K. Kessler

Fiji’s COVID-19 Crisis: A Closer Look

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Fiji’s COVID-19 crisis is taking a toll on people, especially the poorest and the most vulnerable. We argue that understanding Fiji’s spatial and social realities are crucial to leading the country out of its current crisis. More in our ANU Devpolicy publication.

Zur Geschichte der Anthropologie im Südpazifik

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Meine Forschungsergebnisse zur Geschichte der Anthropologie im Südpazifik wurden kürzlich in The Australian Journal of Anthropology (TAJA) publiziert.

Die Publikation geht dem Paradox nach, dass der Südpazifik durch Forschungen u.a. von Margaret Mead, Raymond Firth und Derek Freeman für die Anthropologie eine grosse Bedeutung hat, aber als akademische Disziplin in dieser Region meist ein Nischendasein führt.

Link zur Publikation:
Kessler KA. Anthropology at the University of the South Pacific: From past dynamics to present perceptions. Aust J Anthropol. 2021;32:33–53.

Vielen Dank an alle Forschungsteilnehmenden!

Zur Geschichte der Anthropologie im Südpazifik
USP Laucala Campus 2021 (photo taken by Kim Andreas Kessler)

 

History of anthropology in the Pacific Islands – New publication

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Why does the University of the South Pacific (USP) not offer anthropology as a study programme? This paper in The Australian Journal of Anthropology (TAJA) investigates for the first time anthropology’s past and present status at USP.

Title
Anthropology at the University of the South Pacific: From past dynamics to present perceptions

Abstract
The Pacific Island region is a key context in the history of anthropology. Yet, while much has been written about how anthropology of the Pacific Islands contributed to Anglo‐American anthropology, the discipline’s institutional history in the Pacific Islands has received very little attention. This paper is the first to explore the history of anthropology at the University of the South Pacific (USP). Research findings demonstrate that anthropology lacked practical meaning in an institution established to modernise Pacific Island states. Fieldwork conducted at USP suggests that current perceptions of anthropology held by academic staff are strongly linked to the discipline’s classic era. I argue that the anti‐colonial version of the Pacific Way from the 1970s onward, coupled with the hegemony of political economist and anti‐culturalist approaches among the USP teaching staff in the 1980s, inhibited a meaningful engagement with the Writing Culture debate at USP. This may explain why there has been little influence by the discipline’s postmodern transformation over the past thirty years on current perceptions of anthropology at USP.

Reference: Kessler KA. Anthropology at the University of the South Pacific: From past dynamics to present perceptions. Aust J Anthropol. 2021;00:1–21. https://doi. org/10.1111/taja.12388

Many thanks to all research participants!

USP Laucala Campus 2021 (photo taken by Kim Andreas Kessler)

 

DevNet 2020 Conference Award Kim Kessler

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DevNet 2020 Conference Awards: Kim Kessler was awarded best PhD presentation.

DevNet 2020 Conference

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The Aotearoa New Zealand International Development Studies Network (DevNet) 2020 Conference is on at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Climate Change and Polar Research: OCCNet and PERT joint symposium 2019

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This is a joint research symposium between the Polar Environments Research Theme and the Otago Climate Change Network, which will bring together researchers from multiple disciplines to share and discuss current research. We will have two sessions, one on polar research, and another on research related to climate change, open to all divisions and disciplines. There will also be a poster session. (Source: https://events.humanitix.co.nz)

There will be a session on ‘Climate Change in the Pacific’.

Date: 15 October 2019, 8.30am – 5pm

Location: Dunedin Public Art Gallery

Registration here.