington Post. She has been awarded the Rome Prize, the PEN/Open Book Award, and two Philippine National Book Awards.

Inouye chair

The Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals program brings prominent scholars, artists and public intellectuals to �鶹��ý to share their life experiences and foster public discourse regarding democratic ideals and civic engagement. Established in 2005 by the UH Board of Regents, the Inouye chair is administered jointly by the in the College of Arts, Languages and Letters and the .

For further information, contact Elizabeth Colwill of UH Mānoa Department of American Studies at colwill@hawaii.edu.

Acclaimed political and cultural historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat will be in residency at the this spring semester as the .

Drawing upon decades of scholarship, Ben-Ghiat is a history and Italian studies professor at New York University, a Guggenheim fellow and advisor to Protect Democracy. She is also an MSNBC columnist and regular contributor to CNN and The Washington Post. Her latest book, Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, looks at how illiberal leaders use propaganda, corruption, violence and machismo—and how they can be overcome.

“Having Dr. Ben-Ghiat here as our Spring 2023 Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals provides an opportunity to consider the surge in illiberal and authoritarian political currents across the globe from our unique vantage point of �鶹��ý and the broader Pacific,” said Peter Arnade, dean of the UH ����ԴDz� .

During her residency at UH ����ԴDz�, Ben-Ghiat will meet with students, faculty and the broader community in a series of free public events.

• Community conversation with East-West Center President Suzanne Vares-Lum, March 1, 6 p.m., Church of the Crossroads
• Keynote Address “Strongmen: How illiberal leaders consolidate power and how they can be defeated,” March 2, 6:30 p.m., UH ����ԴDz� Art Auditorium. Please register for the event here.

The Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals brings prominent scholars, artists and public intellectuals to Hawai‘i to share their life experiences and foster public discourse regarding democratic ideals and civic engagement. The Inouye chair is administered jointly by the in the College of Arts, Languages and Letters and the .

• Related UH News story: Activist, author, journalist Helen Zia to co-teach as Inouye chair, January 11, 2022

Sponsored in part by the UH , a joint venture of UH ����ԴDz�, �鶹��ý Community Foundation and Kamehameha Schools. Established in 2005 by the UH Board of Regents.

For further information, contact Noelle Kahanu of UH ����ԴDz� American Studies at nmkahanu@hawaii.edu.

Leading expert in family law, constitutional law, and reproductive rights and justice, Melissa Murray has been selected as the at the for fall 2022. Murray will headline a presentation titled “Unpacking the Court: What Does a Conservative Super-majority Mean for the Court and America?” on October 19 at noon HST via Zoom.

The event is open to the public. .

“Melissa Murray is a trailblazer who is transforming both the legal and public discourse on the structures and systems that shape our intimate lives. Her path-forging work at the intersection of gender, race and law exposes how legal institutions can imperil—as well as bolster—our most cherished rights,” said UH Mānoa Dean Camille Nelson, who will moderate Murray’s presentation.

Read more about past Dan and Maggie Inouye chairs

Murray will be in residency at UH Mānoa March 20–24, 2023. During that time, she will participate in faculty workshops, class visits, and other forums for students and community leaders. The chair is hosted in the UH Mānoa in the and the UH law school. The role was created to bring significant public figures to �鶹��ý to foster public discourse regarding democratic ideals and civic engagement.

More on Murray

Murray is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes professor of law and faculty director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network at New York University (NYU) School of Law. Her award-winning research focuses on the legal regulation of intimate life and encompasses such topics as the regulation of sex and sexuality, marriage and its alternatives, the marriage equality debate, the legal recognition of caregiving, and reproductive rights and justice. She is an author of Cases on Reproductive Rights and Justice, the first casebook to cover the field of reproductive rights and justice.

Prior to joining the NYU faculty, Murray was the Alexander F. and May T. Morrison professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught for 12 years and served as faculty director of the Berkeley Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice and as the interim dean of the law school.

Murray is the co-host of , a popular podcast about the U.S. Supreme Court and the legal culture that surrounds it. Along with co-hosts Leah Litman and Kate Shaw, Murray is slated to record an episode of Strict Scrutiny in �鶹��ý in spring 2023. She has written for popular publications such as New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek and The Nation, and has offered commentary for numerous media outlets, including NPR, CNN, ABC, MSNBC and PBS.

