Critical Pacific Islander Studies Fellowship
Kanani D'Angelo, graduate student, Landscape Architecture; City Planning, “Urban Ahupua'a Restoration in Pu'uloa”
Ahupua’a are traditional Hawaiian land management systems that often follow geographical or watershed boundaries. Historically, ahupua’a were agriculturally- and spiritually-based land divisions, and oftentimes were centered along a stream or other water source. Today, many communities across the pae ʻāina (nation) have been actively working to restore their ahupuaʻa and sacred sites, particularly in rural and agricultural areas where the traditional system--which often includes loʻi kalo (taro field) and loko iʻa (fishponds)--still clearly translates.
With the development of Honolulu and of Oʻahu, many of the island’s ahupuaʻa have been urbanized to a point in which they are unrecognizable, making restoration nearly incomprehensible. As an ancestral resident of ʻAiea, an urban ahupuaʻa just outside of Honolulu, and a steward of Loko I’a Pāʻaiau, a fishpond in the neighboring ahupuaʻa of Kalauao, I have spent much of my life getting to know these complex ahupuaʻa, and supporting restoration efforts where possible. This thesis expands on these practices through the recounting of moʻolelo (stories) and histories, ahupuaʻa-wide visioning and site specific design proposals.
Monica De La Cruz, graduate student, Social Welfare, “Just as harmful as sticks and stones: Public assistance narratives and their impact on Pasifika and Black women”
Narratives play a powerful role in shaping and advancing social change. They directly influence which policies are enacted and how marginalized groups are socially constructed. This is particularly evident in how poverty narratives have shaped the reform of anti-poverty government programs, such as welfare, and continue to stigmatize current programs aimed at alleviating poverty as well as people experiencing poverty. Despite the role these narratives play, few studies have explored how they impact people living in poverty. Understanding their impact is essential for reimagining societal approaches to poverty. In this study, I use in-depth interview data to explore the experiences navigating poverty narratives of 40 Pasifika (Pacific Islander) and Black women who had sought public assistance. Two advisory boards (one from each community) helped shape the interview questions, research procedures, and ensured the research remained aligned with their values. Preliminary results suggest that participants’ experiences with public assistance were shaped by harmful poverty narratives, often leading to feelings of being judged as lazy or undeserving. Racism further compounded these issues, with Black women experiencing overt discrimination and Pasifika women encountering subtler but still pervasive biases. Both groups cited societal messaging pressuring them to appear strong, limiting their ability to seek help without feeling stigmatized. Pasifika women, in particular, felt the added burden of representing their community’s success. These findings confirm the damaging effects of current poverty narratives and highlight the urgent need to shift public discourse to one that recognizes the structural factors of poverty rather than individual blame.
Jada Lee, undergraduate student, Society and Environment (College of Natural Resources), “The Ripple Effect: Exploring the Impact of the Absence of PI Faculty on the Academic Success, Curriculum Representation, and Overall Experience of PI Students at UC Berkeley”
This study explores the impacts of the lack of Pacific Islander faculty at UC Berkeley on the representation of Pacific Islander perspectives in educational discourse, curriculum, and overall academic experience of PI students. The lack of Pacific Islander faculty contributes to the misrepresentation of PI in the limited capacity that it is featured in UC Berkeley classes, compounded with the broader tendency of combining Asian American and Pacific Islander ethnic groups, which often can conflate distinct lived experiences. Through interviews with Pacific Islander students and faculty, and non-PI faculty involved in AAPI studies, and a comparative analysis of other institutions with a larger presence of PI faculty, this study aims to highlight the gaps within efforts to include PI studies in Ethnic Studies programs without PI teaching faculty actively involved and what challenges this poses for PI students regarding research and mentorship opportunities. This study emphasizes the need for representation of Pacific Islanders in faculty to ensure a more inclusive and empowering environment for PI students in higher education.
