MISSION, VISION, and VALUES

MISSION

We place the region known as Asia at the center of interdisciplinary teaching and research. We foster innovative, comparative scholarship that highlights indigenous forms of knowledge as well as the dynamism and density of interconnections in the Asian region. Given the vital and enduring importance of Asia to the past, present and future of Hawai‘i and the world, we prepare students to work productively and respectfully to address shared challenges and opportunities, and to cultivate communities that value the diversity of the peoples, places and cultures of Asia.

VISION

The Department of Asian Studies will continue to grow as a locally, nationally and internationally-recognized center for scholarship and teaching about Asia that, in line with the UHM vision, serves the people of Hawai‘i, the US, and our neighbors in Asia and the Pacific.

VALUES

Diversity: We value the diversity of the communities we serve and interact with, and recognize that this diversity strengthens us all.

Excellence: We value an environment in which rigorous, critical, and collaborative scholarship about Asia can thrive, and in which we work together to ensure that our community members are empowered to thrive.

Innovation: We value creativity in the search for new ways of seeing old problems and new ways of bringing our pasts to bear in the effort to shape equitable and sustainable futures.

Responsibility: We value research, teaching and service that recognize and enhance the interconnectedness of the peoples, places, and cultures of Asia, Hawai‘i and the world. The UH-Manoa core values of mālama (care) and kuleana (responsibility) form the foundation of our work.