Manoa’s Meritorious Teachers

Micheal Graves
Department of Anthropology

Michael Graves is a professor and chair in the Department of Anthropology. Michael Graves is at his best when he teaches in smaller venues—seminars, directed research, in the field or on dissertation committees.

He has mentored students in cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, historic preservation, Hawaiian studies, Pacific Islands studies and architecture. Here Graves has an opportunity to share his ideas about humans, contemporary and ancient, and the cultural processes that have shaped their history and position in the world.

He models his teaching style on his best teachers who were demanding and unconventional in their ideas and approaches, challenged accepted positions and did not talk down to students. Graves doesn’t expect perfection, but does expect effort and a willingness to challenge one’s limitations. Graves is particularly proud of the fact that the first Native Hawaiian student to earn a doctorate in archaeology was one of his students.