Place-Based Book Club for Teaching within the Context of Hawaiʻi
The Place-Based Book Club invites new and long-standing faculty to participate in thoughtful discussions about teaching on our campus. Through engaging with carefully selected readings, participants explore strategies to better support student success and deepen their understanding of Hawaiʻi’s rich cultural landscape.
Featured Book of the Spring Place-Based Book Club
For the Spring 25 semester, our book club will discuss Kanaka ‘Ōiwi Methodologies: Mo‘olelo and Metaphor with the editors and contributors of the book. Kanaka ʻŌiwi Methodologies: Moʻolelo and Metaphor is a collection of “methods-focused” essays written by Kanaka scholars across academic disciplines at UH Mānoa.
The book is available for loan at the OFDAS Place-Based Library and online through the Hamilton Library.
Visit the Place-Based Book Club Roundtable event page for more information.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is dedicated to becoming a Native Hawaiian place of learning. The university community is made up of diverse cultural and linguistic groups who contribute to the core mission of the University to “to serve the people and places of Hawaiʻi, and our neighbors in the Pacific and Asia” (quoted from UH Mānoa Strategic Plan 2015-2025). Our faculty comes from across the globe, bringing a wealth of perspectives and often limited experience with Hawaiʻi’s unique cultural and educational context. The Place-Based Book Club fosters a collaborative exchange of ideas, empowering faculty to create inclusive and culturally responsive learning environments.
Place-based educational approaches encourage teaching and learning that are grounded in the land, peoples, history, and cultures of the place. The Place-Based Book Club will provide an open forum for deep conversations about:
- What aloha ʻāina means and how it can be implemented in teachings and learnings happening on our campus
- Hawaiʻi’s cultural heritage and how it should inform and guide our pedagogy
- How the historical and cultural underpinnings of the place (may) affect student interactions and relationships in the classroom.
The Place-Based Education Library promotes faculty awareness about teaching within the context of Hawaiʻi. Visit our Place-Based Library page for more information.
OFDAS-CTE houses a Place-Based Education Library where faculty can borrow books about Hawaiʻi and increase their knowledge of the islands. Our library has the print version of Kanaka ‘Ōiwi Methodologies: Mo‘olelo and Metaphor available for the UH Mānoa community for loan up to four weeks.
The book is also available online through the Hamilton Library. Please click here to access.
Place-Based Book Club for Teaching within the Context of Hawaiʻi is supported by Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD Network) to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion across the higher education institutions. The OFDAS Center for Teaching Excellence will coordinate book clubs for Spring 25, Fall 25, and Spring 26 semesters at UH Mānoa. All faculty, staff, and campus community members are encouraged to join.