Alan Howard

Department History

I began teaching in the Department of Anthropology in 1963 when I was part-time at Bishop Museum. I took a split appointment with the Department and the Population Institute at the East-West Center in 1971, and went full-time to Anthropology in 1975. I retired in 1999 and assumed emeritus status, but continue to do research among diasporic Rotumans who are now scattered around the world.

Research

My research has focused on two populations: people on and from the island of Rotuma (Fiji) from 1959 to the present; and Hawaiian-Americans on the Nanakuli Homestead (Oahu) from 1965-1968. I consider myself first and foremost an ethnographer with wide-ranging interests. My books include Learning to Be Rotuman (1970), Ain't No Big Thing: Coping Strategies in a Hawaiian-American Community (1974), and Island Legacy: A History of the Rotuman People (2004).