{"id":231073,"date":"2026-03-20T14:43:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T00:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=231073"},"modified":"2026-03-20T14:43:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T00:43:47","slug":"pacific-storyteller-climate-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/20\/pacific-storyteller-climate-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacific storyteller advances climate justice at <abbr>UH<\/abbr>"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><figure id=\"attachment_231088\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-231088\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/manoa-btss-jetnil-kijiner.jpg\" alt=\"Jetnil-Kijiner headshot\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-231088\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/manoa-btss-jetnil-kijiner.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/manoa-btss-jetnil-kijiner-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/manoa-btss-jetnil-kijiner-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-231088\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kathy Jet\u00f1il-Kijiner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Internationally acclaimed poet and Marshall Islands climate envoy Kathy Jet\u00f1il-Kijiner, who is serving as the Spring 2026 Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals at the University of <span lang=\"haw\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa, will deliver a keynote lecture and poetry performance on April 1 at Orvis Auditorium. The free, public event invites the campus and broader community to hear directly from one of the Pacific\u2019s leading voices on climate and justice.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/speakers\/kathy-jetnil-kijiner\/\">Register online<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As this year\u2019s Inouye Chair, Jet\u00f1il-Kijiner is engaging the community on urgent issues shaping democratic life. Her lecture explores how the climate crisis in the Marshall Islands is inseparable from histories of colonialism, nuclear testing and displacement, offering a powerful, Pacific-centered perspective that connects lived experience to global climate conversations.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As a writer, performer and diplomat, she moves across disciplines while creating art that brings people together,&rdquo; said Peter Arnade, dean of the <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/call\/\">College of Arts, Languages and Letters<\/a>. &ldquo;She offers a vital Pacific voice against the violence of the past and present. She reminds us what poetry can do, and why the humanities matter in a dehumanizing age.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Jet\u00f1il-Kijiner currently serves as a climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, where she works on international climate diplomacy and national adaptation policy.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Kathy Jet\u00f1il-Kijiner is a force in culture and climate diplomacy,&rdquo; said Joyce Mariano, chair of the <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/amst\/home\/\">Department of American Studies<\/a>. &ldquo;She has ignited audiences with poetry and performance from Majuro to Suva, Brisbane to Bonn. Her work will resonate deeply in <span lang=\"haw\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, and we are thrilled to have her in residence.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Jet\u00f1il-Kijiner is co-teaching a class at <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa and holding regular workshops with students. She will also headline a community arts event at Native Books <span lang=\"haw\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> on April 17 at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n<h2>Inouye chair<\/h2>\n<p>The Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals, established by the late Senator Daniel Inouye and his wife, is jointly administered by <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/amst\/home\/\">American Studies department<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/law.hawaii.edu\/\">William S. Richardson School of Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This event is produced in collaboration with <span lang=\"haw\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Contemporary and in partnership with the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Better Tomorrow Speaker Series, a joint venture of <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa, <span lang=\"haw\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Community Foundation, Kamehameha Schools and <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Foundation. For more information <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/speakers\/kathy-jetnil-kijiner\/\">visit the event page<\/a> or contact <a href=\"mailto:btss@hawaii.edu\">btss@hawaii.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Acclaimed poet and Marshall Islands climate envoy Kathy Jet\u00f1il-Kijiner is the 2026 Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":231088,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[813,93,1471,9,68],"class_list":["post-231073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-american-studies","tag-climate-change","tag-college-of-arts-languages-and-letters","tag-uh-manoa","tag-william-s-richardson-school-of-law","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/manoa-btss-jetnil-kijiner.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231073"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":231090,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231073\/revisions\/231090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}