The University of Hawaii at Manoas special distinction is found in our Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific orientation and our unique location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The setting and the diversity of our students and faculty foster unique advantages in the study of Asian and Pacific cultures, foreign languages, tropical agriculture, tropical medicine, ocean and marine sciences, astronomy, volcanology, and international business.Our unique geographical, cultural, and historical heritage suggests that the University of Hawaii at Manoa values and the responsibilities inherent in embracing those values include the following:A focus on developing an awareness of and sensitivity to diversity and commonality. The Manoa campus is culturally rich and complex, providing a perfect social setting for frequent interactions with persons fromcultures other than ones own. At Manoa we incorporate and celebrate intercultural experiences and understanding into our social and educational environments in a comprehensive fashion. Manoa is also a place where historic political, economic and social conflicts between Native Hawaiian people, settlers and working immigrants have contributed to the diverse perspectives, beliefs, values and even conceptual frameworks of our islands people. Growing out of the core Hawaiian value of aloha, an essential component of the Manoa Experience, are insights that both bond us and simultaneously express the variations that collectively enrich us.A focus on global awareness and local responsibility. These values are consistent with a uniquely Hawaiian place of learning. Hawaii is a place where the strength of identity is important to Native Hawaiian peoplestruggling to maintain traditional connections while establishing new global relationships. Their struggle for cultural distinction forms a significant part of the story of human history and change. Hawaii is also a placewhere the peoples from Asia, Europe, and the Pacific regions gathered, formed communities, and built lives together. The pluri-cultural children of Hawaii are global citizens, a true pan-ethnic population. Hence, we attempt to infuse our pedagogical, social, and cultural environments with a global perspective and with questions and issues of global significance. Moreover, engaging and acting upon local questions and issues during theireducational experience at Manoa engenders in students a sense of responsibility toward future generations.A focus on sustainability and renewability. These values are also a reflection of our unique Hawaiian cultural history, as voiced in the Hawaiian core value of malama i ka aina, malama i ke kai (caring for the land and sea that sustain us). The Hawaiian culture teaches us to see Manoa as part of an ahupuaa extending from mountaintop to ocean, emphasizing an ecosystem understanding of our home. Hawaiis unique geographical status as the most isolated, populated land mass on the planet makes it incumbent upon us to develop research, technologies, economy, and a way of life based on sustainability and renewability, as Polynesians did over thousands of years of voyaging, discovery and settlement. Fostering a pedagogical, social, and cultural environment that reflects these values and the knowledge developed by Native Hawaiians over the millennia is central to our efforts. Cultivating, practicing, and communicating these values are our Universitys gifts and obligation to the rest of the world.

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