Coordinator:                             Teresia Teaiwa

6 Kelburn Parade, Room 203                    ext 5110

 

Tutor:                                       tba

                       

Lectures:                                  Mon, Wed, Thurs 1:00-2:00pm            MC LT 102

                       

Tutorials:                                  1 tutorial per week                            Times/venues tba

 

 

Course Aims and Objectives:*

Talofa lava, Kia orana, Malo e lelei, Bula vinaka, Fakaalofa atu, Taloha ni, Yu orait no moa, Kam na bane ni mauri, Tena Koutou! Welcome to PASI 101, a survey paper covering a range of topics relevant to Pacific nations and people. We will explore both indigenous and foreign perspectives on the geography, histories, cultures, economies, politics, and arts of this amazingly diverse region! 

 

PASI 101 aims to cater to a variety of learning styles. For this reason, you are provided with options on your mode of assessment. The standard mode of assessment involves the Class Exercise, Class Test, Essay and Final Exam, as laid out in the Pacific Studies Prospectus.

 

Alternative modes of assessment are detailed in this course outline. For the second year in a row, PASI 101 students are being offered the choice of exhibiting or performing their major assignment in an artistic medium. Students who select this option come together to present their work in a production entitled “Akamai” (meaning “smart, clever”) at the end of the term.

 

Students from PASI 101 are also being recruited to participate in a new initiative between the University of Hawai’i--Manoa and Victoria University of Wellington—in which for four weeks, students from both campuses will participate in a module on “Militarism and Tourism: Engendering the Asia Pacific Region”, exchanging ideas and collaborating on work in a cyber-classroom.

 

Pacific Studies is a dynamic field that promotes both intellectual and personal growth—and is in turn a field that is open to having its boundaries pushed and developed by its students.

 

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Students who pass the paper:

·        Understand that they are contributing to a rich intellectual tradition of Pacific Studies at Victoria University.

·        Are familiar with the basic geography and demography of the Pacific region;

·        Appreciate that the Pacific is a complex region politically, culturally and socially.

·        Are aware that there are different ways of researching and understanding the Pacific.

·        Are able to identify and begin to use a range of local, regional, and international resources for research on the Pacific region.

·        Are able to summarize and discuss the ideas put forward in the required texts and guest lectures.

·        Are able to ask critical questions about popular images of the Pacific.

·        Are able to confidently share their own ideas and perspectives on regional issues through written work, and oral or performance presentations.

 

Key Texts:

·        Multilith: available for purchase from Student Notes, this is the main required text for PASI 101.

·        All videos screened during lecture hours also constitute required texts for PASI 101. After they have been screened during class hours, videos are made available for repeat viewings at the Audio-Visual Suite in the Library.

·        Library Reserve Readings: a selection of optional readings will be placed on reserve to enhance and elaborate on topics covered in lecture.

·        Handouts: occasionally required readings will be handed out in lecture or tutorial.

·        Map of the Pacific: a Xerox-copied map will be handed out in lecture, but Pacific Studies majors are encouraged to invest in a good-sized map of the contemporary Pacific.

·        Speaking in Colour: Conversations with Artists of Pacific Islander Heritage edited by Sean Mallon and Pandora Fulimalo Pereira. Although this text is not required it is highly recommended for your personal collection. Many images from Speaking in Colour will be used as focal points for discussion in the course. And for Pacific Studies majors, the book will be a required text for PASI 301 Framing the Pacific.

 

Workloads and Mandatory Course Requirements

The workload for PASI 101 is consistent with other departments within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences 18 point courses. You are expected to allow on average 12 hours per week of reading and engaging with the material for this course. Students are encouraged to use the opportunities in tutorials to debate and discuss issues raised in lectures. Tutorials will be held between Week 2 and Week 13.

 

Assessment

Coursework 60%

Final Examination 40%

 

Coursework Options

Option A: Individual Assessment: Class Exercise and Full essay;

Option B: Individual Assessment: Library Assignment, Field Trip Report and Exhibition/Performance with synopsis and bibliography;

Option C: Combined Assessment: Individual Library assignments, Field trip reports + Group Exhibition/Performance with synopsis and bibliography;

Option D: Individual Assessment: Class Exercise and “Militarism and Tourism: Engendering the Asia Pacific Region”.

