Petrice R. Flowers is Director of the Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs and Professor at the Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. She is an international relations scholar specializing in the study of international norms in Japan. Her research has examined gender and diplomacy, the domestic impact of international human rights norms, transnational networks, and refugee policy. Dr. Flowers completed post-doctoral research at the University of Tokyo and has held several visiting positions in Japan including at Hitotsubashi University’s Institute for the Study of Global Issues, Waseda University’s Graduate School of Asia and Pacific Studies, and Ochanomizu University’s Institute for Gender Studies. She has secured research funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Fulbright US Scholars’ Program, the Council on Foreign Relations-Hitachi International Affairs Fellowship, and the Japan Foundation, among others. In 2009, Flowers published Refugees, Women, and Weapons: International Norm Adoption and Compliance in Japan (Stanford University Press). Another monograph, Refugee Policies in East Asia (Cambridge University Press Elements Series) was published in early 2025. She has published research in Gastronomica: Journal for Food Studies, Hague Journal of Diplomacy, Human Rights Quarterly, the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Critical Asian Studies, the Journal of Japanese Studies, and several edited volumes. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Wellesley College and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities.
Current CV

Hannah Butler is a project manager at the Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs and a recent graduate of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Her research focuses on the regions of East and Southeast Asia and the Arctic with an emphasis on international governance, economic interdependence, and conflict deterrence. Her previous experience includes an internship at US Indo-Pacific Command and participation in the National Bureau of Asian Research Summer Seminar. She also received a Boren Scholarship to study Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan. She holds an M.A. in Asian Studies from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and a dual B.A. in International Affairs and History from the University of Nevada, Reno.