IAFOR > The IAFOR International Conference on Arts & Humanities in Hawaii (IICAH) > IICAH2024 Overview

IICAH2024 Overview

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Join us in Honolulu (and online) for IICAH2024

January 03-07, 2024 | The Hawai'i Convention Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Aloha and welcome to the beautiful island of Oahu, home to The IAFOR International Conference on Arts & Humanities in Hawaii (IICAH) and The IAFOR International Conference on Education in Hawaii (IICE).

Held in partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, this international conference encourages academics and scholars to meet and exchange ideas and views in a forum stimulating respectful dialogue, by bringing together university scholars working throughout Hawai'i, the United States, Asia, and beyond to share ideas and research. This event will afford an exceptional opportunity for renewing old acquaintances, making new contacts, networking, and facilitating partnerships across national and disciplinary borders.

Since its founding in 2009, IAFOR has brought people and ideas together in a variety of events and platforms to promote and celebrate interdisciplinary study, and underline its importance. Over the past year we have engaged in many cross-sectoral projects, including those with universities (the University of Barcelona, Hofstra University, UCL, University of Belgrade and Moscow State University), think tanks (the East-West Center), as well as collaborative projects with the United Nations in New York, and the Government of Japan through the Prime Minister’s office, and right here in Honolulu with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for this conference!

With the IAFOR Research Centre at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University, we have engaged in a number of interdisciplinary initiatives we believe will have an important impact on domestic and international public policy conversations. It is through conferences like these that we expand our network and partners, and we have no doubt that IICAH2024 and IICE2024 will offer a remarkable opportunity for the sharing of research and best practice, for the meeting of people and ideas. We expect the resultant professional and personal collaborations to endure for many years, and we look forward to seeing you in Honolulu!

The 4th IAFOR International Conference on Arts & Humanities in Hawaii (IICAH2024) will be held alongside The 9th IAFOR International Conference on Education in Hawaii (IICE2024), and many of the sessions will concentrate on areas at the intersection of education, arts and humanities. In keeping with IAFOR’s commitment to interdisciplinary study, delegates at either conference are encouraged to attend sessions in other disciplines. Registration for either conference will allow delegates to attend sessions in the other.

– The IICAH2024 Programme Committee

Key Information
  • Location & Venue: The Hawai’i Convention Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States (and online)
  • Dates: Friday, January 03, 2025 ​to Tuesday, January 07, 2025
  • Early Bird Abstract Submission Deadline: August 08, 2024*
  • Final Abstract Submission Deadline: October 10, 2024
  • Registration Deadline for Presenters: November 14, 2024

*Submit early to take advantage of the discounted registration rates. Learn more about our registration options.

Submit an Abstract
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Plenary Speakers

  • Chih-Pu Dai
    Chih-Pu Dai
    University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, United States
  • Kālewa Correa
    Kālewa Correa
    Smithsonian Institution, United States
  • Kali Fermantez
    Kali Fermantez
    Brigham Young University–Hawaii, United States
  • Joseph Haldane
    Joseph Haldane
    The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
  • Dorothy Hirata
    Dorothy Hirata
    University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, United States
  • Kai Hoshijo
    Kai Hoshijo
    Polynesian Voyaging Society, United States
  • Paul McKimmy
    Paul McKimmy
    University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, United States
  • Michael Menchaca
    Michael Menchaca
    University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, United States
  • Esprit Saucier
    Esprit Saucier
    Brigham Young University–Hawaii, United States

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Programme

  • Hawaiian Culture and Learning from the Ocean
    Hawaiian Culture and Learning from the Ocean
    Featured Panel Presentation: Kali Fermantez, Esprit Saucier, Tialei Scanlan (Moderator)
  • Moananuiākea – A Voyage for Earth
    Moananuiākea – A Voyage for Earth
    Featured Panel Presentation: Mark Ellis, Kai Hoshijo, Robin Watson (Moderator)
  • Questions of Education, Curation, and Artificial Intelligence
    Questions of Education, Curation, and Artificial Intelligence
    Featured Interview: Kālewa Correa, Joseph Haldane
  • Practical Approaches to AI in Academia
    Practical Approaches to AI in Academia
    Featured Panel Presentation: Chih-Pu Dai, Dorothy Hirata, Paul McKimmy, Michael Menchaca