 

 

Tutorial Seminar 5%: Tutorials are meant to be a supportive forum for exploring new as well as familiar areas of knowledge. While all students are encouraged to participate through verbal exchanges, opportunities are provided for written and dramatic or mimed contributions during tutorials!

 

Those of you who choose Options A and D will be required to give a short seminar presentation in tutorial. Seminar presentations are scheduled between Weeks 10 and 12. Students will be reminded to sign-up for their seminar dates and times after the Mid-Trimester break. Seminar presentation topics may be based on work done in the essay, or may be a focused response to the relevant readings, videos, or guest lectures in the week of your presentation. If you are doing Option A, you may either read your paper or speak from it. If you choose to base your seminar on a reading, video or guest lecture—please consult the lecturer or tutor for direction and clarification before hand. Each seminar is to be 7-10 minutes in length, and assessment will be based on organisation, relevance to course discussions, accuracy, and the provision of references.

 

4% Library Assignment—due Friday 4pm, Week 2. The Library Assignment has been especially designed for us by our Library Liaison Officer, Sue Hirst. In addition, Sue has compiled an extremely useful Subject Guide to the Vic library’s Pacific Studies resources for you—ask the Reference Desk for one when you’re at the library. The library is a treasure house and doing this assignment will help you learn how to get the maximum out of it!

 

6% Field Trip Report—due Friday 4pm, Week 5. Wellington is an exciting place to do Pacific Studies!! There are so many things happening here that make us realize how much Pacific people have to offer, and how important it is to understand national and international issues from Pacific perspectives. So that you begin to make the links for yourselves between what we’re studying and what’s going on in “the real world,” this Field Trip assignment requires you to attend or visit a Pacific event outside of class hours and write up a 600-word report of what, where, when, who, why, how? Here are some suggestions for places to go on your field trip. Some are free and others cost money but are well worth it:

 

·        “Mana Pasifika”—permanent exhibition at Te Papa Tongarewa, the National Museum. (FREE)

·        “Black Sunday”--a new exhibition about the past of contemporary Pacific fashion by Shigeyuki Kihara at Watermark Gallery, Level 1/303 Willis Street starts Friday February 15. (FREE)

·        “Ola’s Son”—As part of the Fringe Festival, Honolulu-based Tongan/Samoan New Zealander and graduate of Toi Whakaari, Misa Tupou presents a stunning show about Pacific Island migrants and police brutality in Hawai’i, Bats Theatre, Kent Terrace starts February 25-March 3. ($)

·        “Ranterstantrum”—a new play about racial prejudice in New Zealand by Samoan New Zealander Victor Rodger, Downstage Theatre, March 8-17. ($)

·        “Between the Islands: A Cook Islands Trilogy” a dramatic dance production by the Cook Islands All Stars, at No. 5 Cable Street, March 13-16. ($)

·        “The Past with the Present” a multimedia production by New Zealand-based Cook Islanders Veronica Vaevae and Audrey Brown at No. 5 Cable Street, March 13-16. ($)

 

Your essay will

 

1. summarize one of the videos screened as part of the course requirement;
2. identify two different disciplinary angles from which the video can be “read”;
3. identify key texts that you’ll use from these two disciplines (you may use texts from the course reader, reserve readings from this paper, or additional sources you’ve discovered through your library assignment and independent research);
4. critique the video using the literature from these two disciplinary angles;
5. raise relevant comparative issues from at least one other Pacific Island context not covered in this particular video documentary.

 

Your bibliography should have at least five sources, at least one of which must be a required reading for this course. Your bibliography should include authors’ names, full title of publication, place of publication, publisher, and year of publication. The bibliography should be presented in the alphabetical order of the authors’ last names. Your bibliography may include a few references to information technology sources like internet sites or URLs. Try to avoid consulting encyclopedic reference books—as a university student you have access to so many more specialized sources. Take advantage of your university privileges.

 

Written assignments are to be turned in to the Pacific Studies Administrative Assistant at 6 Kelburn Parade no later than 4pm on the Friday of the week that they are due. Late assignments will have marks deducted at the rate of one percentage point a day.

