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For specific information related to your program or area of interest

Including how to apply, please visit the following pages:

Undergraduate Programs Information

Major or minor in Asian Studies.

Graduate Programs Information

Including: Master of Arts in Asian Studies, Master’s in Asian International Affairs, and Graduate Certificates in Asian Studies.

Student Testimonials

Christina Geisse

The Asian Studies Program was incredible because most professors were undertaking their own research, passionate about their subject of study, and enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge with students. It felt fresh and profound at the same time. Inspiring! 

Christina Geisse
Kim Sluchansky

I was able to delve deep and focus on the areas of Asian Studies that truly interested me, and therefore gained a much more thorough and developed understanding of my fields of interest, which are applicable to my current career path. Also, the professors are extremely helpful and want their students to succeed. They were very supportive both while I was at UH and after I graduated.

Picture of Annie Reynolds

Alumni Spotlight: Annie Reynolds

Annie Reynolds graduated from the Asian Studies program with an MA focusing on Southeast Asia, and continued on to complete a PhD in Asian Theatre here at UH Mānoa. Now the curator of the East-West Center Gallery, in this video she welcomes new students to the Asian Studies program, and talks about how the program helped shape her career trajectory.

Her full bio is as follows:

Annie Reynolds earned her PhD in Theatre and MA in Asian Studies from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and her BM in Music from San Francisco State University. Reynolds has a background in music, especially composition and violin. While completing her undergraduate degree, she became interested in Balinese gamelan music. Prior to undertaking her graduate studies, Reynolds spent several years in Bali studying music and dance, including one year of study as a Darmasiswa RI scholarship student at the Indonesian Arts Institute (Institut Seni Indonesia) in Denpasar, Bali. Reynolds has lived in Hawai‘i since 2007. Since 2009 she and her husband, I Made Widana, have been leading the Honolulu-based Balinese gamelan music and dance ensembles Gamelan Segara Madu, and more recently Gamelan Taksu Gitaning Shanti. Together they have offered numerous educational outreach programs across Hawai‘i through the auspices of the Statewide Cultural Extension Program (UHM Outreach College), UHM Department of Theatre and Dance, Arts Focus Southeast Asia, and the East-West Center.Reynolds has worked with the East-West Center Arts Program since 2008 assisting with operations, administration, educational outreach, and curation. Reynolds has curated a number of exhibitions at the East-West Center Gallery including “Cosmic Characters: Wood Puppets of Asia,” “Inside Out: 15 Years of Exhibitions at the East-West Center Gallery,” and “Musical Instruments: Sounds of the Asia Pacific.” Reynolds prioritizes teaching about cultures through the arts and approaches her work by understanding the interconnected nature between the performing and visual arts.

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