The Transnational Pacific

Description

This course explores the contemporary Pacific with a special focus on the dynamic and complex interplay of its cultures, identities, and economies. Students will use the lens of transnationalism, to examine the historical and contemporary movement of people, ideas, and resources across the Pacific Ocean, and reflect on how these flows have shaped societies locally, regionally, and globally. Students will engage with themes such as power relations, decolonisation, migration, diaspora, gender, art, sport, cultural hybridity, security, racism, the impacts of climate change, the digital Pacific, and future thinking. Through interdisciplinary readings, case studies, and critical discussions, this course offers a comprehensive understanding of the Pacific peoples’ resilience and innovation in the face of global challenges. Embedded in the course are the perspectives of several community, national, and regional leaders whose expertise will be sought to speak on the course themes.