 

You may compose an original or “cover” a song or rap; you may choreograph a dance; you may write and dramatize a short play; you may present a painting, a collage or do an installation work; or you may choose to integrate different art forms. You may choose to be assessed individually or as a group. Your performance must be conceptualized around themes raised in PASI 101. You will be required to present a 300-word synopsis (i.e. summary or description) of your performance, and a bibliography of at least five sources that you’ve consulted for the production. You will also be required to attend two workshop sessions in lieu of tutorials at the end of the term. You will be assessed on the sincerity of your exhibition/performance; the care and attention to detail shown in the overall production of your work; the relevance of your work to the course themes; and the quality of your synopsis and bibliography.

 

All students registered for PASI 101 have free access to computer facilities on-campus. This particular assessment option is highly recommended for students who enjoy working on the web. Assignments for this option consist of: mini-biographies, reviews, critiques of tourist literature, and a final paper. The formal word requirements for this option amount to 1,600 words but it is expected that students will be posting between 400-1,000 words for group exercises and exchanges. SEE SEPARATE MODULE SYLLABUS FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

 

10% summaries of selected readings

5% identifications (short answers)

5% a short essay

 

10% summaries of selected readings

15% identifications and short answer questions

15% 2 short essays

 

The test and examination emphasize a familiarity with the readings and discussions in lecture and tutorial. If you’re up-to-date on your work, you’ll be all right! Last year’s Final examination is available if you’d like to have a look at it.

 

Accommodation for Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities requiring information on support and services, or wanting to discuss any particular concern about studying at the University, should contact the coordinator for Students with Disabilities located at 2 Waiteata Road, phone 4721-000 ext 8231. For matters relating to your participation in PASI 101 please contact the course coordinator in the first instance. Accommodation arrangements for students with disabilities need to be discussed as soon as possible with the course coordinator.

 

General University Requirements

Students should familiarise themselves with the University’s requirements, particularly those regarding assessment and course study requirements, and formal academic grievance procedures, contained in the statutes in the Calendar, and should read the requirements of this course outline in that context. The Calendar also contains the Statute on Conduct, which ensures that members of the University community are able to work, learn, study and participate in the academic and social aspects of the University’s life in an atmosphere of safety and respect. The statute contains information on what conduct is prohibited and what steps can be taken if there is a complaint.

 

Grievance Procedures

If you have any academic problems with your paper you should talk to the tutor or lecturer concerned or, if you are not satisfied with the result of that meeting, see the Head of Department/School or the Associate Dean (Students) of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Class representatives are available to assist you with this process.

 

Avoiding Plagiarism

(Adopted and adapted from SAMO 111 Course Outline 1999 and Auckland University’s 271.201 Pacific Worlds Course Outline 2000)

 

What is plagiarism? It is copying another student’s essay or work, taking material directly from books and other sources without acknowledgement, and re-using some work you have already handed in to another course. It is a serious offence. Doing this will cost you marks. It may even mean you get your work back ungraded and this means you fail. In extreme cases, university procedures may be invoked.

 

Of course, everyone uses other peoples’ ideas and information (if not their exact words) to write essays. But it is important that these ideas and words are acknowledged and cited. Different academic disciplines have different conventions for citing sources. You are asked to follow those current in Pacific Studies. The proper formats for citations and references are illustrated below:

 

The following is a direct quote:

 

“Most Pacific Islanders are reluctant to make difficult decisions, even if they appear to be the right ones, for fear of giving offence” (Latukefu 1992:30).

 

You could paraphrase the above quote in different ways. Here are two examples:

 

Many Pacific people fear offending others and as a result, even their beliefs do not seem to help them make difficult decisions (Latukefu 1992:30).

            or:

Latukefu suggests that many Pacific people shy away from making choices that are unpopular even if they are right (Latukefu 1992:30).

 

The following is plagiarism:

 

For fear of giving offence, most Pacific Islanders reluctantly make difficult decisions, even if they are the right ones.

 

Note: in the last example, not only was there a very simplistic paraphrasing of the original, but there was also no citation provided.

