Colleges of Arts & Sciences Presents Downtown Speakers Program

Series of free presentations for the downtown business community to highlight UH Manoa faculty and research

Members of the community are invited to attend a series of free presentations especially planned for the downtown business community. Sponsored by the Colleges of Arts & Sciences of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the presentations will feature some of their most stimulating faculty members.

It is a brown-bag event so attendees are invited to bring their lunches. These fascinating talks will be held from noon to 1:00 p.m. in the meeting rooms of Hawaiian Electric Industries on the 8th floor of the American Savings Bank Tower (formerly the Pacific Tower) in Bishop Square, 180 S. King Street.

The schedule for the first several programs and their descriptions follow:

January 8, 2004 - "The Health of Hawaii's Coral Reefs: A State-University Partnership," Dr. Michael Hamnett, Director of the Social Sciences Research Institute. Are Hawaii's reefs in trouble? A degraded coastal reef can spell disaster for those who depend on it for their livelihood, as well as for our overall local lifestyle. A recent study indicates reefs generate about $800 million each year in gross revenues. The Hawai'i Coral Reef Initiative Research Program is a collaborative research and monitoring program that provides much-needed current data for managing the coral reefs.

February 12, 2004 - "Princess Di of the North: Rethinking Catherine the Great," Dr. Ruth Dawson, Professor of Women's Studies and author, lecturer, and researcher. Catherine II was a person of no importance until she conducted a spectacular and bloodless coup against her husband that brought her to the Russian throne for 35 years. The world followed the tale of the princess in St. Petersburg with a degree of awe that turned the new tsarina into a celebrity on the scale of Princess Diana. How and why could that happen in the 18th century-without CNN or People? What have the consequences been for the reputation of the richest and most powerful woman in history? What does it mean for our understanding of celebrity today?

March 11, 2004 - "Angkor Wat - the World's Largest Temple and UH Adventures in the Kingdom of Cambodia," Dr. P. Bion Griffin, Associate Dean and Professor of Anthropology. The University of Hawaii is the only American university substantially assisting in the reconstruction of Cambodia, following three decades of war and destruction. This talk will cover the exciting work of our scholars and take us on a tour of the fabulous temple ruins and monuments that culminated in the world's largest religious structure, Angkor Wat. We will also see the capital of the empire's greatest king, Jayavarman II, in Angkor Thom.

April 8, 2004 - "Mummy Talks: The Egyptian Mummy Project," Dr. Robert Littman, Professor of Classics and teacher of ancient Egyptian language. The ancient Egyptians had a preoccupation with life after death that resulted in the pyramids, great funerary palaces and tombs of Egypt. These monuments have preserved Egyptian culture and history for us. Dr. Littman will discuss his current excavation project in Egypt, medical studies of the Royal Mummies of Egypt, which include the pharaohs of the New Kingdom, such as Ramses the Great and Tutankamun.

May 13, 2004 - "Neutrino Studies at UH: From Uncovering Secrets of the Universe to Use in National Defense," Dr. John G. Learned, Professor of Physics and Astronomy. The UHM Neutrino Group has been involved in the study of the elusive neutrino, from nuclear energies to the highest energies seen in the universe. The Group has participated in the discovery that these light particles do have some mass and play important roles in cosmology and supernovae. It has projects going on in Hawaii, Japan and Antarctica, from deep mines to the top of the atmosphere, and plays a lead role in these projects. Long range studies also involve the use of neutrinos in futuristic national defense initiatives.

For more information, please call the Office of Community and Alumni Relations, Colleges of Arts & Sciences, 956-5790.