AI-enabled digital technology appears to be transgressing the ontological boundaries associated with technology as known to humanity over the history of its existence. Today’s digital technology is active and autonomous; it interacts with humans and other AI-enabled technology and achieves its objectives mostly independent of human intervention. It shapes human experience and is shaped by it. Hence, we need to revisit our assumptions about AI-enabled technologies and reconsider individual and organizational roles and responsibilities toward such technologies. This theoretical paper questions (...) the well-established logic that is used to protect technology makers against the users’ misuse of their technology and offers possible solutions within the context of digital social networking and media platforms. (shrink)

Scientific networks are often investigated by means of citation analyses. Yet, interpretation of such networks in terms of semantic (and often disciplinary) content heavily depends on supplementary knowledge, notably about author research specialties. Similar situations arise more generally in many types of social networks whose semantic interpretation relies on supplementary information. Here, author community net-works are inferred from a topic model which provides direct insights into the semantic specificity of the identified “hidden communities of interest” (HCoI). Using a philosophy of (...) science corpus of full-text articles (N=16,917), we investigate its underlying communities by measuring topic profile correlations be-tween authors. A diachronic perspective is built by modeling the research networks over different time-periods and mapping genealogical relationships be-tween communities. The results show a marked in-crease in philosophy of science communities over time and trace the progressive appearance of the specialization areas that structure the field today. (shrink)

This study focused on the influence of philosophy for children on the socioemotional learning of Japanese middle school students. p4c is a student-centered learning approach that helps learners explore inquiry and encourage them to think and reason with peers and a teacher in a classroom setting. Previous research indicated that Japanese children rarely interacted with people other than their parents on a daily basis, and only within small cliques. As a result, they may be losing the ability to develop and (...) maintain relationships. Most English-language literature on p4c has focused almost exclusively on western educational systems. This study provides a literature review of Japanese-language research on this topic and examines the socioemotional needs of middle school students in a Japanese context. The in-depth case study investigated the influence of p4c on a middle school class of 35 Japanese 13- and 14-year-old students. Multiple forms of data were analyzed, including video recordings of p4c sessions, a survey, interviews with the teacher, a focus group interview with students, and student self-reflections. The findings indicated that p4c afforded opportunities for students to improve their social emotional skills, such as self-awareness, awareness of others, development of relationships and responsible decision-making. Students learned that they could cooperate with others, even if they had different ideas. Hearing others’ perspectives influenced the quality of students’ relationships, which may have promoted friendships. p4c may promote the socioemotional learning that is needed in Japanese society. (shrink)

This dissertation examines experiences of mixed race, specifically Black and Filipina, using autoethnography and interviews. To examine the multiple and complex figurations of “mixedness” a multi-disciplinary, multi-theoretic qualitative research approach is utilized. Drawing on the academic fields of educational foundations, ethnic studies, feminist studies, and theories of intersectionality, Pinayism, and critical race theory, the study suggests Blacknpinays exhibit an awareness of how the experience of being mixed counters the predominance of monoracialism thereby opening up a more complex world of living (...) multiplicity and multiraciality. This awareness has implications for rethinking and reworking educational theories, pedagogies, curriculum and research on the nexus of race and education. The study demonstrates that supportive and nurturing communities are helping to “raise” blacknpinays to flourish despite societal ideologies that continue to uphold monoracialism or assume postracialism. These supportive communities not only serve as a critical conduit for cultivating positive identities and relationships to self, others, and institutions but offer rich implications for education. (shrink)

This paper argues that the ubiquitous digital networks in which we are increasingly becoming immersed present a threat to our ability to exercise free will. Using process philosophy, and expanding upon understandings of causal autonomy, the paper outlines a thematic analysis of diary studies and interviews gathered in a project exploring the nature of digital experience. It concludes that without mindfulness in both the use and design of digital devices and services we run the risk of allowing such services to (...) direct our daily lives in ways over which we are increasingly losing control. (shrink)

The philosophy of mechanisms has developed rapidly during the last 30 years. As mechanisms-based explanations are often seen as an alternative to nomological, law-based explanations, MBEs could be relevant in IS. We begin by offering a short history of mechanistic philosophy and set out to clarify the contemporary landscape. We then suggest that mechanistic models provide an alternative to variance and process models in IS. Finally, we highlight how MBEs typically contain deliberate misrepresentations. Although MBEs have recently been advocated as (...) critical realist accounts in IS, idealizations seem to violate some fundamental tenets of CR and research method principles for CR. Idealizations in MBEs, therefore, may risk being regarded as flawed in IS. If it turns out that CR cannot account for idealizations, naturalism can, and it does so without extra-philosophical baggage. (shrink)

