Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 7, 1 July 2007 — School of Hawaiion Knowledge [ARTICLE]

School of Hawaiion Knowledge

Effective Iuly 1, the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's Hawaiian Studies and Hawaiian language programs will officially merge into one central entity, called Hawai'inuiākea, the School of Hawaiian Knowledge. Staff from both sections had been working on the merger for more than three years, and the UH Board of Regents finally approved the move in May. Hawai'inuiākea will eomhine more than 80 faculty members from the two programs and will teach more than 5,000 students eaeh year, making it one of the largest indigenous studies programs in the world. "Hawaiian language and Hawaiian studies belong togeth-

er," said Hawaiian Studies Director lon Osorio. "We've eaeh been operating without our best hand, and with the merger, we will be able to broaden our curriculum and focus on setting ourselves apart from other schools - not only within UH, but also the nation." The merger will be mainly administrative, as both sections will remain situated in their buildings across eampus from eaeh other, although there are plans to eventually develop a new building for the Hawaiian language unit next to the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies complex on Dole Street. However, the merger means that the Hawaiian Studies department will leave the School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies, and that the Hawaiian language unit will depart from the Hawaiian Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures department. Officials from both programs said that the merger will improve interaction and outreach between the two units, enhanee accessibility to resources and allow for the development of new curricula. In addition, they said that the merger will make it easier for students to doublemajor in Hawaiian language and Hawaiian studies, whieh had heeome more difficult recently.