Category - Publications

1
Who Are These Strange People?
2
Islanders? Lives on Paper
3
Making Sense of This and That

Who Are These Strange People?

That?s the question that I found myself trying to answer last week in Hawaii. The ?strange people? were, of course, Micronesians who have moved to Hawaii over the past years. They include 8,000 FSM citizens, another 3,000 or 4,000 Marshallese and hundreds of Palauans.

The East-West Center generously paid my way to Hawaii and set up a number of interviews, talks and radio and TV appearances during the week. Most of the events highlighted two recent publications of mine: Making Sense of Micronesia, the book published by University of Hawaii Press, and Micronesians on the Move: Eastward and Upward Bound, a monograph that EWC is releasing in a week or two. The first is on my struggle to understand island custom, and the other is on the migration of FSM people over the years. Read More

Making Sense of This and That

Pardon the self-promotion, but University of Hawai?i Press has just announced that my new book has just hit the streets. Don?t expect to see it on the New York Times best-seller list anytime soon. The title, Making Sense of Micronesia, is precisely what the book tries to do. As the blurb puts it:

Why are islanders so lavishly generous with food and material possessions but so guarded with information? Why do these people, unfailingly polite for the most part, laugh openly when others embarrass themselves? What does a smile mean to an islander? What might a sudden lapse into silence signify? These questions are common in encounters with an unfamiliar Pacific Island culture. Making Sense of Micronesia is intended for westerners who find themselves in contact with Micronesians?as teachers, social workers, health?care providers, or simply as friends?and are puzzled by their island ways. Read More