The University of Hawaiʻi at ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹â€™s (CSEAS) brought history into sharp focus with a visit from Devaki Murch, a Vietnam War adoptee whose life now shapes how that history is remembered.

As a baby, Murch was part of Operation Babylift, a U.S.-led effort to evacuate children from Vietnam at the end of the war. The first flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Saigon on April 4, 1975. Of the 314 people aboard, 150 survived. Murch was one of them.

At ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹, students, alumni and community members gathered on March 3 in Moore Hall to hear her story. But the talk went beyond survival. It asked a deeper question, who gets to tell history, and how?

Tien Nguyen, a master’s student in , said the lecture connected personal memory with lived experience.

“The fact that Devaki Murch boarded the first babylift flight and survived the fateful plane crash makes her journey even more magical,” Nguyen said. “One thing prevails, as we are all humans who have survived thus far despite the odds, we should feel empowered to do the things we love, regardless of our backgrounds.”

Active participation in the historical record

Murch drew from her work building the . She urged students to see themselves as active participants in shaping the historical record. Today’s research and digital footprints, she said, will become tomorrow’s archives, often without context or consent.

“Traditional archives ask people to trust systems that have already failed them,” Murch said. “Sealed records, classified documentation, institutional protection over individual truth. We needed a different approach.”

Raised in Hawaiʻi, Murch’s story resonated locally. Her lecture tied global conflict to familiar questions about memory, military presence and accountability.

A globally respected historian from the University of Hawaiʻi at ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ has earned one of the highest honors in her field, recognizing decades of scholarship that reshaped how the world understands Southeast Asia.

Professor emerita Barbara Watson Andaya received the from the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), a leading international organization dedicated to advancing research and teaching on Asia.

Andaya is widely known for her work on early modern Southeast Asia. Over the course of her career, her research has significantly influenced how historians interpret the region’s history and cultural development.

“Professor Barbara Andaya has been a true academic treasure to ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ during her career, and we are absolutely delighted to see her hard work and devotion recognized by our international association,” said Miriam Stark, director of the ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ .

Early Path

Known to many as “Barb,” Andaya grew up in Sydney, Australia. With parents involved in science and academia, she developed an early interest in education and research. She earned degrees in history and education from the University of Sydney and began her professional career as a high school teacher.

A shift in curriculum eventually brought her to ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹, where she completed her master’s degree in Southeast Asian history as an East-West Center fellow. She later joined the faculty and was promoted to full professor in 1996.

Research Impact

Her scholarly expertise centers on the Malay-Indonesian world. Since 2014, she has published more than 30 works, including , which was recognized as an outstanding academic title. She also served as director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies from 2000 to 2006.

¶«¾«Ó°Òµ Press Honors

The recognition comes alongside additional accolades tied to ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ. Two titles from the books, and , received 2026 Association for Asian Studies prizes.

University of Hawaiʻi at ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ students played a central role in a landmark Southeast Asian film project now completed after years of collaboration. Through a partnership led by the (CSEAS) and the Vietnam Film Institute in Hanoi, more than 70 classic Vietnamese feature films have been digitized and subtitled in English.

The work began in the classroom. In 2007, CSEAS launched a film translation and subtitling course that trained ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ students with advanced Southeast Asian language skills. Students translated dialogue, timed subtitles and helped prepare films for international viewing. Their work laid the foundation for a long-term effort focused on Vietnamese cinema. Former CSEAS associate director Paul Rausch created the course which was taught by John McGlynn.

Over time, the project grew into one of the program’s most active collaborations. The resulting catalog spans films released between 1959 and 2010.

The films are formatted for streaming on laptops, desktop computers and handheld devices. They are intended for libraries and classrooms, not large theaters or festivals. To support viewers who are hearing impaired, captioning was added alongside English subtitles.

Foundational support for this project was provided through CSEAS‘s designation as a U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center.

For more on the catalog email vietnamcinemalibrary@gmail.com. Go to the for the full story.

