Te Puna Vai Mārama to Co-Convene Landmark Pacific Studies Conference in the Cook Islands
We are thrilled to announce that Te Puna Vai Mārama: Cook Islands Centre for Research will co-convene the 2027 conference of the Australian Association for Pacific Studies (AAPS) along with USP-Cook Islands and Te Vairanga Kite Pakari: Cook Islands Research Association. The gathering will make history as the first AAPS conference ever held outside of Australia.
Mei 'Avaiki Mai: Oceanic Time, Deep Sea Change and Pacific Studies will take place from 30 March to 2 April 2027 with the main proceedings held at Te 'Are Karioi Nui, the Cook Islands' National Auditorium. Concurrent sessions will be hosted at the USP–Cook Islands campus and in meeting halls belonging to the peoples of the pā 'enua ensuring that the conference is embedded in the broader Cook Islands community from the outset.
We are deeply honoured that the AAPS executive and its membership have entrusted us with hosting this gathering, and we look forward to welcoming scholars, activists, artists, and communities from across the Pacific and beyond to our shores.
The conference theme speaks to something urgent and enduring in Pacific discourse. At a time when questions of sovereignty, ecological futures, and the resilience of Pacific knowledge systems are more pressing than ever, Mei 'Avaiki Mai calls Pacific Studies back into deep Pacific waters — not merely to endure, but to transform. It asks participants to consider how Oceanic time offers alternative frameworks for navigating uncertainty and resisting narratives of inevitability, whether economic, political, social, or environmental. In bringing this conference to the Cook Islands for the first time, AAPS and Te Puna Vai Mārama are making a powerful statement: that Pacific scholarship must be grounded in Pacific places, and that the intellectual centre of gravity of our field belongs in Oceania itself.
Delegates can expect a rich programme anchored by the Epeli Hau'ofa Annual Memorial Lecture, with further details to be announced soon. International attendees can fly direct to Rarotonga from Auckland, Sydney, Honolulu, and — from late 2026 — Brisbane. Given that the conference falls just after the Easter break, early flight bookings are strongly encouraged.
Calls for Panels and Papers
The call for panels is now open, with proposals due by 14 August 2026. We warmly welcome sessions built around the conference theme, and encourage formats that make space for relationship, thoughtful exchange, and diverse ways of knowing — from conventional paper sessions and roundtables (uriuri manako) to curated conversations that bring together scholarly, artistic, activist, and community-based perspectives.
The call for individual papers will follow in late August 2026. Prospective presenters can submit to open panels or have their papers considered for programming by the conference committee. A list of open panels will be published alongside the call for papers.
Early-bird registration will open in November 2026. All attendees are encouraged to register or renew their membership with AAPS at pacificstudies.org.au/join ahead of that date.
For full details on the conference theme, venues, accommodation, and to respond to the call for panels, visit tepunavaimarama.org/aaps2027.