           

Course Outline

M                    Lecture: “Niu Sila: Identity Issues in Contemporary Pacific Art”;

Course Outline

W                    Guest Lecture: Tupou Misa, “Ola’s Son”

Th                    Video: “Pacific Images in Popular Culture”; Discussion

 

NO TUTORIALS

 

Readings for this week: “When the hula meets the haka” from Mana (magazine) 10:14-27, 1995 and “When the hula meets the haka—and settles down” from Mana (magazine) 11:34-39, 1996. (in reader) HANDOUT: Library Assignment (due back Friday 8 March, 4pm)

 

M                    Na kilakila mada/Aap ketna jante he/Quiz

W                    Lecture: “What the (heck) is Pacific Studies?”

Th                    Lecture: “Interdisciplinary + Indigenous + Comparative = PASI”

 

Tutorial Discussion:            What is Pacific Studies? What kind of knowledge do we expect to gain from Pacific Studies? How are we going to proceed with learning about the Pacific? What can you tell about Pacific Studies from this week’s and last week’s readings? Identify the most important issues that each of the articles raises.

Tutorial exercise:            Making your stamp on Pacific Studies

 

Readings for this week: “Re-thinking Pacific Island Studies,” Terence Wesley-Smith in Pacific Studies 18(2):115-137; “Studying the Pacific,” Ron Crocombe in Class and Culture in the South Pacific, edited by Antony Hooper et al, Suva and Auckland: Centre for Pacific Studies, Auckland University and Institute of Pacific Studies, the University of the South Pacific, 1987:115-138. (in reader)

 

M                    Lecture: “When and where do we begin? A Survey of Origin Stories”

W                    Guest Lecture: Peter Adds, Maori Studies

Th                    Video: “Wayfinders”

 

Tutorial discussion:             What are some of the orthodox theories about Pacific people’s origins? What are some of the unorthodox theories? Which are you more convinced by? Why?

Tutorial exercise:             Debate: “How much do ‘origins’ matter?”

 

Readings for this week: <<Revisit intro “When the Hula Meets the Haka” >> “Whence and How?” in KR Howe, Where the Waves Fall, A new South Sea Islands history from first settlement to colonial rule, Sydney and London: George Allen & Unwin: 3-24. (in reader) Excerpts from Footprints of the Gods by Erich von Daniken…(on reserve)

 

M                    Lecture: “Ways of Seeing: Islands in a far sea? Or a sea of Islands?”

W                    Guest Lecture: Dr. Warwick Murray, Geography

Th                    Video:            Living on Islands

 

Tutorial Discussion:            What are some key features of Pacific geography? How do we relate to our environment? How do we envision the relationships between Pacific islands and islanders?

Tutorial Exercise:             Body Mapping the Pacific

 

Readings for this week: “Our Sea of Islands” by Epeli Hau’ofa in A New Oceania edited by Eric Waddell, Vijay Naidu and Epeli Hau’ofa. Suva: School of Social and Economic Development, the University of the South Pacific, 1993. “The Bigness of our Smallness” by Tarcisius Kabutaulaka in A New Oceania edited by Eric Waddell, Vijay Naidu and Epeli Hau’ofa. Suva: School of Social and Economic Development, the University of the South Pacific, 1993:91-93; “Truth or Dare?” by Douglas Borer in A New Oceania edited by Eric Waddell, Vijay Naidu and Epeli Hau’ofa. Suva: School of Social and Economic Development, the University of the South Pacific, 1993:84-87. (in reader)

 

M                    Lecture: “40,000 years; 1200 cultures; 7 million people…and we’ve got how many weeks to cover it all in?!”

W                    Lecture: “Who ‘owns’ Pacific History?”

Th                    Video: “Act of War”

 

Tutorial Discussion:             What does our reading tell us are some significant similarities and differences among Pacific islanders’ experiences in pre-colonial times? How does the past impact on our present? How can our understanding of the past be improved?

Tutorial Exercise:             Who is Robea Taso?

