The Navigating Pacific Studies Online course is your gateway into the debates about theory and practice that shape how we conceptualise and think about the Pacific region and its peoples. The course is built around three learning modules - the past, present and future. In the past we come to understand the voyages that brought people to the region and the stories they tell about their journeys. We investigate colonisation, the impact it had and still has on the region, and the different ways it can be understood. In the recent present we examine the new voyages that Pacific people have taken into places like Australia, New Zealand and the United States. In doing so we look at how people move within and between these new boundaries and how Pacific cultures and identities have evolved over time and place. Finally, we bring all these themes together by examining how the past and the present can help us imagine the future.

Students who complete the assessment tasks in this course successfully will be able to:

1.  Identify a diverse range of perspectives underlying analyses of Pacific issues and theories
2.  Facilitate and discuss topical issues with peers with reference to relevant course material.
3.  Present a clear and coherent written argument using appropriate academic skills.
4.  Examine how unstated and taken-for-granted assumptions frame the ways we interpret events and map the region and its people.

1. Weekly academic journal summaries (12 x 250 words per summary)  35%

2. Weekly discussion posts (150 words per post)                                 40%

3. Take Home Exam Essay (2000 words)                                            25%

8 hours per week. This includes:

• participation in forum discussions

• reading time

• completion of course weekly assessments

Nil

Nil

There are no prescribed texts however the following two journal articles provide a useful introduction into Pacific Studies:

Wesley-Smith, T 1995, Rethinking Pacific Islands Studies, Pacific Studies, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 115-37.

Hau'ofa, E 1993, ‘Our Sea of Islands, in V Naidu, E Waddell & E Hau'ofa (eds), A New Oceania: Rediscovering Our Sea of Islands, School of Social and Economic Development, University of the South Pacific, Suva.

In addition, throughout the course you will find these references useful resources.

D'Arcy, P 2006, The People of the Sea: Environment, Identity and History in Oceania, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.
 
Crocombe, R 2008, The South Pacific, 7th edn, IPS Publications, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji. This book will provide important case material and examples for assessment tasks.

Regular access to broadband internet.