—By Motoki Saito Yamamori

The University of Hawaiʻi at ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ hosted the 2025 Southeast Asian Language Council (SEALC) Symposium on September 26 and 27, welcoming more than 100 educators and researchers from across the globe, both in person and online. The two-day gathering showcased innovative research and teaching practices in Southeast Asian language education.

“Our university’s longstanding commitment to Southeast Asian language instruction and the expertise of our faculty and staff made our university an excellent venue for this workshop,” Miriam Stark, director of ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹â€™s (CSEAS). “We were honored to host our SEALC colleagues at the event, and look forward to extending the collaborations that it launched.”

Shared expertise

More than 30 paper and panel presentations explored a wide range of topics, from proficiency-based reading and listening assessments to project-based learning and curriculum innovations. Participants represented leading institutions such as UCLA, Harvard, and universities from across Southeast Asia.

Since its founding, SEALC has been instrumental in strengthening Southeast Asian language teaching in the U.S. and abroad through professional development workshops, materials design, and assessment innovation.

This year’s symposium was supported by funds from a Henry Luce Foundation grant awarded to CSEAS. The event was organized by Jayson Parba and Precious Arao (¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ ), in collaboration with Erlin Barnard of the SEALC Steering Committee and UW–Madison. Additional support was provided by Peter Arnade, dean of the , the SEALC Steering Committee and a dedicated team of volunteers.

—Jayson Parba and Precious Arao

For more than two weeks this summer, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) at the University of Hawaiʻi at ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ welcomed 13 museum and heritage professionals from across Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands to share knowledge, sharpen skills and reflect on shared challenges. CSEAS hosted the inaugural Face2Face Workshop of the Asia-Pacific Museum Exchange (APME)–at ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹, July 15–30.

Each day focused on a theme, from disaster planning and object-based storytelling to digital preservation and curating exhibitions. Sessions were led by local experts and held at institutions such as , , , and . The group also visited ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ resources such as the Hawaiian Pacific Collection, the Center for Oral History and the Campus Arboretum.

Hands-on activities were central. Participants crafted exhibit narratives from their own museum collections and also practiced digital storytelling. Talk story sessions with Hawaiʻi-based professionals, including those with Native Hawaiian heritage, sparked deep conversations on cultural resources, community engagement and digital access.

“This workshop brought together incredible regional expertise and local knowledge,” said Teri Skillman, associate director of CSEAS. “We were honored to host these professionals in Hawaiʻi and to witness the depth of mutual learning and collaboration that emerged. Our goal is to build a network across islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific that supports specialists in cultural and heritage institutions.”

Participants came from Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Palau, Solomon Islands, American Samoa, Saipan and Vanuatu. Their expertise ranged from collections care and exhibition design to cultural education, digital archives, and preservation of Indigenous knowledge.

Platform for collaboration, professional growth, peer support

The 16-day workshop was the first major in-person event since the program launched this spring with a virtual webinar series by the National Park Service’s Museum Management Program. Together, they form a growing platform for collaboration, professional growth and peer support.

APME is a program of the U.S. Department of State’s Heritage Exchange Initiative–a series of cultural heritage focused programs to strengthen ties between the United States and Pacific Island and Southeast Asian nations and build professional networks across the ocean we share. With support from the Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the U.S. National Park Service’s Museum Management Program and CSEAS developed and implemented APME via the Hawaiʻi-Pacific Islands Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU; Task Agreement P24AC00688).

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s has acquired a remarkable piece of history, one of the .

The map comes from a rare Rome edition of Cosmographia by Claudius Ptolemy, a geographer from ancient Alexandria whose ideas shaped how the world was visualized for centuries. This version is special for an additional reason. It was printed by Konrad Sweynheim, a 15th century German printer and engraver who pioneered copperplate printing in Italy.

The map was purchased by the ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ Mānoa and gifted to the library.

“The Center for Southeast Asian Studies is proud to support the Maps and Southeast Asia Collection in Hamilton Library through funding from the National Resource Center grant from the International Foreign Language and Area Studies Program in the U.S. Department of Education,” said Teri Skillman, associate director of CSEAS.

Hamilton Library helped bring the map to life through high-resolution imaging that will allow students and researchers to study it in detail without touching the fragile original.