 

Readings for this week: “Explorers: 1520-1780” and “Whalers, Traders and Missionaries: 1780-1850”, Douglas Oliver in The Pacific Islands, Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1961:83-116; “Pre-Colonial Times” by Robert C. Kiste in Tides of History: The Pacific Islands in the Twentieth Century edited by K.R. Howe, Robert C. Kiste and Brij V. Lal. St. Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 1994: 3-28. (in reader) Doug Munro, “Who Owns Pacific History? Reflections on the Insider/Outsider Dichotomy”, The Journal of Pacific History 29(2):232-37; Haunani-Kay Trask, “Natives and Anthropologists: The Colonial Struggle” in Voyaging through the Contemporary Pacific, David Hanlon and Geoffrey M. White (eds.). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 2000:255-263. Michael King, “The Climate Changes” from Being Pakeha: an encounter with New Zealand and the Maori Renaissance 1985: 174-193.  (on reserve)

 

 

 

M                    MID-TERM TEST

W                    Guest Lecture: Professor Tony Hooper, Auckland University

Th                    Lecture: “The Mead/Freeman Debate”

 

Tutorial Discussion:             Can we distinguish between flat, one-dimensional representations of a people and fuller, multi-dimensional representations? How has anthropology contributed to our understanding of Pacific cultures? How has it been misleading? Can we do better? Reflect on the video “Pacific Passages” and discuss cultural differences and similarities among Pacific people.

Tutorial exercise:            Video: “Pacific Passages”; Discussion

 

Readings for this week: “The Education of the Samoan Child,” Margaret Mead in Coming of Age in Samoa, New York: Morrow Quill Paperbacks, 1961:20-38; “Cooperation and Competition,” Deryck Freeman in Margaret Mead and Samoa: The Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth, New York: Penguin, 1984:200-211. Ann Stephen, “South Pacific Stories: A Photo Essay,” in Meanjin 53(4):679-688;  (in reader) “Why Tikopia has four clans”, Antony Hooper. London: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 1981. Native Peoples of the Pacific World, Felix Keesing. New York: Macmillan, 1945. (on reserve)

 

M                    Lecture: “Our lives—Our health”

W                    Video: “Compassionate Exile”

Th                    Video:  “Maire”; Discussion

 

Tutorial Discussion:             What are the similarities and differences in social responses to leprosy and HIV/AIDS in the Pacific? Do we think about our health every day? What steps can we take to living healthier lives? How do our readings help us think critically about health issues?

Tutorial Exercise:             Developing A Community Health Strategy

 

Readings for this week: Excerpts from Epeli Hau’ofa’s Kisses in the Nederends. Auckland: Penguin, 1987; “The Health Benefits of Coconut Oil,” by Romulo N. Arancon Jr. in Cocoinfo International Vol. 7 (2):15-19. (in reader) Selected readings on HIV/AIDS in the Pacific (handout) Pacific Studies Volume 13(3), Special Issue on domestic violence in Oceania. (on reserve)

 

M                    Lecture: “History in the Pacific: Where are the Women?”

W                    Lecture: “Keepers of Culture or Slaves to Tradition?”

Th                    Video: “Happy Birthday Tutu Ruth”

 

Tutorial Discussion:             What are the factors that render women invisible in research and literature? Are some Pacific women more visible than others? How do different Pacific societies place cultural value on girls and women?

Tutorial exercise:             Conducting A Gender Impact Assessment

           

Readings for this week: <<Revisit Margaret Mead and Derek Freeman>> “Gender Division of Labour”, Jocelyn Linnekin in The Cambridge History of the Pacific Islanders edited by Donald Denoon et al, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997: 105-112; “The Pacific Islands: All it Requires is Ourselves” by Vanessa Griffen in Sisterhood is Global edited by Robin Morgan. Garden City, New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1984: 517-524. (in reader) “Microwomen: US Colonialism and Micronesian Women,” Teresia K. Teaiwa in Pacific History: the papers of the 8^th Pacific History Association Conference edited by Donald Rubinstein. Mangilao: Micronesian Area Research Center and University of Guam, 1992:  (on reserve)

 

M                    Lecture: “Global/Village: The Impact of Globalization in the Pacific”

W                    Guest Lecture: Geoff Bertram, Economics

Th                    Video: “In the Name of Growth”

 

Tutorial Discussion:             What are the possibilities for sustainable development in Pacific Islands? How easy is it to cope with the demands of both traditional obligations and the capitalist market?

