UH Hilo and Hawai‘i CC to offer new collaborative course on hula
The course promises to immerse haumana (students) in a Hawaiian place-based course that will increase their understanding of Hawai‘i, Hawaiian culture, and self-identity and community responsibilities.
A new applied learning course on hula will be offered this spring through a collaboration between the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo and Hawai‘i Community College. The Department of Kinesiology and Exercise Science at UH Hilo and the Hawai‘i Life Styles Program at Hawai‘i CC will jointly present a course on “Hula, the Art of Movement.”
Students will earn one credit from Misty Pacheco, assistant professor of kinesiology and exercise science at UH Hilo, and one credit in hula learning experience from Taupōuri Tangarō, kumu hula and professor at Hawai‘i CC.
“We are very excited about this new collaboration,” says Harald Barkhoff, professor and department chair of kinesiology and exercise science at UH Hilo. “This course offering has multiple benefits for the students, our respective campuses, and the entire university system.”
Barkhoff says the course also helps build the connection between UH Hilo and Hawai‘i CC, bringing together the learning and teaching communities of both schools, and aiding in creating degree pathways from the community college to UH Hilo.The course promises to immerse haumana (students) in a Hawaiian place-based course that will increase their understanding of Hawai‘i, Hawaiian culture, and self-identity and community responsibilities.
Perhaps most importantly, he says, the course covers hula, an essential and valued part of Hawaiian culture.
Misty Pacheco was born and raised in Hilo. She is former director of the Hawaii Island HIV/AIDS Foundation. She holds a master of health administration from the University of Southern California and a doctor of public health from UH Mānoa. Her research interests include HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections or STIs, organizational change, and quality improvement in healthcare.
Taupōuri Tangarō is director and kumu hula (hula teacher) of Unukupukupu, a hula halau (dance group) home-based at Hawai‘i CC. He received his doctoral degree from Union Institute and University. He trained at Hālau o Kekuhi, a traditional hula school, where he learned ‘aiha‘a Pele (ritual dance of volcanic phenomena of Hawai‘i).
The Course
Hula, the Art of Movement
Times and Locations: TBA
KES 294
2 Credits
CRN: 13195
For more information, contact Professor Harald Barkhoff.
About the author of this story: Kara Nelson is a senior at UH Hilo double majoring in English and Communication. She is an intern in the Office of the Chancellor and a writer at UH Hilo Stories.
