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ISR partners with various research institutions and organizations to host interdisciplinary thematic seminars each year on contemporary topics.

Current Series

2024 Spring Seminar Series: Environmental Humanities

2024 Spring Environmental Humanities Seminar Series

The aim of this series is to build bridges between academic researchers, sustainability practitioners, and policy makers, and to ensure that policies and practices are informed by the most up-to-date research. We do this by hosting an interdisciplinary, thematic seminar series focused on timely topics facing Hawaii and beyond.

This Spring, the series will highlight the Environmental Humanities, a field of study that has grown out of literature and ecocriticism, particularly in the disciplines of English, Art and History. We will feature a range of speakers who will discuss how their niche in environmental humanities can address today’s critical environmental issues and sustainability.

Please join us on Wednesdays between now and April 24th, either in person here at UH Mānoa KuyKendall Hall 201, or via zoom from 12:00–1:15pm.

Seminar Speaker Schedule

This series will run from February 7 – April 24 with a 2 week break from March 20 – March 27.

February 7: Elemental Cartographies for a Changing Earth Candace Fujikane, Professor of English

February 14: Watershed Curriculum: Con-fluencies in Art, Science, and Education Jaimey Hamilton Faris, Associate Professor of Art

February 21: Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean Christina Gerhardt, Associate Professor of Languages and Literatures of Europe and the Americas

February 28: Only Air: A Trans* Reading of Antony and Cleopatra Derrick Higginbotham, Associate Professor of English

March 6: Interwoven Structures Mary Babcock, Professor of Art and Art History

March 13: Sustainability in Film Vilsoni Hereniko, Professor at the School of Cinematic Arts

March 20 – March 27: No Speakers (Spring Break)

April 3: Rhetoric in the Sixth Great Extinction Sarah B. Allen, Associate Professor of English

April 10: Natural Resource Extraction in the Pacific and Climate Change Joseph Foukona, Associate Professor of History

April 17: Medical Humanities at UHM Shana Brown, Associate Professor of History

April 24: The Ultimate Cli Fi Book Club: Collapse Edition Krista Hise, Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance

If you would like to attend via zoom please register, no registration is necessary for in person attendance.

For any questions please email: ISR@hawaii.edu

Previous Seminar Series

2023 Fall Film Series

UH News has a story on the launch of the film series. Held in the Fall, the Sustainability Film Series is designed to explore contemporary issues at the intersection of human and natural environments. The series combines films and panel discussions aimed at linking film themes to Hawaiʻi and the region. Panelists with differing expertise, including scientists, policymakers, nonprofit experts, and artists, will discuss the many dimensions of existing efforts and sustainability solutions. The series is open to the public and designed for broad engagement. It is our hope that the series inspires communities of practice among students and community members by empowering them to engage in these important social and environmental issues.

The 2023 Sustainability Film Series included film and panel events, hosted at the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Museum of Art.

2022–2023 Seminar Series: Coastal Adaptation

The Spring 2023 seminar series focused on sea level rise and coastal adaptation, the work of the Climate Resilience Collaborative (CRC), a research program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, as well as related research from public and private partners. CRC’s mission is to provide communities and the government with research results that inform effective management decisions leading to climate resilient development.

2021–2022 Seminar Series: APRU Sustainable Cities & Landscapes

The theme for the 2021 seminar series was Sustainable Cities and Landscapes, co-hosted by the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU). The Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Live Webinar Series brought researchers and scholars together from across the Pacific Rim to engage in cross-cultural conversations around climate justice, sustainable, and social equity. See a list of the speakers and watch the event recordings.

2020–2021 Seminar Series: Resilient Pacific

Co-hosted by the Center for Pacific Islands Studies (CPIS), this series featured presenters whose multidisciplinary work showcases the many ways that Pacific communities develop their capacity to overcome a wide range of challenges. The talks highlighted the diverse ways that people demonstrate resilience in forging community empowerment, innovative solutions, and sustainable futures across the Pacific and beyond toward regional and global well-being.

Resilient Pacific Video Playlist

2019–2020 Seminar Series: Sustainable Cities

Co-hosted by the College of Engineering and the College of Social Sciences

  • Josh Stanbro, Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency
  • Judith Stilgenbauer, Architecture
  • Konia Freitas, Hawaiian Studies
  • Shadab Shishegar, National Institute of Scientific Research, University of Québec
  • David Ma, Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Wendy Meguro, Sea Grant & Architecture
  • Makena Coffman, Institute for Sustainability and Resilience
  • Philip Garboden, Urban and Regional Planning
  • Ilan Noy, Victoria University of Wellington
  • Ashok Das, Urban and Regional Planning
  • Trigg Talley, U.S. State Department
  • Reza Ghorbani, Mechanical Engineering
  • Dale Jensen, former Makai Ocean Engineering
  • Kawika Winter, Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve & Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology
  • Aida Arik, Urban and Regional Planning
  • Clay Traurnicht, Natural Resources and Environmental Management
  • Chip Fletcher, Earth Sciences
  • Victoria Keener, East-West Center
  • Akira Hibiki, Tohoku University
  • Brad Romine, Sea Grant
  • Peter Schlosser, Arizona State University
  • Noelani Puniwai, Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies
  • Barry Usagawa, Board of Water Supply
  • Hunter Heaivilin, Geography and Environment
  • Maxine Burkett, UH Law
  • Susan Crow, Natural Resources and Environmental Management
  • Lisa C. Kelley, Geography & Environment
  • Patricia Laporte, Natural Resources and Environmental Management
  • Daniele Spirandelli, Urban and Regional Planning
  • Zena Grecni, East-West Center
  • Michael Bruno, Vice Chancellor for Research
  • Matthew Gonser, Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency
  • Jeremy Rifkin, TIR Consulting Group, LLC
  • Rosie Alegado, Oceanography & Sea Grant
  • Kirsten Oleson & Emelia von Saltza, Natural Resources and Environmental Management
  • Naoki Masuhara, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Japan
  • Natalie Kurashima, Kamehameha Schools
  • Danya Hakeem, Elemental Excelerator
  • Kitty Courtney, Tetra Tech
  • John Lynham, Economics
  • Sarah Wiebe, Political Science
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