A globally respected historian from the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� has earned one of the highest honors in her field, recognizing decades of scholarship that reshaped how the world understands Southeast Asia.

Professor emerita Barbara Watson Andaya received the from the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), a leading international organization dedicated to advancing research and teaching on Asia.

Andaya is widely known for her work on early modern Southeast Asia. Over the course of her career, her research has significantly influenced how historians interpret the region’s history and cultural development.

“Professor Barbara Andaya has been a true academic treasure to UH ����ԴDz� during her career, and we are absolutely delighted to see her hard work and devotion recognized by our international association,” said Miriam Stark, director of the UH ����ԴDz� .

Early Path

Known to many as “Barb,” Andaya grew up in Sydney, Australia. With parents involved in science and academia, she developed an early interest in education and research. She earned degrees in history and education from the University of Sydney and began her professional career as a high school teacher.

A shift in curriculum eventually brought her to UH ����ԴDz�, where she completed her master’s degree in Southeast Asian history as an East-West Center fellow. She later joined the faculty and was promoted to full professor in 1996.

Research Impact

Her scholarly expertise centers on the Malay-Indonesian world. Since 2014, she has published more than 30 works, including , which was recognized as an outstanding academic title. She also served as director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies from 2000 to 2006.

UH Press Honors

The recognition comes alongside additional accolades tied to UH. Two titles from the books, and , received 2026 Association for Asian Studies prizes.

The University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa has begun accepting applications for the director and publisher of the state’s only scholarly publisher, the .

UH Press was founded in 1947 and has more than 3,000 titles in print. The publisher’s primary focus is on Asian, Hawaiian, Pacific, Asian American and global studies. UH Press publishes 40–55 books a year plus more than 40 journals. The press actively supports Native Hawaiian scholars and practitioners and regularly publishes work in English and ʻōlelo �鶹��ý.

Those interested in applying can go online at the .

UH Librarian Clem Guthro is chairing the search advisory committee.

Other members of the search advisory committee:

• Cathryn Clayton
• Emma Ching
• Cheehyung “Harrison” Kim
• Kealiʻi Gora
• Mardee Melton
• Norman Kaneshiro

In a story of both serendipity and shared passion, two University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa alumni, Shoichi Iwasaki and Rumiko Shinzato, reunited after more than thirty years to co-author , the first textbook of its kind for English speakers.

The scholars bemoaned the lack of an Okinawan-language textbook in English and decided to write one themselves to preserve and teach the endangered Okinawan language. The resulting text was published by UH Press in May.

“I am passionate about letting people know the fate of the 3,000–5,000 languages that may vanish from the face of the earth in the next 100 years. Okinawan is just one of such languages,” said Iwasaki.

For Shinzato, the motivation was personal: “I wanted to give back something meaningful to my homeland, the people and our ancestors, as they have given me so much.”

While working on his master’s in at UH Mānoa, Iwasaki briefly met Shinzato, who was working on her PhD in . Years later, the professors reunited and co-wrote the recently published book.

Iwasaki credits Shinzato with the idea to structure the textbook around the story of an American exchange student living with a host family in Okinawa. Shinzato also recorded native speakers’ voices to supplement the book’s written dialogues.

Critically endangered language

According to the authors, the Okinawan language, part of the Ryukyuan language family, faces a dire future. Once the primary tongue of the Ryukyu Kingdom, Okinawan was systematically suppressed after Japan annexed the region in 1879.

In 2009, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially declared the language “endangered.” Fifteen years later, many now consider the language “critically endangered,” as it is predominantly spoken by older generations and rarely passed on to children.

Cultural and educational impact

In �鶹��ý, the Okinawan diaspora remains an integral part of �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s rich cultural fabric, with nearly 50,000 people of Okinawan descent living in the islands.

The textbook has been met with high praise from experts in the field. “I wish it had been available when I took my first steps in the language. With the learning of Okinawan made such a pleasant experience, this will become the standard English-language work, hard to beat in the years to come,” said Leon Serafim, a retired professor of Japanese and former director of the UH Center for Okinawan Studies.

The multidisciplinary center, based on the Mānoa campus, offers courses, sponsors cultural events, and supports exchange programs. UH Mānoa’s Hamilton Library houses the Sakamaki-Hawley Collection, one of the world’s most significant Okinawa-related archives.

Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: The Archaeology of Ancient �鶹��ý by renowned archaeologist Patrick V. Kirch has been reimagined and expanded in a new and updated 2023 edition. The first edition was described nearly 40 years ago as a “pioneering synthesis of ancient Hawaiian civilization from an archaeological perspective.” The new edition is a complete rewrite of the 1985 book and provides readers with a comprehensive and essential resource for understanding the fascinating archaeological history of �鶹��ý.

