Pacific Connections Seminar Series features live-via-internet presentations from Tahiti

The below message, regarding a new trans-Pacific seminar series, is quoted from a message circulated by the UH-M Center for Pacific Islands Studies:

Aloha friends and colleagues,
Please join us for the inaugural presentation in the Pacific Connections Seminar Series featuring Professor Serge Dunis, University of French Polynesia.


[Re]connecting Hawai‘i and Tahiti: South Pacific Perspectives on Hawai‘i and Pacific Travel in the Precolonial Period

Tuesday, 21 February 2012, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Room 3121/3125, John Burns Hall, East West Center

Professor Serge Dunis
University of French Polynesia
Tahiti Nui

It is believed that Hawai‘i was first settled by migrants coming from the Marquesas, followed by a second wave of immigration launched from Bora Bora. Understanding movements during this exciting era relies heavily on interpreting oral traditions, embracing indigenous knowledge, as well as other methods of uncovering the past.

As a scholar of both Hawai‘i and Tahiti Nui, Professor Dunis will present an argument about Pele, goddess of the volcano. In retracing her pet sister’s steps between Kaua‘i and Kilauea, Professor Dunis will also illuminate H‘iiaka’s epic journey across vast stretches, reaching as far as the Galapagos Islands. Hi‘iaka is said to have overwhelmed the hordes of the giant Mo‘o and become aware of the Amerindian tuber, known today as the sweet potato. The presentation will explain how El Niño subsequently influenced settlement of the entire Pacific.

Something New…
This presentation marks the inauguration of live scholarly presentations between Hawai‘i and Tahiti Nui. Each month throughout the spring semester we will connect via video for a brown-bag seminar featuring faculty and students dedicated to Pacific islands studies. It is jointly sponsored by the University of French Polynesia, University of Hawai‘i, and East-West Center. The second seminar will be Wednesday 21 March at 12:00 pm - Flags, Human Heads, and Movies: Challenges of Seeking a Common Destiny in Kanaky New Caledonia,  by Professor David Chappell, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa,

For additional information and disability access, please contact Katherine Higgins at 956-2652 or khiggins@hawaii.edu. The University of Hawai‘i is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution.
Katherine Higgins
Outreach Director
Center for Pacific Islands Studies

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