language & culture

C Elementary Japanese

Introduces speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills of beginning Japanese. Includes basic sentence structures. Daily practice highly recommended.

JPN101 / Ryan Locke / 3 credits

001 TuW Fall Semester 8/21 - 12/15

C Elementary Hawaiian

Learn speaking, reading, and writing in elementary Hawaiian.

HAW101 / 4 credits

001 TuW Fall Semester 8/21 - 12/15

CE Introduction to American Sign Language

American Sign Language is for those who interested in supporting the hard of hearing, and deaf communities. These skills can be applied to professional interpreting, education, tourism & hospitality, trades, retail sales, law enforcement and emergency services, healthcare, judicial system, public parks and recreation, visual arts, entertainment, athletic, and transportation industries. This interactive course will offer etiquette, best practices, social norms and communication skills in American Sign Language (ASL). We will focus on observing expressive and receptive skills through the use of hand signage. You will be introduced to members of the deaf and hard of hearing community to practice acquired language skills in social settings.

LANG6709 / Gary Hall Jr. / $199

CE Intermediate American Sign Language

In this intermediate course, you will learn to apply communication skills in American Sign Language (ASL) based on previous training. The course will focus on observing expressive and receptive skills through the use of hand signage. You will be introduced to members of the deaf and hard of hearing community to practice acquired language skills in social settings. All are welcome, but it is highly recommended to complete LANG6709 Introduction to ASL prior to this intermediate class.

LANG6707 / Gary Hall Jr. / $199

CE MLI - FALL 1 Regular Session

The MLI Regular Session builds and improves English skills in listening, speaking, reading, vocabulary, writing, and cultural studies. You will learn and practice grammatical structures through practice exercises and presentations. You will research and present on cultural topics, through rhetorical techniques that include describing, comparing and contrasting, exploring causes and effects, and argumentation. You will build writing skills from writing paragraphs to essays. Depending on the module, you will write descriptions, processes, compare/contrast, problem/solution, and/or cause and effect paragraphs and essays. You will build skills required to become independent readers and thinkers in the English language.

LANG6010 / $2,300

If the accomplished young man on our cover looks familiar to you, it may be because you’re familiar with his beautiful music. Kamalei Kawa‘a and his group rose to prominence in 2019 and 2020 with Nā Hōkū Hanohano awards and a Grammy nomination. From the time he graduated from Baldwin High School in 2014 until those musical milestones, Kamalei had worked in the construction industry. He loved it. But after five years, “I realized it was taking away from my passion – hula and music.” That passion, by the way, is in Kamalei’s DNA. His mother is noted kumu hula and Hawaiian cultural practitioner Luana Kawa‘a. “I felt the Hawaiian cultural practices I grew up with were slowly slipping away,” he adds.

So, beginning in 2018, he dedicated himself to music full time while also teaching hula part time at Seabury Hall. Then came COVID. “The pandemic took music and my income away,” says Kamalei. “Lucky for me, Seabury brought me on full time to teach Hawaiian Ensemble hula and ‘ukulele as part of the school’s Hawaiian Studies program.”

College had never been on his radar. Until then. “When I got this full-time job, I wanted to elevate the knowledge I already had and to gain more knowledge,” Kamalei says. He knew he wanted to be an educator – to teach young people Hawaiian studies, culture, oli, music, hula. “I feel you should have a certificate or a degree if you want to teach. I wanted to take the classes that would make me a Hawaiian educator. I wanted to learn as much as I could.”

He wasted no time. Kamalei enrolled at UHMC in 2019. And in May, he will graduate with his Associate’s Degree in Hawaiian Studies. Besides his extremely supportive parents and wife, Kamalei credits a scholarship, our college’s resources, and flexible class schedules for his success. Mostly, though, it’s his determination and hard, tireless work.