Studying at UH Mānoa enables one to learn about the Philippines and its people, Filipinos in the diaspora, the multiple meanings of the “people power revolution,” aspects of traditional and contemporary culture, and many other topics. For Filipinos and Filipino Americans, such study is a means to reconnect with Filipino heritage and to reestablish ties. For all students it articulates values and traditions important to Filipino identity, fosters an understanding and appreciation of that identity, and develops skills for functioning in Filipino settings. Our faculty members incorporate these dimensions of knowledge in their teaching, while at the same time recognizing and respecting the diverse cultures and peoples in Hawai‘i and the rest of the United States.
Philippine Studies Courses at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Courses with substantive content (at least 25%) on the Philippines/Filipinos at UHM are listed below. These courses are not identified as Philippine Studies courses in the University UH Catalog 2024-2025. They carry the name of the department offering them, for example, Asian Studies (ASAN), Political Science (POLS), etc. See UH Catalog for full description of courses.
**Denotes class was offered in Fall 2024
ANTHROPOLOGY (ANTH)
- ANTH 446: Southeast Asian Cultures**
- ANTH 461: Southeast Asian Archaeology
- ANTH 486: Peoples of Hawaii**
AMERICAN STUDIES (AMST)
- AMST 318 (cross-listed ES 318): Asian America** (Cross-listed as ED 318)
- AMST 373: (cross-listed ES 373): Filipino Americans: History, Culture and Politics**
ASIAN STUDIES (ASAN)
- ASAN 202: Intro to Asian Studies: Southeast Asia**
- ASAN 320S: Asia Past & Present: SE Asia**
- ASAN 356: Geography of Southeast Asia**
- ASAN 361: Southeast Asian Literature in Translation (Cross-listed as IP 361)
- ASAN 406: Modern Philippines** (Cross-listed as HIST 406)
- ASAN 407 (cross-listed PACE 407): Peace processes in Philippines & Hawaii**
- ASAN 478: Musical Cultures: Philippines included (Cross-listed as MUS 478)
- ASAN 484: Political Violence in SE Asia**
- ASAN 491P: Topics in Asian Studies (Philippines)
- ASAN 600 (Alpha): Approaches to Asian Studies (Philippines)
DANCE (DNCE)
- DNCE 107: Intro to Philippine Dance**
- DNCE 307: Philippine Dance I**
- DNCE 407: Philippine Dance II**
ECONOMICS (ECON)
- ECON 311: The Economy of Hawaiʻi**
EDUCATION: EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS (EDEF)
- EDEF 360: Intro to Multicultural Education**
ETHNIC STUDIES (ES)
- ES 101A: Introduction to Ethnic Studies
- ES 233: Filipinos in Diaspora
- ES 301: Ethnic Identity**
- ES 318: Asian America (Cross-listed as AMST 361)
- ES 333: Filipinos in Hawaiʻi**
- ES 360: Immigration to Hawai’i
- ES 486: Peoples of Hawaii**
- ES 495: Hawaiian Labor History**
FILIPINO (FIL)
- FIL 101/102: Beginning Filipino**
- FIL 201/202: Intermediate Filipino**
- FIL 301: Third Level Filipino I**
- FIL 315: Filipino Aural Comprehension
- FIL 330: Filipino Film: Art and History
- Fil 401/402: Fourth Level Filipino**
- FIL 415: Advanced Filipino Aural Comprehension
- FIL 435: Filipino Translation Techniques
- FIL 451: Structure of Filipino
- FIL 461: Philippine Contemporary Literature
- FIL 462: Filipino Contemporary Literature – 1980s to Present
HISTORY (HIST)
- HIST 305/306: History of Southeast Asia**
- HIST 406: Modern Philippines** (Cross-listed as ASAN 406)
- HIST 655: Seminar: Island Southeast Asia
- HIST 656: Topics in Southeast Asia
ILOKANO (ILO)
- ILO 101/102: Beginning Ilokano**
- ILO 201/202: Intermediate Ilokano**
- ILO 301/302: Third-Level Ilokano**
- ILO 315: Ilokano Aural Comprehension
- ILO 331: Contemporary Ilokano Literature
- ILO 401/402: Fourth Level Ilokano
- ILO 424: Intro to Ilokano for Interpreters
- ILO 425: Ilokano Interpretation Field Practicum
