Doctoral Program (Ph.D.) – Hawaiian and Indigenous Language and Culture Revitalization

The mission of the Ph.D. program in Hawaiian and Indigenous Language and Culture Revitalization is to train well rounded Hawaiian and other indigenous scholars who are prepared to take leadership roles within their communities in indigenous language and culture revitalization.

Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elilkōlani is widely recognized as the leader in indigenous language revitalization in the United States, and indeed the North Pacific Basin. Concentrated in Hilo is a preschool through graduate school Hawaiian medium educational system and key support offices providing administrative, curricular, language planning, and technological support to programs throughout the Hawaiian islands. In addition, Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikōlani provides government sponsored outreach services to support indigenous languages throughout Polynesia and the United States.

The Doctorate in Hawaiian and Indigenous Language and Culture Revitalization is designed first to serve the needs of the State of Hawai‘i for advanced academic training and scholarly research in the Hawaiian language. An additional goal is to use the internationally recognized successful model of Hawaiian language revitalization to provide other indigenous scholars and language educators with graduate level education relevant to the revitalization of their own languages and cultures. By providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and research on the many issues involved in revitalizing indigenous languages and cultures elsewhere, Hawaiian revitalization will be further strengthened.

Read the program description in the UH Hilo Catalog for a detailed explanation of the program and its requirements.