The University of Hawaii is a unique institution, located at the crossroads of the Pacific and boasting a rich cultural heritage. From its collections to its educational programs, the university offers a wealth of resources for those interested in learning about Asia, the Pacific Islands, and beyond. The University of Hawaii Museum Consortium (UHMC) was created to provide digital access to these collections, while the Lyon Arboretum provides educational services to many individuals and groups throughout Hawaii. In addition, the Micronesia Area Research Center (MARC) at the University of Guam has been a regular partner in teaching in Guam and elsewhere in Micronesia.\The University of Hawaii System includes 10 campuses and dozens of educational, training, and research centers in the Hawaiian Islands.
It is proud of its strong international orientation and the wide range of peoples and cultures reflected in its faculty and students, departments and courses. The UHMC is comprised of individuals with experience in many aspects of museum curation, research, education, and outreach services. It affirms the crucial role played by campus cultural and natural history collections and gallery spaces in support of teaching, research, and public outreach projects and activities.\The experience and culture of Asia and the Pacific permeate the collections of the UH campus. As technology has revolutionized academic communication through the development of the Internet, the University of Hawaii has become increasingly committed to developing initiatives for digital preservation and information storage and delivery.
In response to growing public demand for digital access to these collections (especially by teachers and students), the UHMC created the first campus-wide Virtual Museum (UHVM) through the shared application of leading museum management software (KE eMU).\The Lyon Arboretum welcomes 7,000 primary and secondary school students a year, as well as several university students, community groups and volunteers. This includes designing and developing educational materials, coordinating volunteer operations, and maintaining an active and rigorous calendar of events. Jill Laughlin has selflessly and vigorously supported many facets of the Lyon Arboretum's mission in terms of research and education, significantly increasing the presence and prestige of the University of Hawaii in the community.\Understanding and engaging museum visitors is also important. Wendy Knepper has worked with a variety of institutions to help them incorporate the voice of visitors into the development of exhibitions and programs.
She has a master's degree in Museum Studies from San Francisco State University, a degree in Anthropology and Tourism Management, as well as a certificate in Latin American Studies from Michigan State University. Wendy is a contributing author of several print and online publications.\The museum studies program at UH Mānoa is co-sponsoring a symposium with the Hawaii Humanities Council and the University of California Presidential Center Initiative. The International Heritage and Tourism Management Program at Silpakorn University in Bangkok (Thailand) aims to serve as a center for studying architectural and cultural heritage management.\The design of a resource center was completed by a group of doctoral students from UH Mānoa's School of Architecture. Through its historic preservation courses, it seeks to keep issues of cultural identity and recognition of traditional cultural assets at the forefront.
The resource center now provides a permanent public facility for active development of cultural learning, creates a sanctuary for traditional culture practice, serves as a resource for statewide implementation of cultural learning curriculum, increases presence on social networks with QR code audio guide per cell phone, improves website & mobile application.\The University of Hawaii offers an incredible array of cultural resources that can be explored by anyone interested in learning more about Asia, Pacific Islands, or beyond. From its collections to its educational programs to its partnerships with other universities around the world, UH provides an invaluable opportunity for students to gain knowledge about different cultures. Through initiatives such as UHVM's digital access to collections or Lyon Arboretum's educational services for primary/secondary school students or Wendy Knepper's work with institutions to incorporate visitor voices into exhibitions/programs or UH Mānoa's symposiums with other universities - there are countless ways to explore these resources.
