Hawai‘i Pacific University is internationally known as the place “where the world comes to study.” With one of the highest ratios of foreign students of any U.S. college or university, as well as students from every U.S. state, the campuses of HPU are vibrant with a mix of cultures, languages, and perspectives throughout most of the year.

During the summer, many international students take a break from their studies and return home to see family and friends. However, summer is also the time for HPU’s distinguished faculty, as well as many local and mainland students, to become visitors in the more than 100 countries that count themselves as part of HPU’s student body.

With suitcases and backpacks stuffed, they travel all over the world conducting research, presenting scholarly papers, studying as an exchange student, or just vacationing! Each returns to HPU with renewed enthusiasm and a greater appreciation of how HPU prepares its graduates to live, work, and learn as active members of a global society.

Among the travelers from HPU this summer are 30 students of the International Vocal Ensemble who are currently in Austria. This talented group of singers and their conductor, Kala‘i Stern, have been selected as Hawai‘i’s representatives to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s birth. In addition to their official concert performances in Vienna, the group will conduct other performances in Austria, as well as visit with HPU alumni and friends in the country.

Completely on the other side of the world, Natassa Kho, an HPU travel industry management (TIM) student, returned home to Indonesia for the summer to work as a front desk agent trainee at the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta.

HPU Chaplain Rev. Dale and Barbara Burke, who teach communication and math, respectively, are currently with a small group of Christian clergy studying various faith traditions in Tokyo, Kyoto, Hong Kong, and eastern Malaysia. “We will be hosted by local churches and will participate in their worship life and celebrations,” said Rev. Burke. “Since we have so many students from this part of the world, it will be great to see first hand their culture, joys, and challenges.”

Shortly after returning to the islands, the Burkes will leave again, this time for Quito, Ecuador, where their son has been teaching English since January. While abroad, the family will take a four-day tour of the Galapagos Islands, snorkeling, hiking, and exploring the islands to observe their unique ecosystems.

During a recent trip to the Philippines, Dr. Mario Arnaldo, HPU TIM instructor, made a presentation, “Borderless Cuisine,” at the fourth Annual Congress of Dietetics. “People all over the world are becoming more health and diet conscious,” said Dr. Arnaldo. “I pointed out how easy it is to make a positive relationship between food and superfood, menus and recipes, and the service aspects of getting the food.”

Meanwhile, TIM instructor Wendy Agrusa visited James Cook University in Australia to conduct research in the area of sexual harassment in the hospitality industry, while husband Dr. Jerry Agrusa, a TIM professor, recently returned from Fiji where he gave a seminar titled “Leading Change in Human Resources Management in the Service Industry” to a group of hotel managers and human resource directors. In late June, Dr. Agrusa will present two research papers, “Sustainable Development of Tourism” and “Using Film and TV to Help Market a Tourist Destination,” at the Asia Pacific Tourism Association’s annual conference in Taiwan.

Rather than South Pacific, assistant professor of biology, Dr. Valerie Franck, plans to conduct cultural and scientific research in Greenland. “I have spent some time in Antarctica and am interested in the comparison between the Arctic and Antarctica in terms of marine science and wildlife,” added Dr. Franck. “I plan to take photos to use in my lectures on polar oceanography. I’ve heard a great deal from researchers from around the world about the effects of global warming on Arctic marine ecosystems and would like to see those changes for myself.”

On the mainland, Dr. Susan Carstenn, assistant professor of environmental science, will be updating a research project in Florida’s Everglades. She will also use the time to collaborate on a manuscript and plan a symposium that will take place at the Ecological Society of America meeting in August.

Bon voyage to everyone, and look for HPU in the fall to be as rich and culturally diverse as it’s ever been!