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Conference Committees

International Advisory Board

Dr Joseph Haldane, Chairman and CEO, IAFOR
His Excellency Professor Toshiya Hoshino, Osaka University, Japan
Professor Barbara Lockee, Virginia Tech., United States
Professor Donald E. Hall, Binghamton University, United States
Dr James W. McNally, University of Michigan, United States & NACDA Program on Aging
Professor Haruko Satoh, Osaka University, Japan
Dr Grant Black, Chuo University, Japan
Professor Dexter Da Silva, Keisen University, Japan
Professor Gary Swanson, University of Northern Colorado, United States
Professor Baden Offord, Curtin University, Australia
Professor Frank Ravitch, Michigan State University, United States
Professor William Baber, Kyoto University, Japan

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Conference Programme Committee

Dr Grant Black, Chuo University, Japan
Dr Joseph Haldane, The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
Professor Donald E. Hall, University of Rochester, United States
Dr Daniel Hoffman, University of Hawaii at Manoa, United States
Professor James W. McNally, University of Michigan, USA & NACDA Program on Aging
Professor Deane Neubauer, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, United States
Professor Haruko Satoh, Osaka University, Japan
Tialei Scanlan, Brigham Young University – Hawaii, United States
Professor Gary E. Swanson, University of Northern Colorado, United States (fmr.)
Robin Watson, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, United States

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IICAH2024 Review Committee

IAFOR's peer review process, which involves both reciprocal review and the use of Review Committees, is overseen by the Conference Programme Committee under the guidance of the International Academic Board (IAB). Review Committee members are established academics who hold PhDs or other terminal degrees in their fields and who have previous peer review experience.

If you would like to apply to serve on the IICAH2024 Review Committee, please visit our application page.

Apply to Join the Review Committee

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Chih-Pu Dai
University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, United States

Biography

Dr Chih-Pu Dai is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Learning Design and Technology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His research interests include Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education, Extended Reality, Game-Based Learning and Simulation-Based Learning.

Specifically, he designs and studies immersive and experience-oriented advanced learning technologies to enhance teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields for diverse K-12 and adult learners. He aims to support and enhance learning with design features and solutions, as well as with the applications of AI and machine learning techniques in advanced learning technologies. As such, in a research project, he examines the effects of learning support for preservice teachers when they practise teaching in virtual reality with AI-powered virtual student agents.

Dr Dai uses quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, and AI and machine learning approaches to address research questions. His work has been published in academic journals such as Computers & Education, Educational Technology Research & Development, British Journal of Educational Technology, Computers & Education: Artificial Intelligence, and International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education. In addition, he speaks at conferences of International Society of the Learning Sciences, American Educational Research Associations, and Association for Educational Communications and Technology.

Featured Panel Presentation (2024) | Practical Approaches to AI in Academia
Kālewa Correa
Smithsonian Institution, United States

Biography

Kālewa Correa is the Curator of Hawai’i and the Pacific for the Smithsonian Institution's Asian Pacific American Center. He graduated from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Kamakakūʻokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, where he focused on Hawaiian traditional society and politics. He also holds advanced degrees in Information Science and Education Technology. As Curator of Hawai’i and the Pacific, Correa's primary program is the Digital Storytelling Initiative called "Our Stories." This initiative aims to elevate the voices of Pacific Islanders on a national and international stage through mixed media formats such as film, podcasting, composition, and mixed reality.

Featured Interview (2024) | Questions of Education, Curation and Artificial Intelligence
Kali Fermantez
Brigham Young University–Hawaii, United States

Biography

Dr Kali Fermantez is an Associate Professor at Brigham Young University – Hawaii (BYU-H) and enjoys working in his home community (he is from Hauʻula). He has been teaching in the Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian & Pacific Studies since 2009. His research has consistently focused on the connections between place, culture, and identity in Hawaiʻi and the broader Pacific.

Featured Panel Presentation (2024) | Hawaiian Culture and Learning from the Ocean
Joseph Haldane
The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan

Biography

Joseph Haldane is the founder, chairman, and CEO of IAFOR. He is responsible for devising strategy, setting policies, forging institutional partnerships, implementing projects, and overseeing the organisation’s global business and academic operations.

