Center for Pacific Island Studies

academic programs

theses, plan b papers, and portfolios

The following is a list of recent theses, Plan B papers, and portfolios that were accepted for the MA in Pacific Islands Studies. Note: in 2004–2005, the Plan B option was phased out and replaced by the MA Portfolio option (see MA Admission and degree requirements).

Combatting "Dreaded Hogoleu": Re-Centering Local Histories and Stories of Chuukese Warfare—Myjolynne Marie Kim, 2007, Thesis

Paths toward Creation of an Independent Hawaiian Nation: Ethnographies of Four Hawaiian Independence Leaders—M Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, 2007, Thesis

For the Health of a People: The Recruitment and Retention of Native Hawaiian Medical Students at the University of Hawai‘i’s John A Burns School of Medicine, A Genealogical Approach— Nicole Kau‘i Baumhofer, 2007, Thesis

My Mwoakilloa: Self-Concept of the People of Mwoakilloa—Mariana Ben, 2007, Plan B

Beliliou, Beluu el Omechelel a Tekoi (Peleliu, the Place Where Things Begin: Possibilities for the Re/use of Traditional Marine Conservation Practices in the Republic of Palau— Teresa A Brugh, 2007, Thesis

Biau Kula: Space, Process, and Creativity at the Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture, with DVD (A Tour of the Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture)—Katherine Higgins, 2007, Portfolio Project

Ples Blong Olgeta Sista: Ni-Vanuatu Catholic Sisters Navigating Places and Spaces—Sara B Lightner, 2007, Thesis

Iien Ippan Doon (This Time Together): Celebrating Survival in an "Atypical Marshallese Community"—Monica LaBriola, 2006, Thesis

Nā Pā'ani Keiki Ma Hawai'i Nei: Children's Plays, Pastimes, Amusements, Recreations in Hawai'i—Yasuko Chiba, 2006, Plan B

Noho ā Kupa: Developing a Hawaiian Sense of Place—Clayton Godbolt, 2006, Thesis

The Pulenu'u in Sāmoa: The Transformation of an Office—Kevin Riddle, 2006, Thesis

Atina'eina o tupe mai fafo i le Fa'asāmoa/Cultivating remittances in Fa'asāmoa—Laura M Fepulea'i, 2005, Thesis

Indigenous Language Immersion Education: An Annotated Bibliography of Resources for Te Kohanga Reo and Pūnana Leo—Krissy Kahikina, 2005, Plan B

Narrative Survival in the Tongan Diaspora: The Case of the American Deportees—Lea Lani Kinikini, 2005, Thesis

Silences and Burdens: Kavenga in the Hawai'i-Tongan Diaspora—'Amelia M Pasi, 2005, Plan B

‘Ori Tahiti as a Tool of Resistance—Aurelia A Kinslow, 2005, Plan B

Ku‘u Mo‘olelo Ke Ahupua‘a O Kahana Ame Eminent Domain/My Story of the Kahana Ahupua‘a and Eminent Domain—Barbara Patria, 2005, Plan B

Correcting Burial Wrongs Because the Dead Have Rights: An Analysis of Native Hawaiian Burial Issues and the Associated Burial Preservation Laws in Hawai‘i—Kimberlee Alana Gaylord, 2005, Thesis

Consequences of Good Intentions: Exploring Land Rights in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands—Brooke Nevitt, 2005, Thesis

Duke Kahanamoku: Cultural Icon—Katie Wright, 2005, Plan B

The Original People of Lana‘i—Pualani E Kauila, 2005, Plan B

Connecting Back to Dis Place: Music and Identity of the Cultural Renaissance of Hawai‘i—Andrea Suzuki, 2005, Thesis

Displacement and Population Decline in Rural Valleys: A History of Hālawa Valley, Moloka‘i—Kaleialoha Lum-Ho, 2005, Plan B

Remapping Home: Touring the Betweenness of Kwajalein—Gregory E Dvorak, 2004, Thesis

Nā‘au Poi: Spiritual Food for Cultural Enlightenment—Aloha Keko‘olani, 2004, Plan B

Nā Wāhine Piko o Moloka‘i: Pacific Women's Connections to Place— Katherine L K Wilson, 2004, Plan B

Hawaiian Sovereignty and Nationalism: History, Perspectives and Movements—Tracie Ku‘uipo Cummings, 2004, Thesis

The Waiwai of Waiāhole and Waikāne: The Construction and Operation of the Waiāhole/Waikāne Water Ditch and Tunnel System 1900 to 2000—Dale Hood, 2004, Plan B

Written in the Sky—Matthew Ka‘opio, 2004, Plan B

Connections Between Pacific Islands People Who Have Used Tapa (Kapa) in Ritual—Donald A Bunnell, 2004, Plan B

Never the Twain Shall Meet? Causal Factors in Fijian-Indian Intermarriage—Portia Richmond, 2003, Thesis

Stolen Identity: Defining ‘Aihue from a Hawaiian Perspective—Susan Kapulani Antonio, 2003, Thesis

I Ka Hana Ka ‘Ike: Environmental Field Studies in Hawai‘i—Kerry Crouch, 2003, Thesis

Mai Home Hawai‘i: Hawaiian Diaspora and the Return of Hawaiians From the Diaspora—Noelani K Lee, 2003, Thesis

KATWON: Caught in the Currents of Change, Youth and Education in a Changing Society—Beverly Lyne Chutaro, 2002, Plan B

Domestic Violence in the Pacific—Joanna Jacob, 2002, Plan B

Becoming a Factory Girl: Young Samoan Woman and a Japanese Factory—Masami Tsujita, 2002, Thesis

