Colleen Rost-Banik

Colleen Rost-Banik is a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, within the College of Arts, Languages & Letters. Her work sits at the intersection of sociology and education, focusing on how higher education functions as both a site of struggle and a potential tool for liberation.

Her educational background includes a PhD in Education from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (2019), an MA in Sociology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2015), a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School (1999), and a BA in Religious Studies and Psychology from DePaul University (1996).

Her research centers on the socialization of individuals into movements for racial and economic justice, examining how such processes shape inclusion, exclusion, and democratic engagement. She is particularly interested in how education can challenge or reinforce systems of control and inequality.

The available publications are not listed in the text, so no trends can be derived from specific articles.

• No scientific awards were mentioned in the provided text.

She actively mentors students through community-engaged pedagogy, incorporating civic learning into her courses such as SOC 100, SOC 180, SOC 300, SOC 352, and SOC 362. She works closely with students in programs like Mālama I Nā Ahupua‘a, facilitating experiential learning in loʻi kalo (taro patches), and guiding them in legislative advocacy. She also advises on community-based research and social justice initiatives, though no formal advisees are listed.

Colleen co-leads the scholar collective Hawai‘i Scholars for Education and Social Justice, which uses research to foster public dialogue on education policy in Hawai‘i. Additionally, she facilitates a creative writing program for incarcerated women, emphasizing transformative education and community engagement.