The University of Hawaii at Hilo invites the public to a free talk titled “Diversity and its Discontents: How Multiculturalism Failed Us” from 5-6 p.m. May 2 in UCB Room 100.
Guest speaker Gary Y. Okihiro, Ph.D. is a nationally acclaimed scholar, founder and teacher of Asian-American and comparative ethnic studies. Okihiro is a visiting professor of American studies at Yale University, a professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University, and the founding director of Columbia’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race.
He also has taught, directed and developed the comparative ethnic studies programs at Humboldt State University, Santa Clara University and Cornell University.
Okihiro is the author of 14 books, and his research focuses on the United States, including Hawaii, southern Africa, Asian studies and world history. He also is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Studies Association and Association for Asian-American Studies, received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of the Ryukyus (Okinawa) and is a past president of the Association for Asian-American Studies.
The talk is sponsored by the UH-Hilo Chancellor’s Diversity Committee and the Droste Foundation.
Anyone requiring auxiliary aids or special accommodations to participate should contact Patsy Iwasaki at piwasaki@hawaii.edu or 932-7074 by Thursday.