- ILO 451: Structure of Ilokano
- ILO 486: Ilokano for the Mass Media
INDO-PACIFIC LANGUAGES & LITERATURE (IPLL)
- IP 360P: SE Asian Food, Music and Rituals**
- IP 361: SE Asian Lit & Translation** (Cross-listed as IP 361)
- IP 362: Philippne Drama – History, Art, Culture
- IP 363: Philippine Literature in English**
- IP 364: Philippine Popular Culture**
- IP 368: Introduction to Southeast Asian Film, History, Theory and Appreciation
- IP 370P: SE Travelogue, PHL**
- IP 375: Philippine Games, Sports and Martial Arts
- IP 376: Filipino Diasporic Literature**
- IP 377: Critical Discourses in IPLL Studies (Philippines)
- IP 382: Philippine Visual Art from Burial Jars to Burning Effigies
- IP 389: Theories in Ilokano Studies
- IP 391: Literary Cultural Relations (Philippines & Southeast Asia)
- IP 394: Philippine Sociolinguistics**
- IP 396: Philippine Lit/Folklore in Translation**
- IP 411: Ilokano Lit in Translation**
- IP 431: Rizal’s Literary Works in Translation**
- IP 432: The Writings of Carlos Bulosan
LINGUISTICS (LING)
LING 346: The Philippine Language Family
LING 394: Philippine Sociolinguistics – Language Use, Ideologies and Identities
LING 770: Areal Linguistics: Philippines
MUSIC (MUS)
MUS 311G: Philippine Ensemble I
MUS 478: Musical Cultures: Philippines and other countries (Cross-listed as ASAN 478)
PACIFIC ISLANDS STUDIES (PACS)
- PACS 301: Pacific Communities in Hawaii
PEACE & CONFLICT EDUCATION (PACE)
- PACE 407: Peace processes in Philippines & Hawaii** (Cross-listed as ASAN 407)
POLITICAL SCIENCE (POLS)
- POLS 307B: Topics in Comparative Politics: Philippines**
- POLS 685: Topics in Asian/Pacific Politics**
- POL 686: Politics in Hawaii**
SOCIOLOGY (SOC)
- SOC 456 Ethnicity and Racism in Hawaii**
- SOC 492: Politics of Multiculturalism
Have you taken a lot of these courses already? Get certified for your hard work with a Graduate Certificate in Philippine Studies!
Graduate Certificate in Philippine Studies
The Graduate Certificate Program in Philippine Studies, offered by the Asian Studies Program, affords a structured way for graduate and professional students to gain cutting-edge knowledge of the Philippine HISTORY, POLITICS and CULTURE, augment their major field of study, and enhance future employment opportunities. With a wide variety of courses crosscutting many disciplines, students can tailor the certificate program to meet their academic and career goals.
For further information, please see the Asian Studies Program website.
Who is Eligible to Apply?
Students currently enrolled in any Master’s, Doctoral, or Professional degree program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa who would like to add a specialized and interdisciplinary dimension on the Philippines to their studies.
Academic Requirements
Working with a designated academic advisor, students in the Graduate Certification for Philippine Studies Program will complete eighteen credit hours of approved coursework on the Philippines at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, to include:
- Fifteen (15) credits (usually five courses) from at least two major divisions (social sciences, humanities, or arts) with no more than nine credits in a single discipline. Students should get a grade of B or higher for their courses to count. Please see attached list of approved courses.
- Of the fifteen credits, a minimum of nine (9) credits in graduate-level courses (600-level or higher).[1] Students should get a grade of B or higher in their courses.
- ASAN 600P: Scope and Methods in Asian Studies: Philippines, culminating with a research paper on a topic related to the Philippines and/or Filipinos. Students may substitute this course for ASAN 600S or equivalent methodology course upon approval from the Center for Philippine Studies academic advisor.