With the advent of CRISPR and gene drive gene editing technologies, synthetic biology is paving the way towards a world where humans have the capacity to rapidly design and re-design lifeforms. With little oversight and agreed upon governance structures, how will we ensure that these technologies are used for the greatest good? As we begin to actively design evolution, how might we decolonize this science? Privileging alternative forms of knowledge production and ethical frameworks from Indigenous peoples and spiritual ecologists in (...) order to shape a preferred future for the planet in the era of synthetic life. (shrink)

This thesis research analyzes how Hawaiian birthing practices have changed through time by looking through accounts in the Hawaiian Language Repository. It tracks our understanding of birthing practices to stories of Pua Kanikawī and Kanikawā, commonly referenced throughout our tradition as symbolic medicinal flowers created by the deity Haumea to aid in childbirth process. Through the analysis of twelve mo‘olelo from the Hawaiian language newspapers, this research demonstrates how Kanikawī and Kanikawā are tied to phenomenon in the natural environment produced (...) by the gods, the sound, synergy, and rhythm of musical instruments, and the intimacy between lovers. While these cultural connotations are seemingly different, they are all interconnected and associated with the need for partners to be in sync with the environment, community, and with each other leading up to childbirth, which is viewed as a spiritual process. This research demonstrates how important lessons from our traditional stories can help shape the resurgence of Hawaiian cultural practices today looking at the application of these traditional concepts in a program called Ka Lāhui of Ka Pō a community-based program of Ho‘oulu ‘Āina in located in Kalihilihilauomiha, a place associated with the goddess Haumea the patron of childbirth. (shrink)

This dissertation contributes to ecocritical scholarship by examining the representation of natural beauty in the environmental imaginations and advocacies of John Muir, Gary Snyder, and Terry Tempest Williams. The emphasis placed on natural beauty in their works suggests beauty’s profound role in activating concern for and creative thinking about the health and future of the planet. Drawing upon the work of Elaine Scarry, this project asserts that beauty engenders a profound defamiliarization and sense of selflessness that contributes to the anti-anthropocentric (...) thrust of ecocriticism. At the same time, in the encounter with beauty, the individual is urged to care for and protect what is perceived as beautiful. Bringing together historic, scientific, and aesthetic perspectives on beauty, this project locates depictions and conceptualizations of beauty in the works of the target authors at a moment when in critical discourses beauty has been marginalized if not ignored. It contends that in the works of Muir, Snyder, and Williams, the experience of beauty converges with notions of interconnection, ecology, and hope in productive ways that expose the vital place that aesthetic appreciation of nature has in environmental advocacy. (shrink)

Guidelines for different qualitative research genres have been proposed in information systems. As these guidelines are outlined for conducting and evaluating good research, studies may be denied publication simply because they do not follow a prescribed methodology. This can result in “checkbox” compliance, where the guidelines become more important than the study. We argue that guidelines can only be used to evaluate what good research is if there is evidence that they lead to certain good research outcomes. Currently, the guidelines (...) do not present such evidence. Instead, when it is presented, the evidence is often an authority argument or evidence of popularity with usability examples. We further postulate that such evidence linking guidelines and outcomes cannot be presented. Therefore, it may be time for the IS research community to acknowledge that many research method principles we regard as authoritative may ultimately be based on speculation and opinion, and thus, they should be taken less seriously as absolute guidelines in the review process. (shrink)

Numerous articles in top IS journals note as a limitation and lack of generalizability that their findings are specific to a certain type of technology, culture, and so on. We argue that this generalizability concern is about limited scope. The IS literature notes this preference for generalizability as a characteristic of good science and it is sometimes confused with statistical generalizability. We argue that such generalizability can be in conflict with explanation or prediction accuracy. An increase in scope can decrease (...) explanation or prediction accuracy. Thus, in sciences such as cancer research, where explanation and prediction accuracy are highly valued, the cancer accounts have become increasingly narrower. IS thinking has not yet benefitted from these considerations. Whether generalizability is valued should be linked with the research aims. If the aim is practical applicability through explanation or prediction accuracy, then “limited” generalizability could be a strength rather than a weakness. (shrink)

Do you ever have a great idea, but can't get buy in from your boss? Find yourself starting projects only to have them derailed or go into unplanned directions? Creating best practice and projects, requires us to be able to articulate value and be organized in our approach for programs and services that will benefit our communities. Join us for this interactive session where you'll learn strategies to get energy around your idea and then a simple method for creating a (...) plan for success. (shrink)

Authors: Dianne Pothier and Richard Devlin Publisher: University of British Columbia Press, 2006 Reviewer: Carrie Griffin Basas Cloth, ISBN: 9780774812030, 352 pages Paperback, ISBN: 9780774812047, 352 pages Cost: Cloth, $85.00 USD; Paperback, $32.95 USD.

