University of Hawai'i University Relations Media & Publications Honolulu, HI 96822	(808) 956-8856 Telephone (808) 956-3441 Facsimile ur@hawaii.edu E-Mail
For Immediate Release:	November 2, 2000
Contact: Vilisoni Hereniko, associate professor, 956-2659, vili@hawaii.edu Tisha Hickson, outreach coordinator, 956-2652, ctisha@hawaii.edu, Center for Pacific Island Studies, University of Hawai'i at Ma noa

Conference to examine future of Pacific Island studies Nov. 14-18

Pacific Studies 2000: "Honoring the Past, Creating the Future"

Nov. 6: Registration deadline, Open to the public: $25 general registrants, free for students

Nov. 14-18: Conference featuring Pacific, U.S. and European speakers, Imin Conference Center, East-West Center, UH Manoa.

Nov. 15: Free cultural performance by Fiji's Oceania Dance Theater, Venue to be announced

Nov. 16: CD/book launching and free reading , Church of the Crossroads, 1212 University Ave.

Pacific Studies 2000 will look at challenges and opportunities for the future of Pacific Islands studies in Hawai'i and throughout the region. The program is the 50th anniversary conference of the Center for Pacific Islands Studies in the University of Hawai'i at Manoa School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies. The conference will take place Nov. 14-18 at the Imin Conference Center at UH Manoa.

Speakers from the Pacific, the United States and Europe will discuss decolonizing Pacific Islands studies, interdisciplinary approaches, new technologies and pedagogies as well as the possibilities for forming a regional consortium of Pacific Islands studies programs. Representatives from such programs in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Guam, American Samoa, New Zealand, Hawai'i and Australia will also contribute regional perspectives on these topics.

The theme, "Honoring the Past, Creating the Future," will be reflected in the free Nov. 15 cultural performance by Pacific dancers, artists and poets from the Oceania Dance Theater of Fiji's University of the South Pacific. A free reading and CD/book launching will take place Nov. 16.

The conference will be convened by Dr. Vilisoni Hereniko of UH Manoa and is co-sponsored by the Pacific Islands Development Program, East-West Center. For more conference information, call the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at 956-7700 or visit the conference Web site at www.hawaii.edu/cpis/conference.

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