Former Inouye chairs include Angela Davis, Ai-jen Poo, Helen Zia, David Cole and others. Established in 2005 by the UH Board of Regents, the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals brings significant public figures to �鶹��ý to foster public discourse regarding democratic ideals and civic engagement. The program honors U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye and his wife, Maggie, for their lifetime of public service.

Powerful and influential activist, author and journalist Helen Zia will be in residency at the during the first six weeks of the spring semester as the .

The daughter of immigrants from China, Zia was a member of the first class that included women to graduate Princeton University. She worked as a construction worker, an autoworker and a community organizer. She became an outspoken advocate on issues ranging from human rights and peace to Asian Americans, women and the LGBTQ+ community.

During her residency at UH ����ԴDz� from January 10 to February 20, Zia will co-teach AMST 442: Social Movements and will also interact with students and faculty in ethnic studies, journalism and women, gender and sexuality studies as well as American studies and William S. Richardson School of Law. Zia will be delivering her keynote address, “Transforming the ‘Other’ to ‘Us’: The Power of Unity and Re-Envisioning America,” on February 3 at 5 p.m. The virtual keynote address is free and open to the public.

Zia played an instrumental role in bringing federal civil rights charges against the perpetrators of the 1982 murder of Chinese American Vincent Chin. The case became a catalyst for the broad mobilization of the Asian American community and the movement against hate violence. Zia is featured in Who Killed Vincent Chin?, a documentary film about the case and its implications.

Zia was the executive editor of from 1989 to 1992 and a founding board co-chair of the Women’s Media Center. Her first book, was published in 2000, and she also co-authored , the Los Alamos scientist falsely accused of being a spy for China. She has received numerous awards for her ground-breaking articles, essays and reviews on a range of issues.

In 2019, Zia published Last Boat out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao’s Revolution, which traces the lives of migrants and refugees from Shanghai based on extensive archival research and interviews with more than a hundred survivors of the exodus.

“Zia is a trailblazer who has consistently fought with and for marginalized people and communities. Learning from and interacting with her will be an incredible opportunity for the UH community,” said Vernadette Gonzalez, professor of American studies and the director of the Honors Program.

This event is an example of UH Mānoa’s goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

Internationally renowned novelist and critic Viet Thanh Nguyen is the fall 2019 . Nguyen will present a keynote lecture on War, Refugees and Storytelling: From Representation to Decolonization on Thursday, September 19, at 7 p.m. in the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� Orvis Auditorium. The keynote lecture is free and open to the public.

Born in Ban Me Thuot, Viet Nam, Nguyen came to the United States as a refugee in 1975 with his family and grew up in San Jose, California. Holder of an endowed professorship at the University of Southern California, he has become one of the nation’s most acclaimed writers and leading voices on issues of immigration, race, justice and representation.

His novel The Sympathizer (2015) won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and has been translated into many languages. He is also the author of a best-selling short story collection, The Refugees (2017), and scholarly works Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (2016) and Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America (2002) and the editor of Transpacific Studies: Framing an Emerging Field (with Janet Hoskins, 2014) and The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives (2018).

Nguyen is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and also writes regularly for the Washington Post and TIME on a range of urgent contemporary issues facing the nation.

“Viet Thanh Nguyen is one of the most important public intellectuals of our time,” says Peter Arnade, UH ����ԴDz� Dean of the .

Student writing contest

In conjunction with Nguyen’s visit, . UH ����ԴDz� undergraduate and graduate students who are registered in the fall 2019 semester are encouraged to read, study and engage in Nguyen’s work and express their ideas in writing.

An award with a cash prize will be presented to one undergraduate and one graduate student. Nguyen will personally select the winners and will announce them at the keynote lecture.

For more information contact Mari Yoshihara, professor and chair of , at myoshiha@hawaii.edu.

An award-winning scholar of American history, slavery and abolition, piracy, social, cultural and labor history, , is the spring 2019 . Rediker will present a keynote lecture on The Democratic Power of History from Below on Wednesday, May 1 at 7 p.m. in the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� Art Auditorium.

Rediker, who is also a documentary filmmaker, has authored and edited many books, including award-winning The Many-Headed Hydra (2000), Slave Ship (2007), The Amistad Rebellion (2012) and, most recently, The Fearless Benjamin Lay (2017).

