Mei ‘Avaiki Mai: Oceanic Time, Deep Sea Change and Pacific Studies
“Mei ‘Avaiki Mai: Oceanic Time, Deep Sea Change, and Pacific Studies” will take place in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands from 30 March – 2 April 2027. This is the first time the conference will happen outside of the Australian continent.
Mei ‘Avaiki Mai: Oceanic Time, Deep Sea Change, and Pacific Studies
At AAPS 2027, we make space to consider how the future is being claimed and shaped in the Pacific, to consider what it means to resist narratives of inevitability be they economic, political, social, or environmental. Participants are asked to consider how Oceanic time, however we invoke this in our work, offers alternative frameworks for navigating uncertainty and change particularly for Pacific Studies itself: a field not only defined by resistance, but also by its capacity for renewal and innovation within academic structures that too often overlook it.
Mei ‘Avaiki Mai calls Pacific Studies and the AAPS conference (back) into deep Pacific waters. It calls together scholars, activists, artists, and communities to engage with questions of sovereignty, oceanic futurity, and the role of Pacific knowledge systems in a changing world. It also invites participants to ponder how Pacific Studies might evolve to meet this moment, not just to endure – but to transform.
Please find the Call for Papers and up-to-date details on the conference website linked here.