Pacific Encounters Part 2: Living Traditions of Oceania

This is Part 2 of Pacific Encounters, examining cultural travel through the instructor’s photographic encounters with the peoples of remote Oceania. The course focuses on “living traditions”—the values, arts, and practices that continue to bind island communities together.
Islands and regions featured in Part 2 include Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Tahiti, and North Island, New Zealand. Topics include ceremonies of communal life, traditions of social hierarchy, and Oceanic arts, with attention to their traditional spiritual roots. Lectures are illustrated with photographs and include interactive discussion. Part 1 need not be taken before Part 2.

Mar 4: The Iatmul people of the Middle Sepik region of Papua New Guinea
Mar 11: A journey through Lapita cultures from the Solomon Islands to New Caledonia
Mar 25: Encountering the living traditions of Fijians
Apr 1: Understanding the Kingdom of Tonga
Apr 8: Travels in Tahiti and other islands of French Polynesia
Apr 15: Encountering M?ori culture in North Island, New Zealand