History 462 - Hawai'i

[US/TE] This seminar approaches the Hawaiian Archipelago as a focal point for examining the environmental, cultural, and economic processes that crisscrossed the Pacific Ocean from the maritime settlement of Polynesia to the present day. As a realm of vibrant cultural development prior to European contact, a hub of missionary and whaling activities, a coaling station for transpacific steamships, a front line in the Second World War, a zone of diasporas during the post-war era, and an epicenter for Pacific Islander social revitalization, Hawaiʻi has much to offer our understanding of globalization and its varied histories. Participants will use translations of Hawaiian-language materials to augment course readings and to open a window into a range of Native Hawaiian viewpoints that remain largely invisible from the historical record. One class meeting per week.

Limited to 18 students. Not open to first-year students. Spring semester. Professor Melillo.