College of Arts and Sciences

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For information, please contact:

Office of the Dean
University Classroom Building 304
(808) 974-7300
(808) 974-7690 (fax)
Email: casdean@hawaii.edu
www.uhh.hawaii.edu/academics/cas/

or:
UH Hilo Admissions Office
Office of Student Affairs
Student Services Building Room 115
(808) 974-7414 or (800) 897-4456
(808) 974-7691 (fax)
Email: uhhadm@hawaii.edu
www.uhh.hawaii.edu/studentaffairs/admissions/

Purpose

The purpose of the College of Arts and Sciences is to provide quality education in the liberal arts and sciences, as well as a select group of high quality professional and pre-professional programs. Therefore, the academic emphasis in the College of Arts and Sciences is on the traditional arts and sciences subjects, particularly those with special relevance to Hawaiʻi.

Educational Philosophy

The College of Arts and Sciences offers students a diversified and quality liberal arts curriculum which combines a traditional format with the flexibility to meet the needs of every student.

The purpose of this traditional, yet flexible, liberal arts curriculum is to provide students with an opportunity to achieve a common basis for intellectual discourse so that they will be prepared to meet the demands of both profession and citizenship. Accordingly, students in the College receive an education which enables them to:

Communicate in both the written and spoken media with precision and cogency;
Think critically and engage in reasoned discussions about complex issues;
Understand major historic and philosophical concepts, and scholarly, literary, and artistic accomplishments of the past and present of our own and other societies;
Comprehend the physical universe, the mathematical and experimental methods of the natural sciences, and the qualitative and quantitative methods of the social sciences; and
Achieve a depth of understanding and competence in a specific field of knowledge.

Instructional Methods

In the teaching of numerous subjects, the College seeks to make use of Hawaiʻi Island and its multi-cultural heritage and physical setting as a miniature continent in the midst of a tropical ocean. Classes frequently conduct field studies at various sites on Hawaiʻi Island. Archaeology students participate in investigating ancient Hawaiian sites and artifacts. Geology, biology, and geography students explore the island’s volcanoes, marine environment, and varied ecosystems. Numerous social science courses make use of the wide ethnic heritages represented on Hawaiʻi Island.

Although UH Hilo is isolated from the tensions of the metropolitan environment, the College is not isolated from the world. Many courses at Hilo have a strong international accent. Both the Eastern and Western traditions are studied in courses in philosophy, religion, and history. Languages routinely taught at the college include French, Japanese, Spanish, and, less frequently, Chinese and Latin.

Students in the College of Arts and Sciences have considerable liberty to design, in cooperation with their professors, individualized courses of instruction. Through the “99” course offerings, students may undertake directed reading and research. Furthermore, the Liberal Studies Program allows students to design their own majors by combining subjects of study which are demonstrably pertinent to their personal, educational, developmental, or career objectives.

The College employs a wide variety of instructional methods in order to implement the educational philosophy stated above. Experimentation with new pedagogical techniques that show promise of being effective is encouraged. At the College students will encounter instruction in such forms as:

Lectures in both lower- and upper-division courses. Every effort is made to limit the size of classes to allow for student-teacher discourse and to minimize student anonymity in the classroom. Where appropriate, lecture classes are complemented by audio-visual techniques that enrich and enhance the learning process.

Laboratory courses, which provide educational experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of research in real and simulated settings. These courses, which are usually adjuncts to lecture classes, also offer opportunities for the student to develop skills in observations, data collection, problem-solving, interpretation, and working effectively in small teams.

Seminars, which are an important part of the instructional process because they provide an opportunity for students to study in their major fields of interest at an advanced level and in small groups. Seminars are used primarily in upper-division courses, but where appropriate, this format is also used in the lower division.

Independent study and the senior thesis. These provide an opportunity for students to pursue knowledge in an area of particular interest under the supervision of an instructor. Such study is of a specialized nature, and, thus, it is limited to those students who have sufficient background in the field to benefit from independent inquiry.

Field trips, which introduce students to real situations outside of the classroom. These trips are particularly valuable in those areas of study that relate to the physical and cultural environment and the major research facilities on the island.

Internships and practica, whose importance to the instructional process comes from the bridge they form between the classroom and the outside world. These methods provide students with opportunities to apply the knowledge and techniques acquired in the classroom. By placing students in the community, they also serve as a means of strengthening the relationship between the College and the community.

Evaluation of Students

Evaluation methods and standards for each course are determined by the instructor and are presented to the student in the syllabus for the course, which is provided to each class during the first days of each semester. Thus, methods and standards may vary from course to course and instructor to instructor. In the same spirit, the instructor is free to select the material and teach the course in such manner as he or she feels appropriate.

This philosophy, which is based on the principle of academic freedom, provides the student with a great variety of approaches from which to choose and exposes the student to an equally wide variety of teaching methods. However, common to these methods will be basic standards of essential fairness and impartiality of the evaluation process. Students are provided with recourse if they feel that these standards have not been met (see section on “Academic Grievances” of this Catalog). The College of Arts and Sciences is dedicated to providing the student with the best educational experience available, a dedication to which its many successful graduates can attest.