Dr Haldane has a PhD from the University of London in nineteenth-century French studies (ULIP/RHUL), and has research interests in world history and politics; international education; and governance and decision making. Since 2015, he has been a Guest Professor at Osaka University’s School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), and Co-Director of the OSIPP-IAFOR Research Centre since 2017.

In 2020, Dr Haldane was elected Honorary Professor of University College London (UCL) through the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, and full Professor in the United Nations Peace University's European Center for Peace and Development in 2022. A member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network for global governance, he holds visiting professorships at Belgrade and Doshisha Universities where he teaches ethics and governance. He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Professor Haldane has had full-time faculty positions at the Université Paris-Est Créteil, Sciences Po Paris, and Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, as well as visiting positions at the French Press Institute (Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas), and the Schools of Journalism of Sciences Po Paris and Moscow State University.

Dr Haldane has been invited to speak at universities and conferences globally, including the UN HQ in New York, and advised universities, NGOs and governments on issues relating to international education policy, public-private partnerships, and multi-stakeholder forums. He was the project lead on the 2019 Kansai Resilience Forum, held by the Japanese Government through the Prime Minister’s Office and oversaw the 2021 Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissioned study on Infectious Diseases on Cruise Ships.

Panel Presentation (2025) | TBA

Previous Presentations

Featured Interview (2024) | Questions of Education, Curation and Artificial Intelligence
Dorothy Hirata
University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, United States

Biography

Dr Dorothy So Hirata is the Instructional Design Manager with the University of Hawaiʻi System’s Online Innovation Center where she leads the instructional design team. She works cross-functionally with diverse faculty, staff, and administrators to support system-wide strategic online learning initiatives and professional development opportunities that contribute to quality learning across the ten campuses.

Dr Hirata also serves as an adjunct faculty for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Education, Learning Design and Technology Department and has developed and facilitated online graduate courses. Her certifications as a Quality Matters (QM) Higher Education Master Reviewer and K-12 Course Reviewer provide her with the opportunity to conduct quality course design reviews with faculty interested in improving their online courses. Dr Hirata's interest also includes accreditation work, where she serves as a subject specialist with the Distance Education Accrediting Commission.

Prior to joining the University of Hawaiʻi, Dr Hirata worked for 15 years at Kamehameha Schools, a private school that served pre-K to 12 learners. She obtained three degrees from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, a B.Ed. in Secondary Education, a M.Ed. in Educational Technology, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in online learning.

Featured Panel Presentation (2024) | Practical Approaches to AI in Academia
Kai Hoshijo
Polynesian Voyaging Society, United States

Biography

Kai Hoshijo is 25 years old and hails from Niu Valley, Oahu. She is a student of navigation and a volunteer crew member with the Polynesian Voyaging Society on wa'a kaulua Hōkūle'a and Hikianalia. She currently works on projects with the Hawai'i Coral Reef Initiative as well as outreach and restoration efforts with the Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center. Kai received her Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science in Natural Resources and Environmental Management in 2019 and 2022 respectively. Her work compiled Konohiki fishing practices and governance of Niu ahupua'a through archival data and interviewing. Kai loves being in the ocean: in her free time, she goes voyaging, surfs, dives, teaches pottery and loves working in her yard.

Featured Panel Presentation (2024) | Moananuiākea – A Voyage for Earth

Previous Presentations

Featured Panel Presentation (2023) | Weaving Knowledge Systems and Nurturing the Next Generation to Care for Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Paul McKimmy
University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, United States

Biography

Paul McKimmy is interim Associate Vice Provost for Academic Excellence at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa where he leads the tenure and promotion process, chairs the distance learning advisory committee, acts on policy and contract cases, and coordinates professional development.

Dr McKimmy has a combined thirty years of experience in higher education, including twenty years with the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa College of Education. As the College’s Director of Technology & Distance Programs, his roles included planning and managing instructional support services, technical services, and development of distance programs. As a faculty specialist in the Learning Design & Technology department, he also developed a curriculum and taught courses in instructional design, academic technology, and online learning. He continues to serve on doctoral committees with the department.

Dr McKimmy holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Western Michigan University, a Masters degrees in College Student Personnel and Guidance and Counseling from Bowling Green State University, and a Bachelors in Business Administration from Hope College.

