Our Voices, Our Stories, Our Ocean

Our Voices, Our Stories, Our Ocean
Pacific Literature Conference
May 13-14
University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam

Call for Papers and Presentations

Description of conference and its purpose
Pacific voices and stories have been marginalized in educational spaces throughout the Pacific for too long. However, with the emergence of contemporary Pacific literature since the 1970s, stories and perspectives on Pacific lives have been included in school curricula throughout most of the region (with less prominence in Micronesia). Thus, Our Voices, Our Stories, Our Ocean Pacific Literature Conference aims to provide a venue for Pacific writers and voices to increase awareness about Pacific literature for Pacific educators, students, and writers on Guam and throughout the region.

Moreover, because this conference will take place just two weeks before the 12th Festival of Pacific Arts (FESTPAC) on Guam, the conference’s steering committee encourages participation in this conference so that those in attendance can gain more knowledge about the literature, cultures, and histories of the Pacific Islands that will be celebrated at FESTPAC.

Papers and Presentations should address one of the following six themes: 

Exploring Pacific Literature: What is Pacific Literature? Who are prominent Pacific writers? What different genres of Pacific literature exist and how are they used to represent Pacific voices and stories? 


Teaching Pacific Literature: Why teach Pacific Literature? How can Pacific Literature be used in the classroom (may include how it has already been used in the classroom)? How is Pacific Literature cross-discipline (able to be used in different subjects)? 


Writing Pacific Literature: How can the creation of Pacific Literature be fostered in the classroom and in the broader community? How can Pacific writers publish their work? What is the power and relevance of encouraging Pacific research and writing? 


Accessing Pacific Literature: Where can Pacific Literature resources be found? How can Pacific Literature be made more easily accessible and available to educators, students, and the broader community? 


Communicating Pacific Literature: What role does the oral tradition play in Pacific Literature, including non-written genres (e.g., film, podcasts, songs)? What is the importance of native languages, dialects, and other modes of communication (orality, literacy, silence, and communicative competence) in different Pacific cultures and their literatures? 


Identifying Common Themes in Pacific Literature: What themes emerge in Pacific Literature? How do Pacific writers explore topic areas including: socio-cultural (culture, heritage, history, identity, and family and other relationships); socio- political (colonization, militarization, Westernization, decolonization/self-determination, independence, and post-colonization); and environmental (sustainability, climate change, and rising tides)? 


Please email presentation abstracts (of no more than 150 words) to ouroceanvoices@gmail.com by December 30, 2015 (Chamorro Standard Time).

Note: Registration for the conference will occur at a later date. 
Please direct all questions to the Our Voices, Our Stories, Our Ocean Pacific Literature Conference Project Director, Kisha Borja- Quichocho at kquichocho@triton.uog.edu. 
Other Project Scholars and Steering Committee Members include: Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero (University of Guam), Dr. Unaisi Nabobo-Baba (University of Guam), Dr. Craig Santos Perez (University of Hawai`i-Mānoa), Kenneth Gofigan Kuper (PhD candidate, University of Hawai`i-Mānoa), and Vito Calvo, Jr. (Guam Community College). 


This project is supported by the Guam Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.