The Association
On October 9 2004 a diverse and senior group of academics from around Australia met at the ANU in Canberra to take the first steps toward forming a national association for Pacific Island scholars.This meeting was an initiative of the newly created International Centre of Excellence in Asia Pacific Studies (ICEAPS), which was established with the purpose of developing a network to promote excellence and collaboration in Asian and Pacific studies across Australia and internationally. While the interests of Asian scholars can already be represented through the aegis of the long-standing Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA), there was no comparable body to advise ICEAPS on the interests of Pacific Island scholars.
The group of about thirty-five academics who met to address this issue agreed on the formation of an Australian Association for the Advancement of Pacific Studies (AAAPS). Those present at that meeting elected a steering committee to work toward the formal constitution of the AAAPS.