“This is the oldest map in Hamilton Library and it enhances the already world-class Southeast Asia collection,” said Ted Kwok a geospatial librarian at Hamilton Library.

Rome’s finest maps

Sweynheim began work on the maps in 1474 and trained mathematicians to engrave copper plates, a process that would dominate Italian mapmaking for more than 100 years. Although he died before the atlas was published, his legacy lives on. The plates were completed by his colleague Arnold Buckinck, also known as Pannartz.

Many historians consider the Rome edition to be the finest set of Ptolemaic maps produced before the rise of Gerard Mercator’s world atlas in 1578.

The map will be part of the library’s or MAGIS collection, expanding ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ Mānoa’s holdings in global historical geography.

graduate student at the University of Hawaiʻi at ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ will officially premiere a new short documentary on campus this month spotlighting systemic oppression facing a Pakistani woman. PhD student, Haider Rifaat directed, wrote, narrated and produced In Shackles, which will be screened on Friday, January 24, at 1 p.m. in , Room 306.

The short documentary chronicles the life of Shamim, a 34-year-old Pakistani woman navigating the harsh realities of a patriarchal society in a village in Islamabad. Her story focuses on forced marriage and sexual violence, which are connected to more complex societal problems facing Pakistanis, including religious hypocrisy, impact of family conditioning on children and the culture of silence surrounding violence.

“The film’s title In Shackles is a metaphor to describe helplessness of a woman experiencing personal and professional problems that are connected to broader, more complex societal issues in Pakistan,” said Rifaat.

At only 29 years, Rifaat, who produced the film under his production label Haider Rifaat (HR) Films, is not only a filmmaker but an accomplished journalist and an actor. Through In Shackles, he critiques Pakistan’s legal system, particularly the Child Marriage Restraint Act, which sets the minimum marriage age for girls at 16.

“Although the short documentary supports women’s rights, it also centers on complex sociopolitical and legalistic problems that prevent women from progressing. Just like the controversial zina (illicit sexual intercourse) ordinances incarcerated female rape victims under Zia ul Haq’s controversial regime, laws surrounding child marriages aren’t accomplishing anything better for girls either. Setting the legal age of marriage for girls to 16 years may give families an opportunity to have their daughters marry without consent, which falls under forced marriage,” Rifaat added.

Rifaat’s film will also be released simultaneously on YouTube under following the premiere event.

The premiere is sponsored by the ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ , , and , a policy think tank based in Islamabad, Pakistan.

A newly awarded grant aims to reconnect Filipino youth with their heritage, thanks to an ongoing cultural education project spearheaded by the University of Hawaiʻi at ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ (CSEAS). The center has been awarded a $64,648 National Resource Center grant from the U.S. Department of Education that will support the expansion of the .

Led by ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ Professor Pia Arboleda, who teaches Filipino language and culture at ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹, the workshops are geared toward fostering a sense of belonging and pride among Filipino youth, many of whom are second or third-generation immigrants. First piloted in 2019 at Saint Louis School, Pamana ng Lahi, which means “heritage of the people” in Tagalog, started off as a three-week, intensive course that introduced the Hawaiʻi high schoolers to both the Tagalog-based Filipino language, Philippine geography, food, and other aspects of Filipino culture.

“Pamana ng Lahi speaks of the things that our ancestors bequeathed to us—their language, ancient knowledge, and cultural traditions,” said Arboleda. “The lessons learned go beyond the classroom—they are lessons of identity, heritage, and pride that will stay with them for a lifetime.”

Baybayin, folklore, and food

Since its inception, the program has expanded into even more high schools and has reached more than 200 students across Hawaiʻi and the continental U.S. In the islands, schools like Waipahu, Farrington, Maryknoll, Punahou, and Maui High have hosted workshops featuring lessons in baybayin (ancient Philippine script), food, folklore and mythology, with more tailored programming planned under the new funding.

A Maui High student described that the workshop helped them discover a part of themselves that they didn’t realize was missing.

