Aloha! From study abroad programs and the launch of a statewide online learning program to life-changing research, we’re committed to expanding opportunities for our CSS ‘ohana on both a local and global scale.
This past summer, we offered students a unique global experience through the new Mānoa Academy Beijing program. Students spent two weeks in Beijing immersing themselves in the host country and delving into the topic of health and aging. The program was such a success that we’ll not only be offering Mānoa Academy Beijing again next summer, but we’re also looking to branch out to other countries.
Here at home, we’re thrilled to announce plans to add a statewide online component to our Mānoa Academy. Targeted for Spring 2018, Mānoa Academy Online will bring increased college access, affordability and academic success to Hawaiʻi high school students.
Meanwhile, we remain committed to providing interactive, innovative experiences for CSS students. Most recently this took the form of a unique, hands-on capstone project offered by our School of Communications. The school simulated a potential real-life crisis situation announced at a mock press conference. The simulation provided students with the opportunity to hone their journalistic skills in relaying fair, balanced and factual information to the public under deadline.
Our professors also continue to make groundbreaking research discoveries in areas such as climate change. Camilo Mora, associate professor in the Department of Geography, and his team of researchers released a study indicating that 74 percent of the world’s population will be exposed to deadly heatwaves by 2100 if carbon gas emissions continue to rise at current rates.
Of course, we would not have been able to come this far without the support of partners like the Hawaiʻi Community Reinvestment Corporation, which established a professorship to help address the state’s growing affordable housing crisis; or the UH Mānoa Confucius Institute, the Beijing Foreign Studies University, the Hanban and Hawaiian Airlines that helped make Mānoa Academy Beijing possible.
To our students, their families, our faculty, staff, partners and friends, thank you for being a part of our CSS ‘ohana. These are but a few examples of our success stories – and we owe it all to you. You are what defines us. Together we’ll continue to make an impact and change the world!
Denise Eby Konan
Dean, College of Social Sciences, UH Mānoa