The Reinstitution of a Traditional Hawaiian Practice: A Native Perspective of Ritualistism Through the Performance of He‘eholua—Thomas Stone, 2002, Thesis

Marshall Islands Women: A Study of First-Generation University Graduates—Enid Louise McKay, 2002, Plan B

Tutu’s Hawaiian and the Emergence of a Neo-Hawaiian Language—Richard “Keao” Nesmith, 2002, Plan B

Time is the Space I-we Keep: Samoana Time Consciousness through the Samoan Language—Duchess Saili Steffany, 2002, Plan B

The Meanings of Independence in Post-Colonial Papua New Guinea—Robert Baraka, 2001, Plan B

Aumua Mata‘itusi Simanu: The Lifestory of a Samoan Educator and Orator in Diaspora—M Luafata Simanu-Klutz, 2001, Thesis

The Use and Treatment of Micronesian Labor Under the Japanese Empire, 1922-1945—Heather Stanton, 2001, Thesis

Japan's Development Assistance in the Republic of Palau: Community Impacts and Effects—Takashi Mita, 2001, Thesis

The Importance of Subsistence and the Need for a Community-Based Subsistence Management at Mo‘omomi Bay, Moloka‘i, Hawai‘i—Sarah Ili, 2000, Plan B

Ho‘okumu A Ho‘okele E Ho‘omana: Aia Ka Mana I Ka Leo ‘Opio Maoli: Acquiring Energy and Sustenance through Building a Foundation and Crossing Seas: It can be found within the voices of Hawaiian youth—Daniel Keola Nakanishi, 2000, Thesis

One Person, Two Worlds? Two Persons, One World? Cultural Identity Through the Eyes of New Zealand–Born Samoans—Mary K Chun, 2000, Plan B

Hawai‘i in the Japanese Tourist Gaze: A Reflection on Imaginary Hawai‘i—Junko Obayashi, 2000, Thesis

Ke ho‘i a‘ela ka‘opua I Awalau: The rain clouds are returning to Awalau. Said of a return to the source—Gina Kanani Taliaferro, 2000, Plan B

“Pacific Voices” Through Film: Film As A Vehicle In Uniting Oral and Written Traditions In Polynesia—Michelle Tupou, 2000, Thesis

Gifted Flows: Netting the Imagery of Hip Hop Across the Samoan Diaspora—April K Henderson, 1999, Thesis

Sechou or Deroech: Local Impacts and Social Responses to Globalization in the Republic of Palau—Scott A Kroeker, 1999, Thesis

Ho‘ola Hou Ka Moko A Me Ka Uhi: The Revival of Cultural Tattooing in Aotearoa and Hawai‘i—Kealalokahi C Losch, 1999, Thesis

Out of the Shadow of the American Empire: Music and Resistance in Hawai‘i—Irene Calis, 1999, Plan B

Tirawata Irouia: Re-Presenting Banaban Histories—Katerina Teaiwa, 1999, Thesis

Enframing I Taotao Tano‘: Colonialism, Militarism, and Tourism in 20th Century Guam—Keith Camacho, 1998, Thesis

Pro-Annexationist Propaganda in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser 1898—Rhiyyih Spock, 1998, Plan B

Politics of Faith: Investigating Ethnographies About Modekngei—Kazumi Nishihara, 1998, Thesis

Signs of Being: A Chamoru Spiritual Journey—Cecelia C T Perez, 1997, Plan B

The Legacy of the 1848 Mahele and Kuleana Act of 1850: A Case System of the Lā‘ie Malo‘o Ahupua‘a, 1846-1930—Jeffrey Stover, 1997, Thesis

All Aflutter (OR) A Tale of Two Worlds: The Cultural Safety Component in New Zealand Nursing and Midwifery Education—Sarah G Kenney, 1997, Thesis

Waste Not, Want Not: A History and Analysis of the Proposals to Import Nuclear Waste into the Marshall Islands—Brandon Breckenridge, 1997, Plan B

From Pō to Ao: A Historical Analysis of Filmmaking in the Pacific—Alexander D Mawyer, 1997, Thesis

New Environmental Policy and the Federated States of Micronesia: International Instruments and State Obligations—Jamie Kalani English, 1995, Plan B

“Winds of Change:” A High School Curriculum in Pacific Islands Studies—Kathryn Czar, 1995, Plan B

Righting Civil Wrongs: The Guam Congress Walkout of 1949—Anne Perez Hattori, 1995, Plan B

The Women’s Mau: Female Peace Warriors in Western Sāmoa—Lisa P MacQuoid, 1995, Plan B

Pacific Island Nations: The Wave of the Future—Ursula Miller-Eisenpress, 1995, Plan B

Through Khaki-Tinted Lenses: An Analysis of New Zealanders’ Impressions of the Pacific During World War II—Jennifer L Pethig, 1995, Thesis

The Empire Has No Clothes! The Experience of Fiji's Garment Workers in Global Context—Christy E Harrington, 1994, Thesis

Land Alienation in the New Hebrides: Colonial Policies of France and Great Britain—Palauni M Tuiasosopo, 1994, Plan B

Ho‘okipa: A History of Hawaiian Greeting Practices and Hospitality—Randie Fong, 1994, Thesis

The Bougainville Crisis: A View from the Solomon Islands—John Moffat Fugui, 1994, Plan B

Polynesian Folk Tales of Supernatural Creatures and Animal Kupuna—Susan T Lenci, 1994, Plan B