Center for Philippine Studies

The Center for Philippine Studies (CPS) was originally established as a Program in 1975 by an Act of the Hawai'i State Legislature to recognize the contributions of Filipinos to the history of Hawai'i and to highlight the academic expertise on the Philippines at the University of Hawai'i. Administratively, the Center is housed at the School of Pacific and Asian Studies (SPAS). It is the only such center in North America and an internationally recognized source of broad and specialized expertise on a country and people that have had long historical links with the US and the Asia-Pacific region. Its faculty is interdisciplinary, tenure-based in various departments and colleges that offer Philippine courses in history, languages, literature, linguistics, political science, music, Asian studies, ethnic studies, education, geography, anthropology, psychology, sociology, population studies, and economics. The Center has the largest concentration of Philippine academic specialists in the United States, many with international reputations. It also has faculty affiliates from the East-West Center.