CRDG is excited to be working on the third edition of A History of Hawai‘i, the most widely used text for high school courses on the history of Hawai‘i’ since the first edition was published in 1989. The text, which approaches Hawai‘i’s story by breaking out chapters on government and political history, economic history, social history, and land history, is being revised and updated for a new audience and a new educational environment. The new edition is being updated both to include more depth and detail for some of Hawai‘i’s most pivotal events and to reflect the growing cultural and language revitalization. The new edition will include more material on the pre-contact era as well as more coverage of the issues Native Hawaiians faced following Western contact. The new book will be published in both print and ebook formats and will include, for the first time, online interactive materials and activities to complement the text.
The new edition is being developed by CRDG’s Leah Tassill, a social studies researcher and teacher at the University Laboratory School (ULS) who has taught for many years and who worked on aligning this course with Hawai‘i social studies standards for the Hawai‘i Department of Education. The project, which is in the development and writing stage this year, will be piloted in the ULS before it is finalized.