“This new edition synthesizes a vast array of research and literature accumulated over the past four decades,” said Kirch, professor in the at the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�. “It begins with a historical review of changing archaeological practice in �鶹��ý, then delves into the origins of the Polynesians and Hawaiians, exploring eight centuries of gradual cultural change, which culminated in the unique Hawaiian culture encountered by European explorers in the late 18th century.”

Succeeding chapters of the book, co-authored with Mark D. McCoy, professor of anthropology at Florida State University, review traditional agricultural systems, the archaeology of everyday life, ceremonial and temple sites (heiau), and the cultural transformations that transpired following contact with the Western world. Six final chapters review the main archaeological sites of the principal islands.

This updated edition incorporates nearly four decades of research findings since the book’s initial publication, with significant discoveries including:

1. A revised understanding of when Polynesians first arrived in �鶹��ý—AD 1000 rather than AD 400—based on major improvements in radiocarbon dating.
2. New knowledge regarding when large heiau began to be constructed, and on the multiple functions of heiau as places of astronomical observation and men’s ritualized craft activities.
3. Appreciation of the scale and importance of the vast dryland farming systems on �鶹��ý Island and Maui, and the roles these played in the Hawaiian political economy.
4. Integration of the archaeological record of cultural change with the Indigenous Hawaiian moʻolelo (oral histories), and the recognition that these moʻolelo are real histories, not just “myth.”
5. More nuanced understanding of how the rural landscapes of the islands were transformed in the decades following European arrival.

“The real value of the book is bringing together, in one source, the results of literally hundreds of disparate studies, and making sense of them in a coherent account of the Hawaiian past. Anyone with a desire to know something about the ancient history of a particular place, or about a particular topic such as heiau, can turn to Feathered Gods and Fishhooks for a detailed synthesis along with a comprehensive bibliography of sources,” said Kirch.

Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: The Archaeology of Ancient �鶹��ý is .

In celebration of Filipino American History Month, the launched the publication of a one-of-a-kind journal devoted exclusively to the identification, gathering, preservation and dissemination of Filipino American history and culture in the U.S.

Led by Patricia Espiritu Halagao, a professor at UH ����ԴDz� and Terese Guinsatao Monberg, an associate professor at Michigan State University, the interdisciplinary peer-reviewed annual, (FANHS), showcases research by community-based and academic historians, as well as personal histories.

“I am honored and proud to have worked alongside my home institution press to create a beautiful, engaging and professional journal,” said Halagao.“It’s fitting that the FANHS Journal is published in �鶹��ý given that Filipinos make up the largest Asian American ethnic group in the state. I hope new readers will appreciate the depth and diversity of Filipino American history.”

Halagao is a part of the journal’s new leadership that spearheaded the publication’s redesign. A new section, “Collaborating with Our Ancestors,” features tribute pieces and intergenerational conversations between past and present Filipino American academic and activist leaders. In November 2023, the journal will publish Volume 11 alongside its 10-volume archive.

• Find all published volumes of FANHS’s archive on .

The journal is sponsored by the Filipino American National Historical Society, the oldest, existing national Filipino American organization in the U.S. with 43 regional chapters nationwide. In October 1992, the society hosted the first official Filipino American History Month, long before the U.S. Congress recognized the commemorative month in 2009.

“We are so excited to publish the FANHS Journal with the University of �鶹��ý Press. Working together, we can ensure that Filipino American history can be better documented and made more accessible to the masses,” added Kevin Nadal, president of the national society. “And because there are so many Filipino American historical narratives waiting to be told, we are looking forward to a long-lasting partnership with such a prestigious publishing company to help us tell these stories.”

Subscription information can be found .

A new book by three professors at the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� explores Native Hawaiian cultural practices from the perspectives of 14 esteemed kumu loea, or experts.

Ka Māno Wai: The Source of Life by Noreen Mokuau, Kukunaokalā Yoshimoto and Kathryn Braun shows why Native Hawaiian practices such as mālama ʻāina (caring for the land), mele (songs) and hoʻoponopono (conflict resolution) are essential to health and social justice.

The book explores the history of the practices as well as their significance within Hawaiian society, including how they are linked to Native Hawaiian health, family life and spiritual beliefs.

“Many of these practices were forced underground after the colonization of �鶹��ý,” said Braun. “There was a large potential for cultural loss, and we wrote the book to reilluminate the practices and some of the kumu who teach them.”

Using captivating storytelling, the book unfolds through 16 chapters, with 14 of those chapters dedicated to the moʻolelo (stories) of kumu loea as knowledge keepers of Native Hawaiian practices.

