HPU Reads

ValueofHawaii.jpgCommon Book Program

Take part in a university community experience by reading the same book all of HPU is reading. First-year students can receive the book at Passport Week: Fall New Student Orientation.  There will be many opportunities throughout the academic year for you to discuss the book and its themes, to hear speakers, and to watch films on related topics with students, faculty, and staff.   There will also be a writing contest open to all undergraduate students in the spring. 

Visit our HPU Reads Event page for more information on events supporting the HPU Reads Common Book as well as the writing contest.

2011-2012: The Value of Hawai'i:  Knowing the Past, Shaping the Future

Edited by Craig Howes and Jonathan Osorio

For many new HPU students, Hawai'i is an exotic vacation destination shaped by over a century and a half of marketing spin. For new HPU students coming to Hawai'i for the first time, some concerns might be: What is it really like to live here?  How will I be welcomed here? How do I fit into this place? How will this place become my home as I work on my college degree? For students born and raised in Hawai'i, the questions might be: Will I be able to afford to stay, find a job and raise a family here? Things are changing so fast - will my own kids be able to enjoy nature as I did? How will I be able to compete with the influx of newcomers to Hawai'i?

This year's Common Book selection, The Value of Hawai'i, is a collection of current essays, provides HPU students, faculty and staff and the community at large outside of HPU, with a cluster of starting points for a discussion of Hawai'i that explores these questions and more, in an effort to learn about Hawai'i from the inside out, cutting through the many layers of stereotypes and hype about what Hawai'i really is and isn't.

The brief essays address a wide range of topics: Education, the Environment, Hawaiian Issues, Tourism, the Arts, Political Culture, Law, Labor, the Military, Transportation, Homelessness, and many more.

Although the contributors to the anthology may have different perspectives and expertise, they each passionately believe that "taking stock of where [the people of Hawai'i] are right now, what need[s] to remember[ed],what need[s] to [be] preserve[d] and to change, is the challenge that all [who are linked to Hawai'i] must face now" (from front cover of book).

Craig Howes is director of the Center for Biographical Research and a co-producer of the Biography Hawai'i television documentary series. Jonathan KayKamakawiwo'ole Osorio is professor of Hawaiian Studies at the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies. He is an author and musician.

Learn more about the editors, contributors, and issues at http://thevalueofhawaii.com/.

Common Book Electronic Access for The Value of Hawai'i

Students, faculty,and staff can access the common book by searching the HPU library catalog for The Value of Hawai'i and then clicking the link in the record.  It is available via our Ebrary interface which accommodates multiple users.

Common Book Events

Visit our HPU Reads Event page for more information on events supporting the HPU Reads Common Book.

  

HPU Reads Program Outcomes

  1. Develop a sense of community by providing a shared experience for new first-year students and encourage retention by means of a common book and related academic experiences.
  2. Explore, think critically and creatively, and communicate ideas effectively about the many dimensions of human problems, historical issues, and natural phenomena, as well as expose students to foreign cultures and social conditions.
  3. Provide a place for students to engage with others, and voice and hear different perspectives, interests, and concerns from members of the university and community.
  4. Add an academic component to fall new student orientation.