The Lāhui Hawaiʻi Research Center specifically aims to meet the following goals:
- Provide applied critical thinking dialogue for Native Hawaiian students around Hawaiʻi-focused issues,
- Prepare Native Hawaiian students for careers in research and applied thematic content areas like education, policy, health and governance
- Promote a Hawaiian place of learning through convening critical research opportunities
- Promote faculty and student scholarship
- Increase opportunities for Native Hawaiian students and faculty to present and publish their scholarship and research
These goals are aligned to several institutional objectives, namely outcomes from the University of Hawaiʻi System Hawaiʻi Papa o ke Ao and University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Ke Au Hou Native Hawaiian Advancement reports:
- “Foster multidisciplinary (Hawaiian Studies) research” (Ke Au Hou, p. 19)
- “Collaborate with the Hawaiian community to develop and initiate research on problems important to the Hawaiian community” (Ke Au Hou, p. 19)
- “Establish a broad based research collaborative effort” (Ke Au Hou, p. 19)
- “Create opportunities for interactions…hosting at least one conference…each year” (Ke Au Hou, p. 36)
- “Innovative programming (curriculum) using Hawaiian language and culture” (Hawaiʻi Papa o Ke Ao, p. 10)
- “Provide resources for Native Hawaiian undergraduates to attend conference; provide research support, academic support” (Ke Au Hou, p. 30)
- “Create and publish a quarterly journal” (Ke Au Hou, p. 19)
LHRC Student Conference
The Lāhui Hawaiʻi Research Center Student Conference provides a venue for undergraduate and graduate students to present and ideate on their scholarship and research. The conference is held on the UH Mānoa campus, during the spring semester, over the course of 2-3 days. Any native Hawaiian student may submit a presentation proposal or register to attend the conference.
The presentation submission portal will open in January, with registration to follow not long after.
For more information contact us at (808) 956-4288 or by email at nhss@hawaii.edu
2025 8th Annual Student Conference
“He Aupuni Palapala Koʻu”
April 9 & 10, 2025 at Imin Conference Center, UH Mānoa
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Our next Lāhui Hawaiʻi Research Center (LHRC) Student Conference for 2025, “He Aupuni Palapala Koʻu”, honoring the bi-centennial of Kauikeaouliʻs speech in 1825, is happening on Wednesday, April 9th and Thursday, April 10th in persosn at Imin Conference Center, UH Mānoa.
In 1825 Kamehameha III Kauikeaouli delivered an impassioned speech in Honolulu that laid the cornerstone for universal education policy in the 19th century:
ʻO koʻu aupuni, he aupuni palapala koʻu.
ʻO ke aliʻi, ʻo nā keiki a nā aliʻi a me nā keiki a nā makaʻāinana e aʻo i ka naʻauao, a mālama hoʻi i ka pono, ʻo koʻu kanaka ia…
No laila, e nā aliʻi a me nā makaʻāinana, e aʻo ʻoukou i ka palapala.
Kauikeaouli, Honolulu, 1825
With support from other aliʻi, this mandate prompted what Samuel Kamakau described as “he kaula uila” (a streak of lightning) in the hearts of the Hawaiian citizenry across all social classes, in embracing and fulfilling the chiefsʻ mandate of an educated populace. This educational policy elicited a rapid commitment, interest and investment in literacy and education.
Hawaiians were the architects of the educational system that developed in the 19th century, producing a unique and largely unprecedented network of schools, laws, policies, practices, and programs not found in many places around the world at the time. Hawaiian leadership aligned educational goals with national goals of democracy, concepts of the “public good,” as well as the preservation, protection and future possibilities of the country.
This famous speech “He Aupuni Palapala Koʻu” remains a treasured motto today, symbolizing leadership, ownership and engagement in Hawaiian education. This yearʻs Lāhui Hawaiʻi Research Conference recalls this Hawaiian educational legacy and situates our work at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa today while also illuminating the continuation of Kauikeaouliʻs endeavor 200 years ago.
The 2-day conference seeks to feature research from undergraduate and graduate students from UH Mānoa and across the UH System. We invite individual, poster and panel presentations. This year’s conference will be in-person at the IMIN International Conference Center at UH Mānoa on April 9 & 10, 2025.
Tentative Schedule:
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 (In-person at Imin East West Center) from 10 am – 4 pm
Thursday, April 10, 2025 (In-person at Imin East West Center) from 10 am – 4 pm
Both the conference registration and presentation submission portals are now open.
Registration for the 2025 conference is now open.