- Language competency at the third-year level: requirements to be met either through coursework (Tagalog/Filipino and Ilokano 301/302) or equivalent examination. Language courses do not count toward minimum credit requirements for the Graduate Certificate.
Academic advising is provided by the Center for Philippine Studies at Moore Hall 414 in consultation with various departments and programs. Contact Dr. Federico Magdalena (fm@hawaii.edu) for advising and academic matters.
How to Apply to the Graduate Certificate in Philippine Studies Program
Individuals already admitted to an UHM graduate degree program need apply only to the Center for Philippine Studies in the Department of Asian Studies, School of Pacific and Asian Studies (SPAS). Non-degree seeking individuals must apply to the Graduate Division and the Center for Philippine Studies.
[1] This is a Grad Division minimum requirement. Also from the Grad Division: 1) 399 or 499-level courses are not applicable for a Grad Certificate; 2) 100- or 200-level courses are not applicable; 3) neither credits nor grade points are awarded for a lower-level prerequisite course, if the course is taken after the higher-level course (for which it is a prerequisite) is completed; 4) extension courses are not applicable; 5) only credits earned with required letter grades may be applied (exceptions are for courses that only offer CR/NC option and for 699 credits with CR designation).
2014
Abraham Flores, Jr.
2011
Cecilia D. Noble
2007
Maria Elena Clariza
Daniel Labarca
Jason Maligmat
2006
Yoko Ide
2002
Sylvana C. Alombro
1997
Roderick Labrador
Note: Please email us at cps@hawaii.edu if you finished a Graduate Certificate in Philippine Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Baccalaureate Degrees (BA)
CPS is not a degree-granting unit. However, it coordinates with Indo-Pacific Pacific Languages and Literatures and the Department of Asian Studies through training and teaching courses with Philippine Studies content. Faculty and staff from the Center are assigned courses to teach, such as ASAN 407 (Philippines and Hawaii), and Filipino/Ilokano courses (ILO 101, 102) at Asian Studies and IPLL. Some faculty from the Filipino and Ilokano programs were also recruited to train in the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad conducted in Cebu in 2022 to learn the basic Cebuano language at the University of San Carlos, Cebu City. This will hopefully prepare IPLL for a future offering of a Cebuano course
The Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures (IPLL) at the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa is the first of its kind in the United States, to offer a Bachelor’s degree in Philippine Language and Literature, with emphasis on Filipino/Tagalog and Ilokano. It also offers four levels of Filipino/Tagalog and Ilokano language study. More details on the Filipino program are found Here, while those on the Ilokano program are available on this Site.
BA degrees with a Philippine interdisciplinary concentration are also offered through the Asian Studies and Liberal Studies Programs. About 151 courses focusing on the Philippines/Filipinos are offered by various departments/programs at the UHM Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Department of Ethnic Studies, and History Department, among others.
The Asian Studies Program with a Philippine focus offers courses combining history, language, social sciences, and other aspects of Filipino culture and society. The Liberal Studies Program option allows students to design their program of study leading to a “major equivalent” consisting of 36 semester credit hours of Philippine-related courses in two or more departments.
Graduate Degrees (MA/PhD)
CPS is not a degree-granting unit. However, it coordinates with Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures and the Department of Asian Studies through training and teaching courses with Philippine Studies content.
MA with a Philippine Studies major is offered by the Asian Studies Program. Students can also pursue an MA with a Philippine concentration in various departments, including political science, linguistics, economics, sociology, anthropology, etc.
As of 2024, among the top units offering graduate degrees (MA or PhD) with a concentration in Philippine Studies are: Department of Asian Studies (MA program only), Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures (MA, PhD), Department of Sociology/Anthropology (MA and PhD), Department of Music (MA, PhD), Schidler College of Business (MA, PhD), Department of American Studies, and Ethnic Studies (MA), among others.
Doctoral degrees with a Philippine concentration are offered by the various departments. There is no MA or Ph.D. in Philippine Studies.
Click here for Application Tips for Graduate Students