Speakers

Speakers will provide a variety of perspectives from different academic and professional backgrounds. This page provides information about presenters. For details of presentations and other programming, please visit the Programme page.


  • Kālewa Correa
    Kālewa Correa
    University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, United States
  • Tomoaki Ishigaki
    Tomoaki Ishigaki
    Embassy of Japan in the United States of America, United States
  • Michael Menchaca
    Michael Menchaca
    University of Hawai’i at Manoa, United States

Previous Speakers

View details of speakers at past ERI conferences via the links below.

Kālewa Correa
University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, United States

Biography

Kālewa Correa is the Curator of Hawaii and the Pacific for the Smithsonian Institution's Asian Pacific American Center. He graduated from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Kamakakūʻokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, where he focused on Hawaiian traditional society and politics. He also holds advanced degrees in Information Science and Education Technology. As Curator of Hawaii and the Pacific, Correa's primary program is the Digital Storytelling Initiative called "Our Stories." This initiative aims to elevate the voices of Pacific Islanders on a national and international stage through mixed media formats such as film, podcasting, composition, and mixed reality.

Keynote Presentation (2023) | TBA
Tomoaki Ishigaki
Embassy of Japan in the United States of America, United States

Biography

Mr Ishigaki is the Minister of Congressional Affairs at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, assuming the post in July 2021. This is his third assignment in the US as he has previously served in the Embassy (1997-1999) and the Japanese Mission to the UN in New York (2010-2013).

Since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1994, he has covered a wide variety of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy including international trade, treaty negotiations at the United Nations, management of the Japan-US Alliance, humanitarian assistance and climate change talks.

Between 2018 and 2020, he served as the Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office where he was in charge of international media relations and public diplomacy. In his most recent position as Director of the Economic Policy Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, he oversaw Japan’s economic diplomacy which included attending G7 and G20 leaders’ meetings and addressing trade and investment issues at WTO and other forums.

He is a graduate of Amherst College and studied law at the University of Tokyo before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also lectured at the Department of Law at Keio University between 2007 and 2018. Additionally, he has taught International Relations at the University of Tokyo as well as International Environmental Law at the Graduate School of Law at Kyushu University.

Throughout his career, he has published a number of academic papers and contributed to books in the fields of international law, disarmament affairs, trade, and climate change policy.

Featured Interview (2023) | Learning Beyond Boundaries, Learning Beyond Borders
Michael Menchaca
University of Hawai’i at Manoa, United States

Biography

Michael Menchaca is Chair of the Department of Learning Design and Technology at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. He specialises in distance education, and has designed, implemented, and coordinated online and hybrid programs for over 20 years. He serves as editor for the IAFOR Journal of Education: Technologies and Education Special Edition. He was an IT specialist for many years in the public and private sector. He teaches and conducts research in the areas of online learning, technology integration, and social justice with technology.

Keynote Presentation (2023) | TBA