PRESENTATION - South Pacific Security in the Asian Century

The Wurm symposia were established in 2011 to encourage dialogue between scholars working in remote locations in the Pacific on the one hand on topics like linguistics, anthropology and history and policy makers in the Pacific interested in the many political, development and security challenges faced in our region. It was conceived by the late Professor Darrell Tryon in connection with the Austrian Embassy, as a tribute to the late Professor Stefan Wurm, an Austrian and founding Professor of Linguistics at the ANU. As in previous years, the program will bring together these two themes, on the philosophy that policy-makers can benefit from the vivid direct insights that researchers in the remote Pacific develop through their long-standing and close contacts with Pacific languages and peopls, and that Pacific scholars need to understand how their work contributes to the broader sociopolitical challenges of the region. This years symposium continues that theme, with talks on the first theme in the morning and those on the second theme in the afternoon. In addition, it will include an obituary to the late Darrell Tryon, who had planned this years symposium before succumbing to an untimely death in May this year. The symposium is jointly sponsored by the ANU, the University of Vienna and the Austrian Embassy. Morning and afternoon coffee and a light lunch will be provided.