Warrnambool campus hosts 25th Pacific History Association Conference
Media release
Deakin University will host the 25th Biennial Conference of the Pacific History Association (PHA) at its Warrnambool Campus from October 31 to November 4, 2023.
The theme of this year's conference is Tracking the Kooyang: Truth Telling in the History of Oceania.
The conference grants historians the space to gather, debate and share their love of the history of the Pacific, from pre-colonial and colonial times to the independence period. It also provides an opportunity to recognise how histories differ according to the teller and the approach.
About 150 academics, artists, researchers and performers will present their work at this year's event. The proceedings combine formal presentations and casual opportunities to share knowledge, ideas and wisdom.
Conference guests from 15 nations or territories will take part. The topics offered over three days include the decolonisation of the Pacific; the maintaining of cultural knowledge through colonialism; photographs of the Pacific; music and performance; the Pacific at war; Australia and Papua New Guinea and contemporary Pacific issues.
Members of the public are invited to attend. Daily tickets cost $150 or $75 for concession card holders and students. These can be purchased online via the conference website. Limited tickets will be available for purchase at the registration desk at the event's entrance.
Keynote speakers include:
- Deakin University Professor Richard Frankland, a senior Gunditjmara elder, film maker, artist, musician, and activist;
- Dr Bal Kama, an emerging and talented Papua New Guinean lawyer and commentator;
- Eminent New Zealand historian, Associate Professor Jacqueline Leckie, who will be presenting the Brij Lal Memorial Lecture, honouring the late Professor Brij Lal, a prominent Fijian historian.
Background:
The PHA is a large international association comprised of researchers, teachers, administrators and cultural experts from across the Pacific and around the world.
The PHA conducts conferences every two years in locations including Fiji, Guam, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Hawaii and the UK.
The conference last took place in Australia in 2000 at the Australian National University in Canberra. The first conference was held in 1971 in Adelaide.
