Polynesian Arts and Crafts Filmstrip Series

The Polynesian Arts and Crafts filmstrip series depicts tutorials on how to make traditional Polynesian foods, arts and crafts, as well as narrates traditionally told stories.  The filmstrip project is the result of an assignment given by Dr. Carl Harris to his Educational Psychology class at Brigham Young University Hawaii in 1972.  Twenty filmstrips were produced along with their accompanying audio track.  The Institute for Polynesian Studies undertook the business of advertising and distributing the series in 1978.  The Institute staff also published six pamphlets containing pictures and text to accompany certain themes.

The Institute of Polynesian Studies – Administrative History
On February 1st 1978, President William Cravens (General Manager of the Polynesian Cultural Center) and President Dan Anderson (Executive Vice-President, Brigham Young University Hawaii) created a committee charged with establishing an Institute for Polynesian studies. The PCC had enough money left in their cultural research budget to expend $7,000 per month.  President Cravens stated that this budget could be placed at the disposal of the Institute.  On February 17, 1978 Dr. Jerry K. Loveland submitted a proposal to officially create the “Institute for Polynesian Studies.”
The goals of the institute were as follows:

1.  To improve the quality of research undertaken at the Brigham Young University-Hawaii Campus and the Polynesian Cultural Center
2. To maximize the joint use of the resources of both institutions
3. To have an impact for good on the lives of the peoples of the South Pacific

The guidelines for the institute state that after consulting with the General Manager of the PCC, the Executive Vice President was to appoint a director to head the institute.  The director was to be responsible to the Dean of the University.  The organization also consisted of an executive committee and an advisory board. 

Note on Digitization of the Filmstrip Collection
The video files created for each filmstrip are meant to replicate the experience of watching a filmstrip.  When watching a filmstrip, images were projected onto a screen and accompanied by an audio track (usually a cassette tape) that provided script narration for the still images.  A beep on the cassette tape indicated when it was time to advance to the next image on the filmstrip.  Individual images were digitized and matched with the audio file, so that when you hear the beep, the next image appears, just as if you were watching a filmstrip.  Enjoy!