He is currently Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History at the University of Pittsburgh. Rediker has been active in social justice and peace movements, such as the worldwide campaign to end the death penalty.

As the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals, Rediker will spend the entire spring semester at UH ����ԴDz�, teaching a graduate seminar, “Writing History from Below,” in the Department of American Studies.

“Marcus Rediker is one of the nation’s premier social historians,” remarked Peter Arnade, UH ����ԴDz� Dean of Arts and Humanities. “His writings have given voice to those too often lost to history.”

Other public events

• Thursday, April 11: In collaboration with �鶹��ý J20+, a special screening of the documentary, Ghosts of Amistad: In the Footsteps of the Rebels, based on Rediker’s book, The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom. Rediker, who also serves as producer, will introduce the film and engage in conversation with the audience. Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Museum of Art, 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 17: Public conversation titled History, the Anthropocene, and the Commons with historian Peter Linebaugh, with whom he has collaborated on many projects including the co-authorship of The Many-Headed Hydra, King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center, 5:30 p.m.

All events are free and open to the public.

More about the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals

Established in 2005 by the UH Board of Regents, the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals brings significant public figures to �鶹��ý to foster public discourse regarding democratic ideals and civic engagement. The program honors U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye and his wife, Maggie, for their lifetime of public service. The chair is housed in the UH ����ԴDz� Department of American Studies in the College of Arts and Humanities and the William S. Richardson School of Law.

The national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), has been named the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� . David Cole will present a keynote lecture on Liberty’s Defense: Lessons from the Legal Resistance at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 28, in the UH ����ԴDz� Orvis Auditorium. Admission is free and open to the public.

Cole supervises a network of nearly 2,000 attorneys and oversees more than 1,400 state and federal lawsuits. He has litigated extensively before the U.S. Supreme Court and has won important cases on immigration, free speech, education and extrajudicial detentions.

He is the George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at Georgetown University, an influential essayist and the author of several award-winning books: Less Safe, Less Free, Enemy Aliens and No Equal Justice.

As the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals, Cole will speak on assaults on civil liberties in Washington, from immigrant rights to LGBT equality, as well as his views on necessary steps to preserve the vitality of American democracy. He follows in a long line of illustrious visitors to �鶹��ý, including: John Hope Franklin, dean of African American history, civil rights icon Angela Davis, business executive Richard Parsons, and esteemed economist Christina Romer.

Doors to the February 28 lecture at Orvis Auditorium will open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. event. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. On-campus parking is available for $6. There will be an ASL interpreter present at the event. .

The keynote lecture is co-sponsored by the and the with support from the ACLU of �鶹��ý.

Other events being planned include talks at UH Maui College, UH West Oʻahu and with the ACLU of �鶹��ý.

– March 4, 7 p.m. in ʻIke Leʻa 144 (science auditorium).

– March 5, 12:30 to 1:50 p.m. in the James and Abigail Campbell Library.

Walter Echo-Hawk, a Native American attorney, tribal judge, author and law professor who has represented native tribes on important legal issues involving indigenous rights, has been named the spring 2018 Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals.

As a former staff attorney at the Native American Rights Fund for more than 35 years, Echo-Hawk has been instrumental in securing passage of two federal laws that respect Indian and religious freedoms and the repatriation of Native American remains.

His career spans the critical years when Native American tribes reclaimed land, sovereignty and pride, with his cases covering a variety of issues that included treaty rights, water rights, religious freedom, prisoner rights and legal questions around repatriation.

The chance to listen to someone who has been so closely involved in the legal struggles for indigenous rights offers an exciting opportunity to our students
–Professor Melody K. MacKenzie

In concert with Professor Melody K. MacKenzie, Echo-Hawk will co-teach a three-credit course at the that will examine, compare and contrast the legal frameworks that both define and enforce indigenous legal rights in the U.S. and other countries.

While the course will initially focus on Native American legal rights, it will also emphasize both federal Indian law and Native Hawaiian law, as well as examine international indigenous human rights law and other Pacific nations as well as Canada and parts of Asia.