Arianna Lunow-Luke, graduate student, Ethnic Studies, “Ka Nani o Kailua: Restoring Asian and Kanaka Maoli Place-Based Stories in Kailua, Oʻahu”
Kailua, Oʻahu, once a thriving center for sustainable agriculture and an established Hawaiian community, is now overshadowed by development, tourism, and military presence. As a result, many long-term residents, namely Kānaka Maoli and Asian locals, feel disconnected from their home. In collaboration with historian Barbara Pope and Opportunity Youth Action Hawaiʻi at Kawailoa, my project aims to re-center Kailua’s rich cultural narratives through a public-facing zine that highlights place-based stories, emphasizing the importance of historical and contemporary connections to the land. Drawing on diverse archival materials, oral histories, and autoethnographic fieldwork, the zine will document the intersectionalities of local Asian and Kanaka Maoli histories, fostering a deeper understanding of collective care for place among its audiences. Over the course of a year, I will gather archival and ethnographic materials through fieldwork in Kailua and weave them into a multimedia zine, ultimately creating an educational tool for local families, educators, and community members. By amplifying underrepresented voices and histories, this initiative aims to inspire a renewed sense of belonging and responsibility towards Kailua when it comes to ecological and cultural restoration. This work not only enriches collective understanding of Kailua's past but also serves as a catalyst for action towards a more equitable and resilient future for Hawaiʻi. As a fourth generation Chinese settler of Hawaiʻi who was born and raised in Kailua my entire life, this project is grounded in my own lived experiences and personal responsibilities as a non-Native person who views Hawaiʻi as home.
Sophia Perez, graduate student, Geography, “Reparations for Mariana Islanders”
Training ranges and military bases on Guam have historically contaminated the islands’ main aquifer, required the destruction of the islands’ old growth limestone forests, introduced invasive species like the brown tree snake which in turn destroyed Guam’s bird population, made inaccessible or outright destroyed ancient Chamorro sites where historical artifacts could have been collected and studied, and allegedly exposed the islands’ residents to Agent Orange and Agent Purple. Taken together, these developments reduce the economic prospects and quality of life of the Chamorro people and erode the invaluable indigenous social network through which the Chamorro culture and language are practiced, pushing Chamorro families—like my own—to emigrate to the U.S. My intention is to provide critical theory and research to take inventory of the multifaceted harms that the people of Guam have suffered as a result of U.S. colonialism and militarism from WWII to present and form an argument about what remediation and reparations (including, but not restricted to cash payments) are required for the Chamorro people to have a chance at an equitable future.
Kieren Rudge, graduate student, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management, “Military-adaptation complex: How federal climate action reproduces colonial structures of marginalization across non-self-governing islands”
Adapting to climate change is crucial for islands, as they are disproportionately vulnerable to climate impacts. Non-self-governing territories like Guåhan and the Northern Mariana Islands face further challenges due to their limited political rights within their colonized status and the U.S. military’s violent control over lands, seas, and decision-making processes concerning those once-sovereign environments. In these territories, the Department of Defense implements climate change adaptation measures within their bases to ostensibly support operational readiness through infrastructure like sea walls and flood barriers. On non-military land, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is one of the most powerful institutions guiding adaptation. This project will analyze the role that these two parallel processes of climate change adaptation serve in perpetuating a military power structure within and beyond formal military-controlled spaces. Through community-engaged qualitative methods, I aim to illuminate procedural injustice dimensions of these military-led adaptation planning processes. I plan to demonstrate how the USACE and U.S. military are collectively reproducing a military-adaptation complex in the Marianas, where climate action is another process through which the military apparatus exerts power over local communities and environments. This may demonstrate that island communities' self-determination and wellbeing require transformative climate justice solutions rather than adaptation aligned with dominant sociopolitical systems.
