The UH Mānoa Center for Philippine Studies
is excited to commemorate 50 years of excellence in serving the Filipino community. As we honor the past, we look forward to mobilizing and transforming for a brighter future, inspiring new generations through education and cultural exchange. We’re proud to present a dynamic range of programs in the coming year that reflect our commitment to education, culture, and community engagement.
Highlights will include:
- An art and culture exhibit in collaboration with East-West Center
- iJeepney online K-12 curriculum empowering next gen youth
- A Philippine rare library collections workshop and tour
- Center for Philippine Studies Anthology
- Artist residency workshops featuring local and international talent
- A Filipino-centered Dance Production in collaboration with Department of Theater and Dance
We are dedicated to building on the proud legacy of the Center for Philippine Studies, and we hope to raise $100K in the coming year to strengthen the Philippine Studies Enrichment Fund. This will help us continue empowering learners to embrace their identity and give back to the community through partnerships, knowledge production, advocacy, and the arts. We hope you’ll consider making a gift!
Celebration Events | October to December 2025
Consider a Gift to CPS “Rooted in the Past, Growing Together.“
Six students of state-run Mariano Marcos State University College of Teacher Education (MMSU-CTE) came to Hawaii for the cultural and…
National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) is hosting a Bayanihan Disaster Response Fundraising Drive, Padayon: Tingog ug Kahayag, in support…
Come and watch the Parol Exhibit at the Hawaiʻi State Library, 478 S. King Street, Honolulu. This exhibit will feature…
Come and join the Sakada Day Celebration at Hawaiʻi Plantation Village. Free Admission Date: Saturday, December 13, 2025, 10:00 AM…
Come and learn more about UH Mānoa, and visit the Center for Philippine Studies this Saturday, November 15, 2025 from…
English 271, a course on Philippine-American Literature, will be offered in Spring 2026. Those interested in attending this course may…
Dancing in the Diaspora
Filipino Cultural Production:Dancing in the Diaspora Nov 14, 15, 21, 22, 7:30 pm, Nov 18 (Student showing, 9:00 am, & Nov 23, 2:00 pmJohn F. Kennedy Theatre Dancing in the Diaspora is a collaboration between the Department of Theatre and Dance, Center for Philippine Studies, and Kennedy Theatre This mainstage dance production will explore the experiences of Filipinos navigating belonging and exclusion in Hawai'i and beyond. Featuring Filipino indigenous storytelling, music, and different dance styles, the performance highlights dance as a force for identity, healing, and community.Written and Directed by Dr. J. Lorenzo Perillo.Click here for tickets.Follow on Instagram: @dancinginthediaspora
Adrian Alarilla says: “The Corky Trinidad Endowment Scholarship was a boon for me and my dissertation. I am fortunate that I received it at the right time (in between COVID-19 waves) and I was able to do my fieldwork with relative freedom.”
From his research, Adrian published an article, “Unsettling Islands: Philippine Cinema, Migration and Settler Colonialism,” in the Journal of Philippine Cinema, Vol. 6 (2021).
Emmanuel Jones Mante, MFA student, obtained a Corky Trinidad scholarship grant for his research on Mactan, Cebu entitled “Kadaugan sa Mactan Reenactment: Performing History and the April 27, 1521 Memory of Resistance.”
The award will enable him to do fieldwork in Cebu to retrace the Battle of Mactan involving the local hero, Lapu-Lapu, pitted against the Spanish soldiers under Ferdinand Magellan.
Jake Atienza, MA Sociology 2023, conducted his fieldwork in Cebu to research the consequences of mining. His project was made possible by the Corky Trinidad Endowment Scholarship. The report is now available in Summary. He also published an article in the Victoria University of Wellington’s Comparative Law Journal of the Pacific, 2024. A video of his lecture is found Here. Jake is a PhD student majoring in Global Studies at the University of California-Irving.
Jensen Villaflor, who has a BA in American Studies and a minor in Filipino Language and Culture, is a member of the Honors Program. Her approved project is titled “Kain na Tayo: Food Memory and the Creation of the Filipino Self,” funded by the Corky Trinidad Scholarship.
Jensen had also received a scholarship grant from the Philippine Consulate General of Honolulu-Senator Loren Legarda donation.