The first three volumes of Teaching Oceania, a publication series produced by the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and edited by UH West Oʻahu Assistant Professor of History Dr. Monica LaBriola, has been updated and made available in the EPUB format to make the works more accessible.
Dr. Monica LaBriola
LaBriola, who serves as series editor, said minor revisions have been made to the volumes published in 2016-2017, but that more significantly EPUB versions have been created to enhance accessibility for students without an Apple device. Previously the works had been available only in iBook and PDF formats.
The publication of Teaching Oceania grew out of a need for suitable materials on broad Pacific Islands topics for undergraduate students in Pacific Island Studies classes, according to its authors. The publications were drafted collectively by participants at a Center for Pacific Islands Studies’ (CPIS) workshop in 2016 that was co-sponsored by Kapiolani Community College and Brigham Young University Hawaiʻi. In turn, LaBriola edited the materials under the supervision of Dr. Julie Walsh, a CPIS specialist, with media selections enhanced by Dr. Alexander Mawyer.
The first three volumes have been downloaded more than 6,900 times since August 2016 from ScholarSpace, an open-access, digital institutional repository for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The first volumes are Militarism and Nuclear Testing in the Pacific, Gender in the Pacific, and Health and Environment in the Pacific. Additionally, a fourth volume on Oceanic Art is scheduled to be published soon.
LaBriola said the series materials are being used by Pacific studies faculty and students in Hawaiʻi, the Pacific Islands, the United States mainland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, and elsewhere. Each unit is free to download online. The EPUB versions can be used on any device or platform with an EPUB reader such as Icecream or Calibre—or search for “free EPUB reader.”
Updates about current and new volumes in the series are available through a Facebook page on the series at https://www.facebook.com/TeachingOceania/.