• Wednesday: " 'Minding Nature' through Ecopsychology," humans are intimately connected with the natural world, but often act as though "apart from nature" rather than "a part of nature." How can individuals and communities connect with the natural environment and make a positive impact? Neil Gowensmith explores these connections through the lens of ecopsychology.

• May 25: "Standing Up as Americans: The Story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team," during this 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, veteran Ron Oba remembers those who fought to preserve fundamental freedoms at a time when their loyalty was being questioned. Oba recounts his wartime experiences, including the attack on Pearl Harbor; training at Camp Shelby with other members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team; battles in France and Italy, including the liberation of Bruyeres, France; the Dachau concentration camps; and the 442nd's rescue of the "Lost Battalion." Learn more about these Americans of Japanese ancestry who emerged as the most decorated unit — for its size and time of service — in U.S. history.

• June 1: "Nupepa 'Olelo Hawai'i: Hawaiian Newspapers, Legacy Resources," from 1834 to 1949, a hundred or more Hawaiian-language newspapers published more than a million pages of writing, more native-language material than printed by all other Polynesian societies combined. From its start in 1861, the independent Hawaiian press presented world and local news, national dialogue, and cultural and historical work by Hawaiian writers. UH-Manoa assistant professor Puakea Nogelmeier discusses the roles of Hawaiian-language newspapers, past and present. A teacher, researcher, composer, and translator, Nogelmeier is the project scholar for Ho'olaupa'i: Hawaiian Newspaper Resources (Bishop Museum).

• June 8: "World War II in Paradise," from martial law to the internment of Japanese Americans to the territory's economic boon, perhaps nowhere else in America were the World War II years more acutely felt than in Hawai'i. Hear Warren Nishimoto and Michiko Kodama-Nishimoto of the UH-Manoa Center for Oral History present excerpts and images from a project that documented the experiences of 33 civilians in wartime Hawai'i. Share your own experiences in the talk-story session.

• June 15: "Lei Plants for Hawai'i Gardens," do you admire the beautiful lei you see people wear for special occasions? Especially the real ones, not the ribbon kine? You can make your own if you have the right materials. Learn to grow native Hawaiian lei plants and trees in your own garden. Heidi Bornhorst is landscape director at the Hale Koa hotel and a landscape consultant specializing in native Hawaiian plants and trees. Author of the book "Growing Native Hawaiian Plants," she writes a weekly Honolulu Advertiser column, "Hawai'i Gardens," and appears in a weekly television feature, "The Morning Garden," on KITV.

• June 22: "Caring for and Preserving Indigenous/Native Objects," Sherelyn Odgen, a nationally known preservation and conservation consultant, discusses issues and insights gained in the research and writing of her book, "Caring for American Indian Objects: A Practical and Cultural Guide," featuring native views on preservation practices.

• June 29: "What Do Zoos Do?," Ken Redman discusses the changing role of zoos and the direction and future of the Honolulu Zoo. Director of the Honolulu Zoo since 1993, Redman was previously head zookeeper at the Dakota Zoo in Bismarck, N. D., zookeeper and general curator at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kan., and the Honolulu Zoo's assistant director.

• July 6: "Kaho'olawe: Aloha 'Aina vs. National Security," after more than 50 years of use as a bombing target by the U.S. military, the island of Kaho'olawe finally began the process of reverting to the state in 1994, when the Navy signed a memorandum of understanding on the island's cleanup, restoration, access and transfer of control. Sol Kaho'ohalahala, director of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission, which represents the state in all matters pertaining to the island, shares insights on Kaho'olawe's history and its importance to Hawaiians as a place of aloha 'aina.

• July 13: "The Unrecovered," view "The Unrecovered," the first feature-length narrative film about the psychological aftermath of 9/11, and participate in a Q&A with its filmmaker, Roger Copeland. The film's title refers not only to the "unrecovered" bodies at ground zero, but also to the state of the nation-at-large. The film examines the effect of terror on the average mind and how a state of heightened anxiety and/or alertness can cause the average person to make "imaginative connections" normally made only by artists and conspiracy theorists. Copeland is professor of theater and dance at Oberlin College. He is co-editor of the anthology "What is Dance?" and author of "Merce Cunningham: The Modernizing of Modern Dance."

• July 27: "Alice A. Ball: UH's First African American Chemist, Instructor, and Researcher," Ball, the first woman to earn a master's degree at the College of Hawai'i and the first woman chemistry instructor there, also pioneered use of a chemical in chaulmoogra oil to treat Hansen's disease (leprosy). Tragically, Ball died in 1916 at the young age of 24 and never received the accolades she deserved. Paul Wermager, head of UH-Manoa Hamilton Library Science and Technology Reference, is writing a biography of Ball, and contributed her story to the book "They Followed the Trade Winds: African Americans in Hawai'i" (UH Press, 2005).