“The chance to listen to someone who has been so closely involved in the legal struggles for indigenous rights offers an exciting opportunity to our students,” said MacKenzie. “Mr. Echo-Hawk has been instrumental in defining and championing the changes in the laws to bring greater justice to native peoples.”

Echo-Hawk earned a political science degree in 1970 from Oklahoma State University and a JD in 1973 from the University of New Mexico. He published In the Courts of the Conqueror: The Ten Worst Indian Law Cases Ever Decided in 2010 and In the Light of Justice in 2013. He is a member of the Pawnee Nation.

Additional Echo-Hawk events

Echo-Hawk will also present a keynote lecture on February 8 at 7 p.m. in the UH Art Auditorium and will participate in a community panel on international repatriation on February 13 at 6:30 p.m. at Ka Waiwai Collective.

Other events being planned are presentations at UH West Oʻahu and UH Hilo campuses. All public events are free and open to the public.

More about the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals

Established in 2005 by the UH Board of Regents, the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals brings significant public figures to �鶹��ý to foster public discourse regarding democratic ideals and civic engagement. The chair is housed in the UH ����ԴDz� in the College of Arts and Humanities and the William S. Richardson School of Law.

For more information, contact Noelle Kahanu, assistant specialist in the American studies department, at nmkahanu@hawaii.edu.

Chris Eyre, award-winning director and producer of more than 15 feature films, has been named the fall 2017 .

An enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes, Eyre was until recently chair of the film school at Santa Fe University of Art and Design. His film, Smoke Signals (1998) was the first feature film directed by a Native American to receive a national theatrical release. Upon the release of Skins (2002) starring Graham Green, People Magazine called Eyre “the pre-eminent Native American filmmaker of his time.”

Eyre’s numerous accolades also include being named a 2007 USA Rockefeller Foundation Fellow.

“Chris Eyre is the pre-eminent Native American filmmaker. His experiences and wisdom should be inspirational to �鶹��ý’s growing Indigenous Film Community as well as the UH ����ԴDz� Indigenous Film Program,” said , associate dean of the College of Arts and Humanities. “As a long-time chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Senator Inouye, and Maggie as well, believed deeply in public history and the importance of documenting the first hand experiences of indigenous peoples. Chris Eyre is a choice—and voice—with whom they would have been pleased.”

While in �鶹��ý, Eyre will present several class lectures at UH ����ԴDz� and UH West Oʻahu.

• November 8, 6:30–8 p.m.
  Eyre will participate in “Native Lenses/ʻOiwi Optics: A Community Panel on Indigenous Film-making” also featuring Chris Kahunahana and Donne Dawson, moderated by Leanne Ferrer at the ARTS at Marks Garage.
• November 14, 6:30 p.m.
  Eyre will present a keynote lecture on his next documentary Statues Between U.S. at the UH ����ԴDz� William S. Richardson School of Law’s Classroom 2.

All public events are free and open to the public.

More about the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals

Established in 2005 by the UH Board of Regents, the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals brings significant public figures to �鶹��ý to foster public discourse regarding democratic ideals and civic engagement. The chair is housed in the UH ����ԴDz� Department of American Studies in the College of Arts and Humanities and the William S. Richardson School of Law.

For more information, contact Noelle Kahanu, assistant specialist, American studies department at nmkahanu@hawaii.edu.

Ai-jen Poo, a dynamic social innovator and the spring 2017 Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals, will give a public keynote address, “Organizing with Love in the Age of Anger” at the UH Mānoa Art Auditorium on March 22 at 6:30 p.m.

• Related UH News: , February 7, 2017

She is the co-director of and director of the , one of the partner organizations of the Women’s March on Washington.

“For me and for this generation of young people, the question is how do we save the soul and the institutions of our democracy in this moment and how do we do it in such a way that makes us stronger on the other end,” Poo says.

Poo says she personally found the results of the 2016 presidential election to be “devastating” and says she would not have considered the academic appointment if it had been offered anywhere else but the University of �鶹��ý.

“One of the things that makes me feel like it was just such a gift to be here now is because �鶹��ý is a state that is exactly a microcosm of the future for the United States as a whole,” Poo says. “This is really a place where a lot of innovation in public policy has happened and where the kind of inclusion and diversity has been embraced here and really seen as a strength. That’s the kind of approach that we need to have as a country.”

Award-winning social innovator selected as Inouye chair