The book features renowned authorities in specialty areas of cultural practice that draw from ancestral ʻike (knowledge), including: Kamanaʻopono M. Crabbe, Linda Kaleoʻokalani Paik, Eric Michael Enos, Claire Kuʻuleilani Hughes, Sarah Patricia ʻIlialoha Ayat Keahi, Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio, Lynette Kaʻopuiki Paglinawan, Sharon Leinaʻala Bright, Keola Kawaiʻulaʻiliahi Chan, Charles “Sonny” Kaulukukui III, Jerry Walker, Gordon “ʻUmi” Kai, Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie and Kekuni Blaisdell. Photographs by Shuzo Uemoto capture these kumu loea in their practices.

“We believe that Ka Māno Wai is a resource that supports the university and the Thompson School’s strategic imperative in fulfilling its kuleana to Native Hawaiians and �鶹��ý,” Mokuau said. “In this book, kumu loea share their life’s work on ancestral practices that hold deep value for improving health and advancing social justice for Native Hawaiians and others.”

“We are humbled and honored to have had the opportunity to be in the presence of such esteemed and beloved culture keepers and to share their journey,” said Kukunaokalā Yoshimoto. “We hope that their stories will inspire all generations to holomua (to progress, advance), to continue cultivating their gift and to share their story. You’ll never know who will be inspired!”

Highlighted stories

There was a large potential for cultural loss, and we wrote the book to reilluminate the practices and some of the kumu who teach them
—Kathryn Braun

One chapter explains the history of the practice of kaula, or rope making, and tells the story of Sonny Kaulukukui III, who grew up in Kalihi and learned kaula from his uncle. Strong ropes that were meticulously hand-braided from plant fibers, such as olonā and hau, were essential to Native Hawaiians for fishing and constructing homes. The chapter weaves together the story of Kaulukukui’s family and the history of the practice.

Another chapter focuses on lāʻau lapaʻau, which is the use of Hawaiian medicinal plants and prayers in healing. At the Waimānalo Health Center, Sharon Leinaʻala Bright has worked to integrate the practice into conventional Western health care by working alongside doctors.

Other chapters highlight the practices of ʻōlelo (Hawaiian language), lomilomi (massage) and ʻaiaola (using traditional Native Hawaiian foods to improve health).

Class integration

The book is now being used as the course textbook for Ke Aʻo Mau, a program for UH undergraduate and graduate students who are committed to culturally responsive interventions for Native Hawaiians and other populations.

In writing the book, the authors were grateful for the generosity of all the kumu who shared their practices.

“These kumu loea hold the answers to the connections between the past, present and future,” Mokuau said.

Ka Māno Wai: The Source of Life is published by UH
UH Press and available for purchase on their and on .

A publication detailing the story of the internment of Japanese Americans in the islands was recognized as this year’s best book in any field of history written by a �鶹��ý resident. The Kenneth W. Baldridge Prize was presented to respected writer and filmmaker Tom Coffman for his book, .

The prize has been awarded since 1993, honoring the life and work of its namesake, Kenneth W. Baldridge (1926–2021), a longtime history professor at Brigham Young University (BYU)–�鶹��ý, and was announced by the �鶹��ý chapter of the Phi Alpha Theta honor society at its annual regional conference on April 1.

As described in the statement accompanying the award, Inclusion is “a gripping read of a period and series of events that are still discussed in the politics and history of �鶹��ý today. It is based on extensive research into primary documents and is exhaustive in its attention to detail in narrating the twists and turns in the story of the internment (and not) of Japanese Americans in the islands.”

In his book, Coffman focuses on a group of individuals called the Council for Interracial Unity, among which were the men shown on the book’s cover: Hung Wai Ching, Shigeo Yoshida and Charles Hemenway. Hemenway, legacy member of the UH Board of Regents after whom UH ����ԴDz�’s Hemenway Hall is named, was influential in advocating for Japanese Americans during WWII.

Previous authors who received the Baldridge Prize for their UH Press-published titles include UH ����ԴDz� professors Ned Bertz, Davianna McGregor and Leonard Andaya, and BYU—�鶹��ý professor Isaiah Walker.

Edward J. (Ned) Shultz, a professor emeritus of at the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�, will receive one of the highest honors bestowed upon Korean studies scholars around the world, the Yongjae Award on March 10.

“When I was informed that I had received this award, I must confess surprise, and then thinking this is a real honor but there are many other people deserving of this award,” said Shultz. “My specific area of interest is Koryŏ history (918–1392), which is an overlooked period in Korea’s history, so in that respect, I was pleased that the Koryŏ kingdom was getting some focus.”

Shultz has spent nearly 50 years teaching UH students about Korea’s compelling history. His teaching career started in 1975 at and would expand to and then the ����ԴDz� campus.

The Yongjae award, bestowed by , was created to pay homage to the institution’s first president who served as a minister of education during the Korean War.