Tutorial Exercise:             Navunavuci, A Pacific Island Board Game

 

Readings for this week: <<Revisit Epeli Hau’ofa’s “Our Sea of Islands”>> Bruce Knapman, “Economic Development and Dependency” in Tides of History: The Pacific Islands in the Twentieth Century edited by K.R. Howe, Robert C. Kiste and Brij V. Lal. St. Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 1994:325:349; “The Ghost of Nkrumah in the Seas of Oceania” by Roman Grynberg in A New Oceania edited by Eric Waddell, Vijay Naidu and Epeli Hau’ofa. Suva: School of Social and Economic Development, the University of the South Pacific, 1993:68-71. “The MIRAB economy in South Pacific Microstates,” I.G. Bertram and R.F. Watters in Pacific Viewpoint 26(3):497-519. (in reader); “The Discovery of the Gift: Exchange and Identity in the Contemporary Pacific,” Nicholas Thomas in Entangled Objects: Exchange, Material Culture, and Colonialism in the Pacific. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press, 1991:184-208. (on reserve)

 

M                    Lecture: “Can structures created in the past carry us into the future? Leadership and Sovereignty in the Post-Colonial Era”

W                    Guest Lecture: Professor Rod Alley, Politics

Th                    Video: “Fiji: A Year After”

 

Tutorial Discussion:            What relationships exist between national leaders and “traditional” leaders in Pacific societies? How have indigenous leadership structures been impacted by colonialism? What are the challenges and difficulties facing national leaders in the Pacific? How have Western notions of democracy improved or debilitated effective leadership?

Tutorial Exercise:             Student Seminars

 

Readings for this week:  “Background” in Cook Islands Politics: The Inside Story edited by Ron Crocombe et al, Auckland: Polynesian Press in association with South Pacific Social Sciences Association, 1979:1:22. (in reader) News articles (handouts) “Coups, Conflicts, and Crises: The New Pacific Way?” by Gerard Finnin and Terence Wesley-Smith. Honolulu: East-West Center Working Papers, Pacific Islands Development Series, No. 13, June 2000. (on reserve)

 

M                    Lecture: “The Oceanic Imaginary”

W                    Guest Lecture: Galumalemana Alfred Hunkin, Samoan Studies

Th                    Video: “E Ola Ka Olelo Hawai’i”; Discussion

 

Tutorial Discussion:            How does language shape our perceptions of reality and our imagination of other possibilities? Can Pacific people claim English as their language? What are the social functions of creative writing?

Tutorial exercise:             Student Seminars

 

Readings for this week: Galumalemana Hunkin-Tuiletufuga, “Pasefika Languages and Pasefika Identities: Contemporary and Future Challenges,” in Tangata o te Moana Nui: The Evolving Identities of Pacific Peoples in Aoteaora/New Zealand edited by Cluny Macpherson, Paul Spoonley, Melani Anae. Auckland: Dunmore Press: 196-211. Excerpts from Lali: A Pacific Anthology, Albert Wendt (ed.). Auckland: Longman Paul, 1980. (in reader) Mana: A South Pacific Journal of Language and Literature, Volume 12, Number 2, Cook Islands Special edited by Jean Tekura Mason and Vaine Rasmussen Wichman. Musings on Niue edited by Larry Thomas. Suva: Pacific Writing Forum, 1997. Haviliviliaga Manatu/Reflections, Alofi: Tohitohi Nukutuluea, 1999. (on reserve)

 

 

M                    Lecture: “Learning the Hard Way”; Course Evaluation

W                    Guest Lecture: Dr. Kabini Sanga, Education

Th                    Revision and Discussion

 

Tutorial Discussion:             What metaphors or models of learning might enhance Pacific Studies? Given the multicultural imperatives of the world we live in, and the multicultural nature of Pacific Studies—what is the role of language in our education? When we are in the classroom, how do we learn best? In what ways can the classroom be made more conducive to thinking productively and critically about the Pacific?

Tutorial exercise:             Student Seminars

 

Readings for this week: “Education in Western Samoa: Reflections on My Experiences” by Lonise Tanielu in Women’s Studies Journal 13(2):45-59; “From a Native Daughter” by Haunani-Kay Trask in The American Indian and the Problem of History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987:171-179. (in reader) “O ‘Oe Se A?” by Tate Simi. Apia: Samoa Observer, n.d. (handout)

 

F                      Akamai!