Featured Panel Presentation (2024) | Practical Approaches to AI in Academia
Michael Menchaca
University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, United States

Biography

Michael Menchaca is Chair of the Department of Learning Design and Technology at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. He specialises in distance education, and has designed, implemented, and coordinated online and hybrid programs for over 20 years. He serves as editor for the IAFOR Journal of Education: Technology in Education Edition. He was an IT specialist for many years in the public and private sector. He teaches and conducts research in the areas of online learning, technology integration, and social justice with technology.

Featured Panel Presentation (2025) | Global Citizenship and the Environment: Engagement and Action

Previous Presentations

Featured Panel Presentation (2024) | Practical Approaches to AI in Academia
Panel Presentation (2022) | Reimagining General Education Across Hawaii’s 10-Campus System: Process, Product, and Lessons Learned
Esprit Saucier
Brigham Young University–Hawaii, United States

Biography

Dr Esprit Saucier is an Associate Professor at Brigham Young University–Hawaii (BYU-H). Her master's research included studying adaptations of intertidal sea anemones. She completed a PhD studying gene flow of isolated populations of deep-sea coral. Her research interests involve using phylogenetics and morphological characters to understand the evolutionary history of anthozoans, particularly deep-sea corals; exploring the invasions and radiations of shallow water anthozoans to deep oceans and visa versa, and examining the population and species level differences at both the genetic and morphological level.

Featured Panel Presentation (2024) | TBA
Hawaiian Culture and Learning from the Ocean
Featured Panel Presentation: Kali Fermantez, Esprit Saucier, Tialei Scanlan (Moderator)

This joint session will focus on Hawaiian culture and coral reefs in the Hawaiian archipelago. Participants will learn about Hawaiian culture, history, values, and practices through oral and practical traditions of the Hawaiian People as expressed in their chants, songs, music, art, crafts, food, language, and hospitality. Coral reefs in the Hawaiian archipelago comprise over 80% of U.S. coral reefs and span over 2,000km [1,200 miles]. This session will also cover basic coral reef ecology and will help participants examine the population and species level differences of deep-sea coral. Hawaiian reefs possess some of the most abundant levels of marine endemic species in the world and shelter over 700 species of fish, 400 species of algae, and over 2,000 species of invertebrates. Our coral reefs are not only important to protecting our shoreline from storms and wave damage but also provide economic benefits to our local communities through marine tourism and nearshore fisheries.

Read presenters' biographies
Moananuiākea – A Voyage for Earth
Featured Panel Presentation: Mark Ellis, Kai Hoshijo, Robin Watson (Moderator)

This panel consists of educators who are also Polynesian Voyaging Society crew members and have sailed on the Moananuiākea Voyage. The panellists will give an overview of the voyage and share their insights that they have learned from the legs of the voyage that they have sailed on. Legs span from the far north towns of Yakutat, Alaska to large metropolitan cities in Southern California. Panel members will also talk about the next steps of the voyage and future legs.

Read presenters' biographies
Questions of Education, Curation, and Artificial Intelligence
Featured Interview: Kālewa Correa, Joseph Haldane

On this panel, Joseph Haldane, Chairman and CEO of IAFOR, will be joined by Kālewa Correa, Curator of Hawai'i and the Pacific for the Smithsonian Institution's Asian Pacific American Center, as well as a special guest… the latest publicly available version of ChatGPT.

The discussion will focus around historically, politically, and culturally contentious questions of education and curation in the contemporary context, including the implications of AI and its growing authoritative role and voice. This will include an examination of the role of programmers and prompt engineers as curators and censors, and a questioning of the premise and promise of unfiltered access to knowledge.

Read presenters' biographies
Practical Approaches to AI in Academia
Featured Panel Presentation: Chih-Pu Dai, Dorothy Hirata, Paul McKimmy, Michael Menchaca

Three educational technology practitioners with differing institutional roles (executive, system support, and faculty) from the University of Hawaiʻi - Mānoa share their advice for educators on coping with and leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in academia. Panellists will provide brief comments on their approaches to AI, ideas on coping with academic integrity implications, and a favourite AI tool for making academic work more efficient. The following discussion will be moderated by Dr Michael Menchaca, Chair of UHM’s Department of Learning Design and Technology.

Read presenters' biographies