Week of 14 July
My highlights for the week:
- It was a pleasant surprise to find out on Monday that I had been elected as Vice President of the Pacific Islands Political Studies Association (PIPSA) – a venerable grouping of political scientists and associated social scientists who have in common the study of the Pacific. It is the only organisation of its kind in the world. I can still recall that I read my first ever conference paper to a gathering of PIPSA way back in 1991 at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia;
- I am meeting a prospective candidate for the position of research assistant to me. The post is to be shared with the New Migrants Director. Watch this space;
- For the Vaka Pasifiki conference in Tonga in September, I am submitting an abstract of a paper on the idea of forging group/cultural solidarity as a means of encouraging Pasifika students to strive for excellence in tertiary education. The paper is tentatively called ‘The Dance of Excellence’;
- I am supervising my PhD students, who are Christchurch-based, on Wednesday. It can be a challenge to supervise and prod from afar but technological advancement is such that a range of tools is open to the supervisor – a situation that was impossible to contemplate in ‘traditional’ student-supervisor relations;
- My discussions on the radio and newspaper columns this week focus on: an analysis of the leaders of the main NZ political parties’ effectivenes starting with Green co-leader Russel Norman; the West Papua/Irian Jaya-Indonesia conflict; the place of the ombudsman in Vanuatu and recent problems; Israeli-Hamas conflict; and how democracy and tradition can sit side-by-side;
- Catching up with Dr Katharine Vadura in Christchurch over the possibility of Massey and Canterbury university co-hosting the ‘Human Rights in the Pacific’ conference/symposium in late November/early December;
- The Directors of the Pasifika, Maori and New Migrants Directorates are holding their regular meeting on Friday;
- We will celebrate a certain staff member’s- I won’t divulge their name!- birthday-I won’t reveal their age! on Tuesday;
The Longer view:
- If the ‘Human Rights in the Pacific’ conference/symposium eventuates in late 2014, it seems to me an auspicious time to also hold the first instalment of the Pasifika Lecture Series. I am thinking of a title such as the Queen Salote Tupou III Annual Lecture Series.