From �鶹��ý to Korea

Shultz, a Boston native, first came to �鶹��ý in 1966 and received training in Hilo to become a Korea Peace Corps volunteer. He was assigned to serve in the city of Pusan in South Korea and worked at Kyongnam High School. Upon returning to the islands, Shultz earned an MA and PhD at UH ����ԴDz�.

Through the years, his teaching path at three UH campuses paralleled work to uplift civic and cultural programs that focus on Korea and Koreans in �鶹��ý. Shultz is currently president of the Korean American Foundation, and served as director of the at UH ����ԴDz� (1998–2004).

“In many respects my involvement in Korea and its history is very much thanks to �鶹��ý’s centrality in the study of Asia,” Shultz said.

He has authored numerous Korean studies articles, and in 2000, published Shultz’ book, , which was translated and published in Korea in 2014.

Future works

Shultz is currently working on a number of projects related to his area of expertise. Yonsei University just published his translation of Koryŏsa chŏryo (Essentials of Koryŏ History). He is also a member of an editorial team working on the translation of works on Koryŏ dynastic history which is set to be published by UH Press.

is the publisher of a forthcoming book series in an emerging field that has been recently awarded a $120,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. The grant will support initiatives related to the book series (Global Asias MAP), coedited by Tina Chen and Charlotte Eubanks of Penn State.

Global Asias is a conceptual approach to the study of Asia and its multiple diasporas. Drawing on work from three distinct interdisciplines—Asian studies, Asian American studies and Asian diaspora studies—the series will stage intellectual exchanges between and across disciplines and fields to reimagine scholarly knowledge production about the fundamentally transnational and global nature of Asia-focused worlds and epistemologies.

The three grant initiatives include outreach, support for editorial development, and making the series titles widely available via open-access publishing to reach a global audience, especially in Asia.

“We are pleased to be the publisher of the Global Asias book series and are grateful to Tina Chen and Charlotte Eubanks for contacting the Henry Luce Foundation for their support,” said UH Press acquisitions editor Stephanie Chun. “The books not only will complement UH Press’s extensive list of titles on Asia and Asian America, but also engage scholars interested in looking beyond area or discipline studies to think about Asia globally and its multiple diasporas in new ways.”

The first volume in the series, , tentatively scheduled for publication in 2024, will bring together a diverse group of contributors, with chapters by junior and senior scholars. The Global Asias MAP editors are currently proposing about one to two books a year after the inaugural volume, which they hope will solidify Global Asias as a vibrant, multidisciplinary field of academic knowledge production.

While sponsored by the Penn State Global Asias Initiative, Global Asias MAP selected UH Press for its proven record in publishing Asian studies scholarship, as a leader in East-meets-West publishing for 75 years. In addition to its deep commitment to publishing works on �鶹��ý, its latest and backlist titles offer some of the most-respected scholarly books and journals covering Asian, Asian American, Pacific and global studies.

In the wake of �鶹��ý Archaeology Week (September 26–October 2), the joins two non-profit organizations to launch the , an open-access title that will soon accept submissions for its inaugural issue.

The new journal will be co-edited by Mara Mulrooney and Jillian Swift, who are both affiliate graduate faculty at UH ����ԴDz�. The two editors developed the publication as a forum to bring together important research and conversations around archaeology, history and heritage management in Polynesia. The editorial board is comprised of UH faculty including Professors Patrick V. Kirch (anthropology, UH ����ԴDz�), Ty P. Kawika Tengan (ethnic studies, UH ����ԴDz�), Seth Quintus (anthropology, UH ����ԴDz�) and Peter Mills (anthropology, UH Hilo), among others.

“The Journal of Polynesian Archaeology and Research will continue the tradition of publishing cutting-edge results of archaeological research in �鶹��ý and throughout Polynesia, as well as providing a forum for discussion and debate regarding archaeological practice in the region,” noted Kirch. “I expect that the journal will be an essential resource for both scholars and the engaged public.”

Free and open access

For more than three decades, both of the journal’s sponsoring organizations—the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology and the Easter Island Foundation—have been committed to promoting research and dialogue on the archaeology of Polynesia. While distribution of previous publications were limited to members, this new journal will be published open-access and freely available to all readers.

This fall, the editors will review manuscripts through the journal submission system (forthcoming) and publish the first issue in 2023 on , UH’s open-access, digital institutional repository for both the university community and researchers around the world.

The Journal of Polynesian Archaeology and Research will replace two journals that will cease publication, Hawaiian Archaeology (published by the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology) and Rapa Nui Journal (published by UH Press in collaboration with the Easter Island Foundation). Throughout the past 30 years, Rapa Nui Journal published more than 33 volumes, and Hawaiian Archaeology published 15 volumes and four special publications. The archive of both publications will also be freely available via eVols.