 

 

 

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MILITARISM AND TOURISM:

ENGENDERING THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION

 

a web-based collaborative mini-course at the University of Hawai’i

and Victoria University of Wellington

 

Introduction

 

The aim of this web-based interactive collaboration between our two campuses is to encourage students to think critically about militarism and tourism as two pervasive factors affecting the lives of many ordinary people throughout the Pacific and Asia region. 

 

Militarism and tourism are two persuasive factors affecting the lives of many ordinary people throughout the Pacific and Asia region.  Often thought of as being critical to "national security" and "national development," they are rarely regarded as having anything to do with gender matters. The military is based on constructions and presumptions of masculinity and military’s dependence on sustaining discipline and morale of soldiers.  In tourism as well, we find the places and people are gendered and sexualized—for example, advertisements represent the Pacific islands as a luxuriating and feminized place, while Asian women are portrayed with a compliant and subservient sexuality.  Many of these images and the power relations that they reveal have their roots in a colonial past that was forged by Europe and America and continues to be reinvented and perpetuated today.   We may see the critical linkages between militarism and tourism—"militourism"—in such areas as the "rest and recreation" (R & R) employed to "keep the boys happy."

 

            In this part of the course we explore the profound social, cultural, and political-economic implications of the coupling of militarism and tourism throughout the Asia-Pacific region.  We do this by a mutual collaboration between participants in ASAN/WS 463 Gender Issues in Asia at the University of Hawai'i and PASI 101 The Pacific Heritage at Victoria University of Wellington in Aoteraroa/New Zealand.

           

Objectives

 

a.         To understand the historical roots of militarism and tourism in Asia and the Pacific and its significance for present day developments in the region.

b.         To expand understanding of the experience of militarism and tourism through interactions with participants in Hawai’I and Aotearoa/New Zealand.

c.         To promote student-centered, collaborative, decolonized, and interactive forms of teaching and learning in Asian and Pacific Islands studies.

d.         To enhance technical skills in electronic data collection and analysis, group cooperation in learning, and internet protocol.

 

Net Protocols

·        All discussion is to be conducted in a courteous manner, showing due respect for differences in opinions, ideas, perceptions, and backgrounds.

·        Conversations unrelated to course topics or remarks of a personal nature are permitted only in the “chat” section of the website or in private email correspondence. 

·        While postings to the website need not be overly formal in style, they should be clearly written, with due attention to spelling and grammar.

·        Postings in Discussion Forums should be composed ahead of time, clearly worded and concise.

·        “Shouting” (i.e., use of upper case letters for emphasis) is not permitted.

 

 

Week I    3/18-22               Gender Issues in Militarism

Overview

The military is based on constructions and presumptions of masculinity and femininity and infused with sexual relations and ideas about race.  These ideas are integral to the military's dependence on sustaining discipline and morale of soldiers.

Readings

·            Saundra Sturdevant and Brenda Stoltzfus, “Disparate Threads of the Whole: an

interpretive essay,” (in Saundra Sturdevant and Brenda Stoltzfus, Let the Good Times Role; Prostitution, and the U.S. Military in Asia,1992), 300-327

·          Alma Bulawan and the Women of Buklod, “What are the Alternatives to a Military Base?” (in Saundra Sturdevant and Brenda Stoltzfus, Let the Good Times Role; Prostitution, and the U.S. Military in Asia,1992), 341-342

·                    Cynthia Enloe, “Base Women,” (in Bananas, Bases, and Beaches: making feminist sense of international politics, 1989), 65-92  

 

Film: "Senso's Daughters" (video, 54 mins)

 

Through interviews the story of military brothels and Japanese comfort women during WWII in Papua New Guinea is revealed.  Experiences of both the Japanese and the Melanesians are shared.

 

Key Questions

 

·        How are masculine and feminine gender roles defined, idealized, and constructed by military institutions?

·        How do women's rules outside of the formal or official boundaries of the military support the structure and ideology of military culture?

·        How are women's roles in relation to the military differentiated by class, race, and sexuality?

·        How is male resistance to militarization and the values of militarism being articulated?

