Hulahula and learn something: Expressing culture and science

I weave stories from traditional and contemporary scientific observations to explain the world around me — from micro to macro scales — advancing our understanding of how we fit into and influence our place.

The expression of these stories through movement, as was done traditionally in Hawaiʻi through the art of hula (dance), enables the expression of emotion and spirituality that is vital to perpetuating indigenous science and increasing comprehension, engagement, and enthusiasm of science in our communities.

Expressing science in a cultural context through dance, not only connects us to a concept or a place, but also engages the imagination by developing connections to that which we cannot see — the multiple layers of meaning and levels of knowledge left to us by our audience of ancestors.

Kiana Frank — born and raised in Kailua Oʻahu — is an assistant professor in the Pacific Biosciences Research Center at the University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa. She studies the microbial dynamics of Hawaiian ecosystems as a mechanism to better understand the connectivity between land and sea, and to perpetuate place-based knowledge and ecological-based studies that foster values and concepts of traditional management. Her work integrates biology, geochemistry, and ʻike kupuna (traditional knowledge) to address novel hypothesis and showcase connections between contemporary western science and Native Hawaiian Science.

Event Sponsor
Center for Biographical Research, Mānoa Campus

More Information
(808) 956-3774, biograph@hawaii.edu, https://www.facebook.com/CBRHawaii

Tweet