THE FIRST EUROPEAN COLLOQUIUM ON PACIFIC STUDIES
17-19- December, 1992
Nijmegen, The Netherlands

The First European Colloquium on Pacific Studies was held in
Nijmegen and orga nized by the Centre for Pacific Studies (CPS).
More than 120 people gathered at the University of Nijmegen to
discuss issues related to the theme of the conference:
'Transformation and Tradition in the South Pacific'. This theme
is related to contemporary developments in the region. It proved
to be sufficiently broad in scope to cater for the diverse
research interests of the participants. Many academic disciplines
were represented, including anthropology, sociology, linguistics,
history, psychology, geography, development studies, politics and
gender studies. The majority of the participants came from Europe
but there was also a considerable number of scholars from the
USA, Canada and the Pacific. Some sessions of the conference
programme were open to the general public: attendance at some of
these sessions exceeded 160.
During the final plenary session a decision was reached to
establish a special organisation for anthropologists and
researchers in the Social Sciences and the Humanities with a
regional interest in Oceania. This organisation has been named
the European Society for Oceanists (ESO). The new society aims
at enhancing intellectual co-operation between individual
researchers and between institutions within but also outside of
Europe. The next conference of the ESO will be held in Basel from
15 to 17 December, 1994. 

(Source: Centre for Pacific Studies Oceania Newsletter 11/12
(1993), p. 2-8)
Center for Pacific Studies, University of Nijmegen
P.O. Box 9108
6500 HK Nijmegen
Fax: (31) 80 611945