NZSA conference, Oslo, 2014

 Across the Pacific

The 20^th annual conference of the New Zealand Studies Association, 

together with the Norwegian Maritime Museum

and the Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo,

in association with the University of South Australia

Oslo, Norway, 25-28 June 2014

This special 4-day conference marks the centenary of the Norewgian Maritime Museum and of Thor Heyerdahl’s birth. It focuses on a range of themes addressing the Pacific, Oceania, New Zealand, Maori culture, ocean and coastal cultures, voyaging and migration, and includes a half-day focus on the Antarctic.

Keynotes:

Professor Bjørn L. Basberg

Dr Paul D’Arcy

Thor Heyerdahl Jr

Professor Edvard Hviding

Professor Witi Ihimaera, DCNZM

Professor Helen Lee

Professor Cluny Macpherson

Assoc. Professor Susan Najita

Professor Dame Anne Salmond

Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith, CNZM

Dr Roy Smith

Professor Paul Turnbull

The New Zealand Studies Association has a long and strong history in promoting New Zealand Studies, which now extends within the region through its twice-yearly Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies. Building on the successes of the conferences in Nijmegen (2013), Gdansk (2012), Frankfurt (2009), Florence (2008), and Paris (2006), this major event will be held at both the Norwegian Maritime Museum and the neighbouring Kon-Tiki Museum, based on the scenic museum peninsula of Bygdøy in Oslo. On the Thursday, there will be a half-day boat excursion into the local fjords followed by a conference dinner.

Proposals for 20 minute papers to be sent by 20 January to Professor Ian Conrich (ian@ianconrich.co.uk). The papers will consider all themes withinany of the following strands [1] The Pacific Ocean and Pacific Island States [2] Polynesia and Pasifika [3] New Zealand as a Pacific nation [4] Maori culture [5] Ocean and coastal cultures [6] Beaches, harbours and boats  [7] Pacific migration, voyaging and exploration (to include, among others, Cook, Tasman, Bering and Heyerdahl) [8] Antarctica. 

Definitions within these parameters are broad, with the third strand, for instance, covering much of New Zealand Studies and welcoming any papers on New Zealand as a country positioned within the South Pacific, or as a nation with a South Pacific identity. The conference fee will include annual membership to the NZSA, which for 2014 includes a twice-yearly journal, and one book from either the New Zealand Film Classics or the New Zealand Writers series of monographs. A selection of papers from the conference will appear in the refereed Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies, published by Intellect.

The conference will accept proposals on a range of subjects including the following: literature, history, film, music, art, cultural studies, sociology, geography, tourism, war studies, politics, international relations, identity and multiculturalism, anthropology, Maori Studies, Pacific Studies, archaeology and museum studies.