Connecting Hawaiian Identity and Global Advocacy

Through her work with Oberlin's Center for Engaged Liberal Arts (CELA), Isabel Handa ’26 has bridged her Hawaiian identity with her academic and research pursuits.

Handa began her undergraduate research journey after being awarded a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF). The MMUF identifies and supports selected students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences through two years of mentored research. As a Mellon Mays fellow, Handa explored Hawaiian diasporic wellbeing through health and sovereignty frameworks.

Handa later utilized CELA’s study away resources to study at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where she deepened her research by taking courses in Māori and Pacific Studies. “I realized that I wanted to use my research to advocate for resourcing community initiatives and to engage more directly with community advocacy work,” she says. “I want to identify community needs in the continental U.S. Hawaiian diaspora and create visibility for diaspora Kānaka voices, experiences, and issues.”

To expand upon her research interests, Handa received funding through the Career Exploration and Development office’s Internship+ Program, which supports third-year students pursuing summer experiential learning opportunities. She worked for a Hawaiian nonprofit, where she learned about community organizing, grant writing, and fiscal sponsorship in the nonprofit sector.

Handa later received an award from the Puko’a Fellows Program, a fellowship supporting Pacifika students living in the Hawaiian diaspora. “Through this project, I have been able to apply my personal research findings to diaspora community initiatives.”

As she applied to PhD programs to continue her research, guidance from the Mellon Mays program helped Handa craft and strengthen her application materials, from her essays to her curriculum vitae. “Through my engagement with CELA’s programs, I have realized that I want to pursue research that works alongside community advocacy and carry out these goals through experience in community organizations.”

Handa is a nominee for the CELA Award, recognizing outstanding engagement and achievement in connecting academic pursuits with experiential learning.