“The Pacific Ocean covers one-third of the earth’s surface and contains thousands of islands. Yet, as Epeli Hau’ofa’s seminal paper about the ‘Sea of Islands’ shows, oceans are not a barrier, but highways to contact. This conference employs the concept of Oceanscapes from The Pacific Oceanscape Vision, introduced by President Anote Tong of Kiribati and endorsed by the Pacific Island Forum. It is a vision for cooperative conservation action and adaption to issues of climate change. With a population just over 10 million and an area that stretches from Australia to Asia, Canada and the Americas, peoples of the Pacific region are adept at movement, contact and working together.
The Australian Association for Pacific Studies (AAPS) seeks to bring researchers across Oceanscapes to share their knowledge and experience; to benefit the peoples of the Pacific region, and to advance scholarship about the places between the better-known American and Asian rim countries.
This conference focusses on the cooperative nature of relations across the Pacific and the necessarily cooperative partnerships that allow for effective delivery of programs in health, education, trade and development while maintaining the integrity of the cultural diversity that is the hallmark of Pacific island nations and overseas territories.”
Sessions, organisers and contacts (22-24 April)
- Pacific Futures: Contact Warwick Anderson, email
- Activism: a panel in honour of Faith Bandler. Contact Emelda Davies, email
- Populations on the move: Contact Paul Jones, email, or John Connell, email
- Performing/performance: Contact Jude Philp, email
- Archaeology now: Contact Matthew Gibbs, email
- Search for stability: Contact Matthew Allen, email
25 April
– Sydney Ideas, WW1 in the Pacific panel for ANZAC day
– Post graduate special sessions – opportunity to network with area specialists
26 April
– Closing events at Casula Powerhouse (transport included in registration).
Click here for online registration or visit the AAPS 2014 Conference website.
