Herman Lim Bin Adam Lim recently graduated from the MA Program in the Asian Studies department with his thesis work focusing on Malay films in the 1960s. He initially was inspired to attend the University of Hawai‘i and East-West Center because he wanted to study with Dr. Barbara Watson Andaya, who is an alumna of the Center. Herman had previously taken classes with Dr. Andaya when she was a professor at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, where he attended as an undergraduate student.  

During his experience as a Graduate Degree Fellow, one of the highlights for Herman was when he first arrived and participated in EWC’s Community Building Institute (CBI), an integrated program of orientation and activities for new participants in the Education Program. He found CBI to be impactful because it “grounded participants in knowing place and recognizing where we are. It was here where I started learning about sense of place and I appreciated the program rooting you in [Hawai‘i]. One of the things that really struck me was one of the breakout sessions where we took five minutes to think about where you came from, and who you’re related to - it’s something so simple, but we don’t really stop to do it often, and I really appreciated that. After that session, I knew that [being at EWC] was going to be a special experience.” 
 

As for the experience of living at EWC, besides “the views from the dorm, and the glimmer of the ocean from the window,” it was the chance encounters with people in places like the communal kitchen that made for meaningful relationships. “Some of the best friends I met were through those kinds of chance encounters. One of these friends, over coffee together, we liked to find cognates in our languages (Malay and Hawaiian). It was a fun way to figure out and reflect on old connections between our ancestors.” 
 

During his time here, Herman wanted to find connections between Hawai‘i and his own Muslim identity. One of the ways he was able to do this and benefit the community was by planning an excursion for EWC students to visit the Shangri-La Museum, which showcases global Islamic arts. This learning trip for EWC students became so popular that there ended up being a second trip, and this re-started again this past year.  
 

Herman also had the opportunity to create his own internship as a GDF, and worked with EWC’s DEI coordinator to create more spaces on the EWC campus that were more queer and gender inclusive. He started initiatives to create all-gender bathrooms and gender-inclusive signage both on the EWC website as well as in buildings. He also created surveys that were sent to participants to collect feedback on how the EWC living experience could be more inclusive. Herman shared, “During my time in my internship, I thought to myself ‘How do we get queer students to feel comfortable?’ If we can create space and feel welcomed, that is important.” 

After taking an EWC-funded intensive summer language course in Arabic at the American University of Cairo in Egypt, Herman will be continuing his studies by pursuing a second master's degree at Columbia University in New York City. For the next two years, he will be in a dual-degree MA program in Islamic Studies and Muslim Cultures in partnership between Columbia and Aga Khan University in London.  

The East-West Center offers scholarships for graduate study as well as affiliation programs for service-minded students with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region to join our international graduate student community. Herman is supported by multiple scholarships including the Richard H. and Hester V. Cox Fellowship as well as the Al & Trudy Wong ‘Ohana Scholarship Award.