Sean Sakamoto, undergraduate student, English; Film & Media, “Analyzing Connotational Differences Between Native and Nonnative Translators in English to Hawaiian Translations of Hawaiian Cultural and Legal Documents”
This project aims to assess differences in the translation of pre colonial Hawaiian cultural and legal documents into English by translators of kanaka Hawai’i (Native Hawaiian) and those of non-native descent. In particular, I’ll be attending to patterns of the use of non neutral language in the translations. My focus will be on several key texts: the Kumulipo (Hawaiian creation chant), Ke Kanawai Māmalahoe (“The Law of the Splintered Paddle”), and Ke Kumukānāwai a me nā Kānāwai o ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina, 1840 (known in English as “The 1840 Constitution of Hawai’i”, or the first written constitution of the Hawaiian kingdom). I will focus on word choice and connotation. The intent of these comparisons is to assess inherent biases or miscommunications between the language of the original and the language of the translation. Given the cultural and political significance of these texts, their rendering into English has had significant implications for the politics of communication regarding the Hawaiian Kingdom within English audiences. Notable divergences in meaning or delivery between the original texts and their translations (situated in the biographical context of the translators) may recontextualize an understanding of how different non native or foreign political interest groups interacted with regards to the Hawaiian government throughout the reign of the Kamehameha dynasty until the overthrow of Queen Lili’uokalani.
Critical Southeast Asian American Studies Fellowship
Annelle Maranan Garcia, graduate student, Sociology, “Together in Struggle: Anticolonial International Solidarities across Filipina/x/o, Palestinian, and Puerto Rican Diasporas”
Activists have long recognized the interconnectedness of anticolonial struggles. Much scholarship has examined the imperial and neo/colonial contexts under which the Filipino, Palestinian, and Puerto Rican diasporas have come to fruition and organized their communities through diasporic anticolonial activism. Using activist history and international solidarity as a point of departure, I aim to study the parallels, divergences, and collaborations between transnational Filipina/x/o American anti-imperialist movements and transnational movements for Palestinian and Puerto Rican liberation. Through interviews and archival research, this project examines the anticolonial solidarities between these three diasporas from the perspective of activists and community organizers in the US. The study takes a comparative and relational approach to understanding diasporic anticolonial solidarities, examining how they are conceived and actualized, and how they in turn inform diasporic organizing tactics. Furthermore, it aims to articulate how different anticolonial movements understand their respective neo/colonial situations and those of other neo/colonial subjects, lending further insight to the ways in which colonial power exerts itself in the lives of diasporic migrants. Contributing careful attention to the divergences between these three contexts - the Philippines being an independent former US colony, Puerto Rico as a current US territory, and Palestine being a US-enabled colony - the project encourages a deeper examination into the variations of US imperial and neocolonial power.
Margaret Lee, graduate student, Social Welfare, “Exploring Laotian and Hmong Sense of Futurity in the California Central Valley: A Multisited Qualitative Study of Community-Based Organizations”
This study explores the marginalized and invisibilized experiences of Laotian and Hmong immigrant communities in California’s Central Valley, focusing on the vital but under-resourced community-based organizations (CBOs) that work with them. The Central Valley is uniquely situated at the intersection of rural isolation, economic disparities, and cultural diversity. Since arriving in large numbers in the 1970s and 1980s, mostly as refugees, Laotian and Hmong immigrant communities in the Central Valley have contributed greatly to the local agricultural economy, preserved and enriched their cultural practices, and found survival and belonging in various ways. At the same time, they faced historical and ongoing exclusion from mainstream services and opportunities, and have been and remain vulnerable to socioeconomic instability, mental health issues, and uncertain futures. Asian-led CBOs have played an indispensable role in buttressing these communities’ strengths and addressing their unmet social and economic needs. These organizations, though crucial, are stretched thin, struggling to address complex needs such as mental health and economic security. Using ethnographic observation and qualitative interviews with service providers and community members, this study delves into how CBOs navigate the systemic barriers of underfunding and marginalization. The study aims to highlight the intersection of cultural capital and systemic inequities, drawing attention to the underutilized potential of these communities and their organizations. Findings will offer insights into how tailored interventions—rooted in understanding their unique cultural and economic contexts—can strengthen mental health support and socio-economic opportunities.