We postulate that a disconnect between stakeholders and designers, often rooted in an understandable preoccupation with technical rationality, limits how design research is conceptualized in the design science research community. We posit co-creation as a way to overcome this limitation that engages reflective design practice fostering a shared understanding of value among the designers/developers, users, analysts and others. Thus, co-creation is an essential ingredient for design satisfaction in many design endeavors. We proffer a theoretical foundation for envisioning design success as (...) an artefact that realizes co-created conceptual metaphors compositing the objective and subjective qualities shaping the stakeholders’ appreciative systems. This paper positions and advocates for a critical perspective on designer transcendence where design choices and actions are centered on a shared, but evolving, composite understanding of value and quality - satisfaction. Successful co-creative design emancipates users from concern for unnecessary technically rational aspects of artefact design. Further we propose a framework, grounded in semiotics, to hone and revitalize designer transcendence with a design emphasis on efficient and ideally frictionless interfaces - conceptual metaphors - to reduce asymmetry among stakeholder concerns. (shrink)

The use of the term -˜fake news’ has recently become widespread; however, research on fake news is limited. This research intends to increase understanding of how users of social networking sites determine if they should confirm the validity of news content. Grounded in research on the epistemology of testimony, we develop and test a research model based on perceptions related to news authors, news sharers, and users to test verification behaviors of users. The findings indicate that social tie variety, perceived (...) cognitive homogeneity, trust in network, fake news awareness, perceived media credibility and intention to share influence an individual’s news verification behavior. We discuss the implications of our findings for SNS designers as well as users. We also integrate the theoretical perspectives of trust and testimony and demonstrate their value for explicating verification behaviors. (shrink)

Ph.D. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2016.

Ph.D. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2015.

This essay reflects on developments in the field since the 1995 publication of “Rethinking Pacific Islands Studies” first explored a number of intellectual or academic foundations of such programs. It suggests that the pragmatic rationale for Pacific studies, which often has more to do with influence than understanding, and the laboratory rationale, which values Pacific Islanders primarily as objects of study, are both alive and well twenty years on, albeit with more attention among practitioners to issues of positionality, research ethics, (...) and the politics of knowledge. The essay discusses the challenges of realizing the empowerment rationale advocated in the original article but argues that there has been some progress in giving primacy to indigenous perspectives, interests, and epistemologies in Pacific studies scholarship. The essay concludes with a discussion of how the empowerment rationale has informed curriculum and program development at the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawai‘i–Mānoa over the past two decades. (shrink)

Based on a critical account of the dominant concept of theory, the paper presents an alterna-tive, wider notion of theory. It is motivated by the need to cope with a contingent research subject and the assumption that IS should provide an orientation for managing the digital transfor-mation. Unlike neo-positivistic notions of theory, the proposed conception is not restricted to de-scriptions of the factual, but may be aimed at de-signing possible future worlds. Conceiving of possible future worlds requires overcoming the barriers (...) created by language that constitutes our idea of the present world. The paper discusses the resulting methodological challenges and outlines how they might be addressed. (shrink)

In peer-to-peer lending, soft information, such as borrowers’ facial features, textual descriptions of loan applications and so on, are regarded as potential signals to screen borrowers. In this study, we examine the signaling effect of a new category of soft information- social media information. Leveraging a unique dataset that combines loan data from a large P2P lending company with social media presence data from a popular social media site, and two natural experiments, we find two forms of social media information (...) that act as signals of borrowers’ creditworthiness. First, borrowers’ choice to self-disclose their social media account is a predictor of their default probability. Second, borrowers’ social media presence, such as their social network and social media engagement, are also predictors of default probability. This study proffers new insights for the screening process in P2P lending and novel usage of social media information. (shrink)

Ph.D. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2010.

A Smart Step by Anne Misawa; International Faculty and Scholars by Signe Nakayama; "Go For Broke!" The Spirit of the 442nd Lives On by Lois Kajiwara; UHM Nursing & Outreach College Partner in Hosting Nursing Faculty from China by Kris Qureshi & Judy Ensing; Up Close & Personal with Alfred Kan; Notes from Abroad with Mary Campany by Daphne Miyashiro; The Clubhouse: Zen Philosophy Club.

