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Kamakakūokalani Undergraduate Program Student Learning Objectives

A Native Hawaiian perspective is emphasized in the major. Upon completion of a B.A. in Hawaiian Studies, our students are expected to demonstrate knowledge, understanding, critical analysis and synthesis of the following:

  • Knowing our genealogical ties to Papahānaumoku, our mother earth, and ko Hawaiʻi paeʻāina as our ancestral homeland.
  • Students can explain that Kanaka Maoli are one Lāhui connected by our ancestors Hāloa and Haumea across nā kai ʻewalu.
  • Students can discuss history, culture and politics in academic and non-academic settings.
  • Students can explain the interconnectedness of all knowledge, contemporary and ancestral, from a Kanaka Maoli perspective.
  • Students are capable of Kanaka Maoli applications, protocols and disciplines.
  • Students can discuss, practice, and advance Kanaka Maoli experiences in the context of world indigenous peoples.

Undergraduate Program Requirements

Students design their program around a selected area of concentration. Third-year fluency in Hawaiian language and a Senior capstone project are required, as well as familiarity with Hawaiian history and literature, culture and creative expression, politics and integral components of governance, resource management and sustainability, and comparative indigenous studies.

To declare your major in Hawaiian Studies, please contact the Academic Advisor, Lehua Nishimura, by calling 956-0642.

School Requirements

In addition to completing major requirements, all undergraduate majors of Hawaiʻinuiākea (HAW, HWST, double and concurrent majors) must complete the following 15 credits of school required coursework from both Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies and Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language that represent the foundation of our field of Hawaiian knowledge and also fulfill the General Education Requirements of UH Mānoa.  These requirements do not apply to students pursuing a minor or certificate in Hawaiian.

  • HWST 107, 270 and HAW 100, 301, 302, with a GPA of 3.0 or better

Major Requirements

Completion of 120 credit hours, including the General Education Requirements, Hawai‘inuiākea undergraduate school requirements and the following Hawaiian Studies major requirements:

  • GPA of 2.0 in all UH Mānoa registered credit hours
  • A GPA of 3.0 in all courses for the major
  • Total of 29 credit hours:
  • 17 credit hours in the following required courses:
    • HWST 207 or 285 or 307 or 356
    • HWST 222 or 224 or 372 or 478
    • HWST 341
    • HWST 342
    • HWST 343 or 390 or 490
    • Senior Capstone (2 credits)
  • 12 credit hours of approved courses in ONE of these areas of concentration:
  • Hālau o Laka: Native Hawaiian Creative Expression
  • Kūkulu Aupuni: Envisioning the Nation
  • Kumu Kahiki: Comparative Hawai’inuiākea and Indigenous Studies
  • Mālama ‘Āina: Hawaiian Perspectives on Resource Management
  • Mo‘olelo ‘Ōiwi: Native History and Literature

Before beginning work on the major, students should have completed HAW 101, 102, 201, and 202; HWST 107 or 107A; HWST 270. Course enrollment should be determined through consultation with the academic advisor. Majors should be interviewed by the academic advisor by the end of the sophomore year.

Students admitted to the BA program prior to Fall 2015 should consult the academic advisor to review changes that may affect their programs.

Students must earn a grade of C or better for all Hawaiian Studies courses that serve as a prerequisite for other Hawaiian Studies courses.  Students who do not meet this requirement will not be permitted to register for the next level of Hawaiian Studies courses.  For information on a Bachelor Degree Program Sheet, go to: http://www.manoa.hawaii.edu/ovcaa/programsheets/

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