Charles Luu, undergraduate student, Urban Studies; Music, “Returning to Hell Island: Passage of Time and Spatial Use of Refugees during the Vietnam War”
I wish to rediscover the interpersonal histories of Vietnam War refugees lost in translation when retold through official documents and statistical examinations by approaching them with a critical lens, concentrating on primary lived experiences, and implementing the evolution of space and the passage of time into my research. By focusing on Palau Bidong, or “Hell Island,” as a case study, my archival research will illuminate one of the most extreme examples of refugee living during the Vietnam War. Previous research concerning the Vietnam War often dilutes the lived experiences of refugees, or “boat people,” and the personalized hardships faced by each individual; statistics and assumptions do not assess what it means to have lived through refugee experiences, only stating from an inhumane, third person perspective that these phenomena ‘happened’ or that they ‘existed some time ago.’ Compared to previous statistical research, oral insights and narratives are uncensored and personal—a point of view unachievable through secondary resources. Although quantitative research contributes to historical analysis, primary experiences add incredibly critical information about the psychological effects of refugee living and how time and space in Palau Bidong affected them. Awareness of refugee experiences between their escape from Vietnam and setting foot on U.S. soil must be considered, as such an understanding provides the foundation for Southeast Asian American history.
James Sun, graduate student, Ethnic Studies, “Tracing the Sociopolitical History of Southeast Asian Farmers in Fresno, California”
After the fall of Saigon in 1975, waves of Southeast Asian refugees came to the U.S., many of whom took up livelihoods in agriculture. Not much literature has focused on Hmong, Lao, Mien, and Cambodian people, let alone the integral nature of their farming to their communities, livelihoods, identities, and our economies. My research will document the transnational history of Southeast Asian agrarian diasporas in California. Collectively, more than 1300 Southeast Asian families on farms produced more than 21,000 tons of produce in Fresno County worth an estimated $25.7 million in 2019. On top of navigating a foreign soil and culture, they also face racial discrimination, climate change-induced environmental effects (e.g., wildfires, drought, rising temperatures), issues with land ownership, and language barriers. Through oral histories and archival research, I will elucidate the shifting dynamics of the Hmong agricultural economy within a different sociopolitical context, and the relationships among food, farmers, and markets in the U.S. economy.
Sydney To, graduate student, Department of English, “An Existentialist Literary History of the Vietnamese Diaspora”
My project examines one of the most compelling but under-appreciated threads of Vietnamese literature, which flowered in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) and continues across the diaspora: existentialism. I focus upon writers whose turn to existentialism arises from the attempt to mediate or choose between Vietnamese communism and anti-communism. This can be called “politicized existentialism” in contrast to a more typical post-structuralist stance of refusal toward the impasses of Cold War binaries altogether. By examining how these novels constitute a mode of political judgment and, furthermore, how these writers reckon with their political role as intellectuals, I argue Vietnamese existentialism was and continues to be a powerful framework of reconceptualizing the possibilities of humanism today. A literary history which connects Vietnamese and Vietnamese American literature does not yet exist, and this remains an uncomfortably pronounced absence in scholarship. This overlaps with a second absence, which is the inattention to the rich archive of Vietnamese-language writing in the diaspora, as also constitutive of Vietnamese American literature. Politicized existentialism, I argue, is one of the few threads across these different literatures for three reasons: first, these writers share a variably mediated exposure to French existentialism; second, an existentialist aesthetic was re-activated in the Đổi Mới (Renovation) dissident literary movement, during which Vietnamese literature was reaching a global readership for the first time; and third, existentialism offered a strategy for reckoning with the experience of the Vietnam War as not just a war for national independence, but also a civil war. A proper study of existentialism in South Vietnamese and diasporic Vietnamese literature will illuminate refugee feelings toward the problems of both Vietnamese communism and anti-communism.