 

Student Activities

 

Students work together in their intercampus groups to elicit and put together mini-biographies.  The purpose is to use the participants’ own life experiences to explore the impacts that militarism has on people’s lives.  In this and in all other activities, students use own group website to collaborate, but then post their collective response in public space under assignments.

 

Gathering and sharing the information within your own group:  Due date: March 21

 

Group review of the information and posts an approximately 300 word response under assignments to what they learned about themselves and the military.  Due date: March 25

 

Each individual posts a brief response on the discussion board to any of the other groups’ postings.  Comments on these responses are also encouraged.  Due date: March 26

 

 

Week II   3/25-29            U.H. SPRING BREAK  [Wellington continues with week III]

 

 

Week III  4/1-4/5               Gender Issues in Tourism  [Wellington goes on to Week IV]

 

Overview

 

In tourism as well we find that places and people are gendered and sexualized-for example, advertisements represent the Pacific islands as a luxuriating and feminized place, while Asian women are portrayed with a compliant and subservient sexuality.  Many of the occupations in this service industry are also gender and often racial-specific.

 

Readings

·          Cynthia Enloe, “On the Beach: Sexism and Tourism,” (in Bananas, Bases, and Beaches: making feminist sense of international politics, 1989), 19-41

 

·            Catherine Lutz and Jane L. Collins, “Becoming America’s Lens on the World:  National Geographic in the twentieth century” and “Fashions in the Ethnic Other,”  ((I((( (in Reading National Geographic, 1993) 15-46, 119-153] 

 

Film:   “The Pacific Star” (video, -- mins)

 

This is a musical comedy that features the introduction of tourism to a remote Pacific island.  It examines the transformation of the people and the community after the arrival of tourists.

 

Key Questions

 

·        What is the appeal of tourism to the countries of Asia and the Pacific?

·        What sorts of accommodations or changes occur in societies when the tourism route to "development" is taken?

·        What images and representations occur in the popular imagination about tourist destinations in Asia and the Pacific?

·        What are the sources of these images and how may they be changed?

 

Student Activities

 

Students work together in their intercampus groups to collect tourist brochures, advertisements, post cards, and other materials/information on tourism.  The purpose is to understand the racial, ethnic, and gendered images that we find in touristic representations. 

 

Gathering and sharing the information within your own group:  Due date: March 28

 

Group review of the information and production of a paper of approximately 500 words that analyzes the images found and explains the sources of such representations.  Due date:  April 1

 

Each individual posts a brief response on the discussion board to any of the other groups’ postings.  Comments on these responses are also encouraged.  Due date: April 2

 

 

Week IV   4/8-4/12            WELLINGTON BREAK [Hawai’i continues]

 

                        MiliTourism in the Pacific and Asia

 

Overview

Militarism and tourism are not often thought of together--militarism is a "hard" arena of "realpolitik" and tourism is the "soft" industry of leisure. Yet, as institutions, they can be found quite regularly working in the same or similar places, working on the same or similar people in the very same or similar ways. Are these coincidences or is it a conspiracy?

 

Readings

·          Teresia Teaiwa, “bikinis and other s/pacific n/oceans” (in Journal of the Contemporary Pacific, vol 6 no 1, 1994) 87-103

·          Miriam Kahn, “Tahiti Intertwined: Ancestral Land, Tourist Postcard, and Nuclear Test Site” (in American Anthropologist vol. 102 no 1, 2000) 7-26

or

·          Thanh-Dan Truong, “Foreign Exchange, Prostitution and Tourism in Thailand “ (in Sex, Money, and Morality: Prostitution and Tourism in Southeast Asia, 1990), 158-191

 

Film: "Sin City Diary"(video, 29 mins)

 

Key Questions

 

·        What kinds of historical and/or cultural or ideological links are there between militarism and tourism?

·        Do militarism and tourism construct women's sexuality in similar ways?

·        Do militarism and tourism construct "race" in similar ways?

·        Is prostitution an inevitable by-product of a military presence?

·        How does tourism depend on militarization in the Asia/Pacific region?

 

Student Activities

 

Students work in their groups to put together a final paper of some 800 words, based on the individual responses others have posted on the discussion site, to tell us what you have learned about the intersections of militarism, tourism, and gender.  Due date: