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.“
Recently published book, Advancing Filipino in the Diaspora: Language Pegagogy, Identity and Practice, edited by Dr. Jayson Parba, UH Filipino…
Please come and join us for a lecture by Glenda M. Gloria, co-founder and executive director of Rappler (a digital…
Join the fundraiser for journalism scholarships, professional development and programming. Date: September 18, 2026, Friday Venue: Dole Cannery, 735 Iwilei…
Jeffrey Lorenzo Perillo is an associate professor of theatre & dance in the College of Arts, Languages and Letters. He…
Evelyn Mangadlao is a janitor with Facilities and Campus Operations, assigned to the Department of Theatre and Dance and Kennedy…
Important Announcement: The Aquino archive is now OPEN to the public! The Belinda Aquino Philippine Studies Collection is housed at eVols of…
New Book: Advancing Filipino Language in the Diaspora, edited by Jayson Parba, PhD
Recently published book, Advancing Filipino in the Diaspora: Language Pegagogy, Identity and Practice, edited by Dr. Jayson Parba, UH Filipino Program Coordinator at IPLL, is now available. Published by Multilingual Matters, you may order it for a discount in September with code: BRU30. "This edited volume examines Filipino language education across diaspora contexts, exploring how migration and sociopolitical conditions shape language use, identity, teaching and maintenance. Addressing a major gap in heritage language education and applied linguistics, it foregrounds the underrepresented work of Filipino language educators and highlights grassroots, community-driven work. It challenges native speakerism and monolingual ideologies to promote…
Louward Allen Zubiri, PhD Linguistics ’24 from UH Mānoa, was awarded the Alfonso Yuchengco Endowment Fund to partially support his dissertation fieldwork in the Philippines during the Summer of 2023. In addition to his completed dissertation (ProQuest Publication No. 31491135), another output derived from his dissertation research is an article on Assessing Intergenerational Transmission of Bikol. In 2024, he also received an Excellence in Research Award from UH for his work on the Bikol language.
Haruka Kei Waseda is an M.A. student in Asian Studies (’24) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, specializing in the Philippines. She is a recipient of the Belinda Aquino Endowment, which supported her research titled “Examining Transnational Ilokano Nikkei-jin/Diaspora in Japan and their Impact on the Ilocos Region. Her research explores the experiences of transnational Ilokano Nikkei-jin (Japanese descendants)/diaspora in Japan and their influences on Ilocos.
Haruka submitted her fieldwork report shortly after her graduation. Please click this LINK to read it.
Kaelyn Howard is an MA student in Ethnomusicology at UH Mānoa. Her research focuses on Philippine folk and art song traditions, and as a classical singer she prioritizes Philippine art songs and African American spirituals. Kaelyn received the Corky Trinidad Endowment for a collaborative concert project between the Center of Philippine Studies and Department of Music in October 2025. The program Art Songs of the Philippines celebrates Philippine vocal music, presenting a variety of repertoire written by past and present Filipino composers.
Orlyn Joyce Esquivel is a PhD Candidate in Linguistics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and a recipient of the Corky Trinidad Endowment Scholarship. She is also a student in the Second Language Studies (SLS) Advanced Graduate Certificate (AGC) program. Her research primarily focuses on the documentation and acquisition of Ayta Magbukun, an endangered Indigenous language in the Philippines. She also examines Tagalog within the frameworks of second language acquisition, psycholinguistics, and interactional linguistics (with a particular focus on discourse particles).