Pamana ng Lahi continues to broaden its reach. On September 30, Arboleda presented a special talk titled which focused on the food culture of the central Philippines.

Editor’s note: The federal government withdrew grant funding for this research in 2025.

A groundbreaking project by University of Hawaiʻi at ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ researchers to document the cultural heritage of Cambodia’s Kuy communities has been supported by a new three-year, $126,265 grant from the .

Professor and Director Miriam Stark and National Chengchi University Associate Professor Courtney Work (also a ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ graduate affiliate faculty member in anthropology) are co-directing the project “Of Water, Crocodiles, and Kings: Co-producing Kuy history in the Prey Lang Forest, Cambodia.” Responding to the Kuy communities’ request, the project will train local community residents in documenting culturally important sites. This collaborative approach seeks to decolonize knowledge production by ensuring Kuy perspectives shape the research process.

The Kuy people have maintained their cultural practices through significant historical periods, including the Khmer Empire, French colonialism, and the Khmer Rouge era. However, they now face challenges from rapid economic development and deforestation.

“This project resonates with Hawaiʻi’s efforts to preserve Indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage, highlighting the University of Hawaiʻi’s commitment to supporting Indigenous communities locally and globally,” Stark said.

Starting January 2025, the team will conduct ethnographic and archaeological fieldwork in five Kuy communities. The project brings together specialists from multiple fields to help preserve oral traditions and sacred places, largely under Work’s direction. Stark will lead the archaeological documentation and training program component.

By combining Indigenous and academic skills and knowledge, the initiative aims to provide new insights into how oral traditions, documented histories, and pre-Angkorian material remains interact in living landscapes. The findings will contribute to K–12 history lessons and provincial museum exhibits, supporting local knowledge production and grassroots historical perspectives.

The Department of Anthropology is housed in ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹â€™s and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies is housed in ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹â€™s .

The University of Hawaiʻi at ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ is expanding its (CAPA) initiative this fall, providing students with valuable skills and knowledge to pursue careers in government, education, business, and the nonprofit sector related to the Asia-Pacific region. Launched in October 2023 by the (SPAS), CAPA aims to bolster career readiness and professional development opportunities for ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ students.

• Related ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ News story: New Asia-Pacific affairs career initiative in motion, October 10, 2023

This semester, CAPA is rolling out a new webinar speaker series, beginning with “International Education Careers: Nothing Adventured, Nothing Attained” on September 18 at 3 p.m. via Zoom. ()

“Our first CAPA talk of the fall series will feature ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ alumni who have teaching careers overseas,” said Teri Skillman, associate director at ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ (CSEAS). “They will speak about their process of obtaining a job, the value of the ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ degree, and the importance of their language skills in their education career.”

Strategic grant funding

The CAPA initiative complements the Indo-Pacific Affairs Initiative in SPAS, supported by Congressionally-directed funding from 2022–25, which aims to strengthen ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹â€™s expertise in Asia and the Pacific Islands. This funding supports various components, including the newly established Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs, paid internships, visiting experts, and enhanced educational and professional development opportunities.

A key component of CAPA is a $1.13 million grant from the International Foreign Language and Area Studies Office of the U.S. Department of Education, which designates CSEAS as a National Resource Center (NRC). This funding aims to enhance career readiness using Southeast Asian languages and area studies expertise.

“The absolute priorities for the grant align with the ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ system career readiness priorities and with the state’s ,” said Miriam Stark, director at CSEAS. “This is an effort to enhance career readiness using Southeast Asian languages and area studies expertise to succeed in the workplace and meet national needs.”

Inaugural course

This fall, CAPA also introduced its first course, ASAN 305: Career Pathways in Asian Studies, which explores various careers related to and helps students develop the skills needed to translate academic success into meaningful careers.

“It’s a hands-on course that draws on our recent research on Asia-related workforce needs and alumni placements, putting those research results to practical use for our students,” said Cathryn Clayton, an associate professor and chair of Asian studies who developed and teaches the course.

CAPA’s upcoming events include workshops on civic engagement, funding opportunities, and publication writing, providing students with comprehensive resources to navigate Asia-Pacific related careers.