Title: Assistant Professor
Department: History
College/School: College of Arts, Language & Letters
Showcase Course: HISTORY 493: Library Treasures in Oceania
Email: foukona@hawaii.edu
“Promoting equality encourages students to respect each other and be interested in engaging with the content and course presentation.”
Table of Contents
Teaching Philosophy
I believe in the principle of student-centered learning because it encourages interactive and reality-based learning. I am passionate about creating an environment that supports student-centered learning approaches. I show this passion by being flexible, open, sincere, and attentive to students’ learning needs and expectations. I also promote collaboration, facilitate ongoing conversations with students about their learning, and encourage students to become active participants. I aim to achieve this through conscientious planning and design of my curriculum. Allowing for various modes of student-centered learning activities enables me to engage and interact with students more meaningfully and holistically. Students should have access to high-quality learning materials, which I believe can be achieved by following sound curriculum design principles. I consider my students equal partners in this learning process. Promoting equality encourages students to respect each other and be interested in engaging with the content and course presentation.
Decolonizing Library Treasures: Unearthing Empire Legacy in Oceania
Teaching Practice
The HIST 493 course introduces students to the special collections and archival records available at the University of Hawai‘i Library and elsewhere. The course has a Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific (HAP) focus designation and was designed to align with the History Department’s Curricular Intervention to Build History Research Skills 2023-24. That project’s goal is to improve student learning outcomes for skills in research using primary source documents. I designed student activities in line with this goal.
My teaching practice in this course involves hands-on approaches to help students engage effectively with archival documents and other materials in the UH library’s Pacific and Asian, Hawaiian, and Map collections, as well as other online databases. As students explore these resources, the course emphasizes the connection between Hawaii and the broader Pacific region, fostering multicultural respect, understanding, and empathy. I encourage students to develop their skills in interpreting historical clues, for instance, in place-names, boundaries, and historical routes on land and sea. This would enable them to recognize that archives are not just pieces of paper stored in the library, but historical material inscriptions found on maps, legal documents, landscapes, and names.
To establish a clear link between classroom activities and the diverse archival collections at the UHM library, I collaborated with UHM librarian specialists. I also designed class activities focused on weekly themes to prepare students with the skills to find and use primary source materials from the special collections. Below is an outline of a class activity that exposed students to raw, unfiltered historical evidence and helped them shift from passive learners to active thinkers.
A. Map Activity
This is a group-based activity designed for the class studying the theme “Empire, settler, and landscapes.” The class activity focuses on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM) campus map through a scaffolded approach to explore the impacts of colonialism on indigenous spaces and the concept of erasure. Here is a summary of the steps involved:
1. Initial Observation
Students are introduced to a variety of online maps – see HIST 493 https://guides.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/HIST493 under MAGIS. Students work in groups to discuss what they see (physical and cultural elements), what they think (the mapmaker’s purpose and perspective), and what they wonder (what has changed, been erased, or is missing).
Feedback: conversational – focus on whether students have effectively read the maps and used the proper vocabulary.
2. Library Visit
Students visit the MAGIS section in the Hamilton library: The Map Librarian shows students various maps, both historical and modern, and discusses different cartographic techniques (symbols, scale, feature selection, and color) along with their historical contexts—who created them, when, and why. This step gives students the chance to practice comparing maps and helps them understand that maps are textual representations of history, showing change and continuity.
If a student is absent for Step 2 or wishes to schedule another follow-up visit, I would liaise with the Map Librarian to confirm a new date for the student to complete Step 2.
Feedback: conversational – focus on shifting from what has changed to why it was represented in that way.
3. Assigned Map
Before class, the instructor assigns groups of four students and emails them a list of four or five buildings on the UHM map to research. The instructor also provides relevant websites on the course’s online platform, along with a series of questions designed to support their research and observations.
4. Class Discussion & Presentation
Students meet in their pre-assigned groups to discuss their findings about the assigned buildings. The goal is to uncover the history behind these buildings’ names and identify instances where colonial names have replaced or obscured indigenous ones. In groups, students discuss their observations and reactions, then record them in a shared Google document.
Feedback: Quick check with each group and discuss any questions to ensure they have effectively identified their key points for their assigned buildings on the UHM map.
Any student who misses Step 4 is given access to their group’s shared Google document, and the instructor will briefly check with them to answer any questions they might have.
5. Presentation
Groups enter their observations and reactions into a shared Google Slides presentation. This creates a visual and collaborative record of their findings. This activity culminates in a full-class discussion where each group shares its findings.
6. Write a Map Reflective Paper
Students select a historical map and a current map of Oahu, then compare them. For the historical and modern map, students can select any map from 1850 to 1950 from the archives. Or if they want to analyze a map outside this specified period, that option is also available. This allows them the flexibility to select which map they want to analyze.
The reflection promotes a deep understanding, focus, and awareness of what defines a primary source document and the archives. It also nurtures creativity and empathy by encouraging students to share their feelings and experiences using primary source documents, connect with diverse HAP communities, and consider different perspectives on the archives.
Impact
There are 20 students in the class. Their assigned activity aligns with the Course Learning Outcome and History Undergraduate Student Learning Outcomes (USLOs) 1 and 3, as well as HAP.
I used the Map Reflective Paper with a rubric that includes several criteria to assess the learning outcomes. I also used a survey toward the end of the semester to determine the course’s effectiveness.
100% of the students who completed the activity successfully identified a historical map and effectively compared it with a contemporary one, demonstrating proficiency in locating and interpreting primary and secondary sources using archival records, as well as critical thinking skills in the historical context.
Here are some excerpts of student voices:
- “The historical map made me feel a deeper respect for Indigenous peoples and the systems they created. I wouldn’t have learned this just by reading—seeing it mapped made it real.”
- “Comparing both maps reveals drastic changes in land use, place names, and human development… many Indigenous place names have been overwritten or marginalized by Western names and developments.”
100% of the students completing this activity clearly articulated the historical changes and continuities. 80% of students reported that the map activity enhanced or deepened their empathy by providing a visual representation of the landscape’s transformation and of colonialism’s impact on Hawaii and Pacific people, including their resilience.
Here are some excerpts of student voices:
- “Studying these maps has really deepened my empathy for Indigenous Hawaiians by showing me how systematically their relationships with the land were dismantled.”
- “This reflection challenged me to consider how maps are not just navigational tools but instruments of power.”
- “What I learned from this map comparison—something I wouldn’t learn from textbooks alone—is how physical maps silently document the erasure and transformation of Indigenous spaces.”
- “This activity gave me a stronger sense of respect for the Indigenous people of Hawaiʻi and for how deeply tied they are to the ʻāina. Seeing the physical changes on the map made that history feel more real. It is one thing to read about colonization. It is another thing to see how it literally rewrites the land.”
All 20 students completed the survey and reported that the course had a positive impact on their learning.
Here are some excerpts of student voices:
- “This course helped me understand how archives shape the way we remember history. I gained a deeper respect for Indigenous voices and perspectives, especially through exploring Hawaiian and Pacific collections.”
- “The in-person library visits helped me the most. Being able to physically see the documents and maps, and having someone explain how to search and read through them, made things click. It wasn’t just reading about archives—we were actually in them. That hands-on approach made the lessons feel more real and the lectures as well.”
- “Visiting the archives and looking at primary documents like photographs, maps, and library reports also made it more personal for me. These were not just abstract histories, these were real people, real places, and real legacies that are still shaping lives today.”