Annual workshop

The workshop gives school students of Pacific Islander and/or Maori heritage an introduction to university life. Workshop participants are encouraged to draw on their own cultures, heritages, and identities to explore Oceania. The workshop focuses on young people's Pacific Island cultures and identities as a valuable asset, which can enrich and be further explored through university study.

The workshop is open to school students in Years 9 and 10 from the ACT and NSW region, who are of Pacific Islander and/or Maori descent. It is run over three days, beginning at the ANU main campus in Canberra and relocating to the university's coastal campus at Kioloa, on the South Coast of NSW. The first day of the workshop introduces participants to university life through mini-lectures about the Pacific. The remaining days at Kioloa are filled with a series of creative sessions on Pacific art, song and dance. Participants work together to create a collaborative, creative presentation which draws together their experiences from the workshop.

The workshop is an opportunity for young people of Pacific Islander and/or Maori heritage to build connections, celebrate diversity, exchange knowledge - and have fun! The Pasifika Australia workshop is an intense intellectual and social experience.