Ph.D. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2013.

Ph.D. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2013.

Ph.D. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2013.

Ph.D. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2013.

Ph.D. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2012.

This item includes a segment of an an instructor interview in a Writing Intensive course in a sophomore honors seminar at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The interview was conducted in 2015 and in this clip the interviewee is responding with thoughts on the connections between digital media, student activism, and the environment.

This item includes a segment of an a student interview in a Writing Intensive course in Geology & Geophysics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The interview was conducted in 2014 and in this clip the interviewee is reflecting on how writing styles shift between disciplines.

This item includes a segment of an instructor interview in a Writing Intensive course in English at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The interview was conducted in 2014, and in this clip the interviewee is responding to the question 'What observations on course dynamics and discussions do you have?'.

This paper addresses two questions: How do Methods of language teaching differ from one another? What factors are responsible for the spread of Nethods? I hope to demonstrate that while fundamental differences between methods often relate to different views of the nature of language, or to different instructional theories, the reasons for the rise and fall of Methods are often independent of either of these factors. To understand the role of language theory, instructional theory and implementation factors in Methods, is (...) to know their Secret Life. (shrink)

Having done the initial research and editing of the Bays and Harbors Voiume, Marine Atlas of Hawaii, I am submitting this 1974 publication as part of this honors thesis. This atlas, published by the Sea Grant Program of the University of Hawaii, is a compilation of historical; geographical; and quantitative materials gathered from various sources. It includes a fairly thorough physical description of all the shorelines of all the islands in the Hawaiian Archipelago, with specific bays and harbors detailed and (...) mapped. This paper attempts to deal with another aspect of the coastlines: the beaches and access to them, focusing on one particular area. Lanikai Beach, on the windward side of Oahu,is used as a focal point because the history of public acquisition of certain easements there has become a classic example in the files of coastal zone planners and the Honolulu City and County Parks Department. (shrink)

Ph.D. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2014.

Indian philosopher and activist Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar is the focus of this study. Taking a critical interpretive approach, we attempt not to explain but to understand Sarkar and his work. Chapter one alternatively reads Sarkar's life sympathetically placing him in the mythological hero narrative and critically placing him in the politics of mythification. Chapter two places Sarkar's work within positivist, interpretive and poststructural sites of knowledge. We develop Sarkar's work not as a predictive theory, but as an alternative cultural approach (...) and as a political asset that allows voices and realities previously silenced to be heard. ;Chapter three places Sarkar in the context of the Indian episteme. Sarkar uses the Indian episteme as a point of departure but articulates a new metaphysic and an alternative economic growth/distribution mechanism that radically transforms Indian thought. Chapter four contextualizes Sarkar's theory of history in various Indian constructions of time, space and power. While Sarkar takes the classic cyclical historical viewpoint, he includes within it the possibility of individual and societal spiritual and economic transformation, thus allowing an exit from the tragedy of history. ;Chapter five summarizes the prose of his history. We trace his various movements, stages and dysjunctions: the worker, warrior, intellectual, and capitalist eras, the worker's revolution and the intended spiritually-led permanent revolution. Chapter six places Sarkar in the context of other macro historians; specifically, Ssu-Ma Chien and Chang Hsueh-Cheng from Chinese macro history, Ibn Khaldun from Islamic macro history and from the West--Vico, Comte, Hegel, Marx, Gramsci, Pareto, Mosca, Spengler, Toynbee, Sorokin, Voegelin, Foucault, Polak and Galtung. Chapter seven situates Sarkar's social laws within an alternative politicized construction of science and social theory. Chapter eight concludes this study asserting that Sarkar's theoretical moves and social movements will most likely be among the most significant in the coming century if not centuries. (shrink)

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005.

In August 2010, conflict between indigenous Rapa Nui people and the Chilean state in ???Easter Island??? escalated as Rapa Nui occupied institutions and lands claimed by the Chilean state. This article introduces competing discourses by which the events of August 2010, as well as subsequent conflicts, might be assessed: archaeological, tourist, Chilean, indigenous, and cosmopolitan ethnography. Ethnographic analysis illuminates the point that the nonindigenous discourses fail to coherently ???place??? the significance of Rapa Nui people in Easter Island and hence cannot (...) coherently ground the sense of Rapa Nui resistance. By contextualizing the events within indigenous epistemology, the events are shown to be continuous with over a century of rational Rapa Nui resistance to Chilean colonialism on the island. The article thus provides a discursive ground for interpreting recent and ongoing conflict in Rapa Nui in terms of Rapa Nui discursive practice. (shrink)