Organized as a center in 1987 under the Asian Studies department in the School of Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Studies at the University of Hawaii, the Center for Chinese Studies' (CCS) mission is to increase the understanding of China and to further strengthen Chinese studies within the University system and the Hawaii community. CCS and UHM ethnic studies faculty specialists have worked together to enhance the study and research of areas of specialization within Chinese studies. With the cooperation of UHM faculty and newly established partnerships with the Central University for Nationalities and Yunnan University, the Center for Chinese Studies has launched the Chinese Ethnic Nationalities Program.
The goals of this program are twofold. First, to promote the general study of Chinese nationalities, the regions they inhabit, and the challenges they face. Second, to provide greater understanding and awareness by Chinese indigenous communities themselves of contemporary issues regarding modernization, sustainable development, the environment and the preservation of ethnic and cultural identity.
In 1979, George S. Kanahele first wrote of the Hawaiian Renaissance as a period reversing years of cultural decline. It “created a new kind of Hawaiian consciousness, inspired greater pride in being Hawaiian, lead to bold and imaginative ways of reasserting our identity, lead to a new political awareness, and it has had and will continue to have a positive impact on the economic and social uplifting of the Hawaiian community.” Hawaiians for the Preservation of Native Ecosystems, Hawai'i Ecotourism Association, and the Polynesian Voyage Society have all promulgated the strengthening of cultural understanding of Hawaii and Hawaiian communities. These organizations, like others, have called for the nurturing of local communities cooperation and contribution to a healthy, safe future for Hawai'i. The University of Hawaii at Manoa also established the Center for Hawaiian Studies representing the first substantial commitment in the nearly 100 years of the university's existence to the coordinated study and preservation of Hawaiian culture, history, politics, and language. Through student services, instruction, research, and community outreach the Center dedicates itself to serving the Native people of Hawai'i from Ni'ihau to Hawai'i Island. Ethnic Studies, becoming a full-fledged department at UHM in 1995, was created to concentrate wholly upon race and ethnic relations, both in Hawai'i and the U.S., as well as comparative studies of groups around the world. The Ethnic Studies Department is also unique in that it maintains a research and teaching philosophy emphasizing praxis: the application of intellectual theories to the complex programs in our local Hawaiian communities.
Areas with diverse ethnic communities, like Hawaii, are beginning to experience a period of cultural and ethnic revival. With greater opportunities through growing markets and communication technologies, indigenous communities are now searching for personal identity, authenticity and pride for family and community heritage. They are exploring their own cultural backgrounds and understanding their own personal family histories. Communities are creating a sense of place, and even a sense of spirit. They are once again creating an environment that is truly reflective of their culture. This shift from local cultures's exploitation, resentment, and disenfranchisement of ethnicity and ancestry by dominant government systems and/or majority ethnic groups to an enhanced pride and a growing sense of self-esteem, not just politically but culturally and ethnically, is taking place. Voices once forgot are now being heard. The Hawaiian Renaissance exemplifies this very cultural and ethnic transformation. It is a symbol of multiculturalism, in which its' diverse communities' arts of music and dance are flourishing, awareness and understanding of environmental concerns are enhanced, and community development is a reality.
What is occurring among Hawaiians today economically, artistically, politically, socially, and culturally is built on a spirit of rebirth. Undergoing a revival of the past and pursuit of knowledge and learning in the future, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Caucasian, and Hawaiian communities, to name a few, have all contributed to creating the multicultural landscape of Hawaii. Greater awareness of multicultural regions and the concerns of indigenous communities throughout the world have lead to academia's promotion of the study of these people. The School of Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Studies at the University of Hawaii, Manoa has made great strides in enhancing the understanding of the diverse communities of the Asian-Pacific. The centers of Hawaiian, Philippines, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, South Asia, and Southeast Asia studies have all been established as umbrella institutes that encourage the study and research of the peoples and historical and contemporary issues faced within their respective geographical region.
Sharing with the Center for Hawaiian Studies revisionist approach, the Center for Chinese Studies' not only engages American students and scholars in the study of China, but also engages the Chinese themselves in issues concerning their local communities and regions they inhabit. Hawaii has set a benchmark for the study and research of growing, self-proclaimed multicultural societies. Following in this endeavor, the Center for Chinese Studies expresses its dedication in serving the indigenous peoples of China by establishing the Chinese Ethnic Nationalities Program. China is composed of multiple ethnic groups; the Han making up 92 percent of the total population, and 55 ethnic minority nationalities constitute the remaining 8 percent, or the plus 100 million. The government's interest in unifying the people within its borders to facilitate modernization and development through standards of civilization has made China an extraordinary example of an institutionalized multi-nationalism. The Center for Chinese Studies, paying special attention to the dynamics of these indigenous ethnic group communities in a modernizing China as well as the undeniable cultural and economic disparities throughout the country, proposes to develop educational strategies to help advance the successful expression of multiculturalism by the people themselves. What has brought such success in the state of Hawaii is education. Through this avenue, the Chinese Ethnic Nationalities Program aims to promote greater understanding of China's ethnic diversity and challenges that face Chinese local communities. Training programs in educational strategies, economic development, law, environmental science, etc., will give Chinese indigenous peoples space and momentum to strengthen their cultures and sustain themselves in productive ways. In this manner, the program possesses a capacity building objective: trying to enhance self-representation and self-sustainability through educational strategies.
What has taken place as a result of 9/11 is the revitalization of area studies. No longer is there the notion of universal globalization, but a trend towards increasing regional awareness. Threats of terrorism, war, and growing economic disparity have made today a time of chaos and contestation. Dissolving of what was once a collective push for globalization and unity is now being eschewed for centrifugal forces of increased regionalization and particularity. A call to study the particular languages, cultures, and histories of nations throughout the world has been made. Regions faced with instability and ethnic conflict, such as the Middle East, Central Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia, have instigated close attention and observation. Such ensuing geo-political reconfigurations highlighted the acknowledged need for scholars to rethink the boundaries of traditional area studies. Yet rethinking the production of knowledge on these areas involves critical dialogue on area studies itself.
The need for dialogue engages western scholars and Chinese area specialists in power knowledge exchanges. Currently scores of Asian Studies departments, centers for East Asian studies, and centers for Chinese studies have been developed throughout the United States. Although all of these promote the study and research of China, oftentimes entities through interdisciplinary curricula, they lack any focus on, concentration in, or area of specialization in issues facing indigenous Chinese communities. With the largest concentrations of ethnic minority groups in China living in border regions, such as Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Yunnan Province, issues of drug and human trafficking, weapons trade, ethnic migration flows, prostitution as well as the rise of ethnic independence movements have become of paramount concern not only to China but the international community. At present there is no prescribed forum in the United States for dialogue concerning these ethnic peoples and regions of China. To fill this gap, the Chinese Ethnic Nationalities Program seeks to open up avenues of dialogue and channels of communication in order to democratize and expand the sharing of area studies' knowledge.
Through cooperation and collaboration with Central Nationalities University and Yunnan University, the program will incite a greater production of knowledge of issues, such as these, facing China's multi-ethnic landscape. Student and faculty exchanges between China and Hawaii, the development of a Web-based Library Database, and international training workshops, will impact the politicization of this area of study. Joint participation between UHM and Chinese universities will in effect create a more stable politics of area studies and marked developments in information sharing. Creating a dialogue between specialists, students, and ethnic nationalities themselves will manifest greater exposure, awareness, and understanding of issues concerning Chinese indigenous communities.