Austrian South Pacific Society
In 1996 the Austrian South Pacific Society (OSPG, Austrian South Pacific Society) was founded in Vienna as a non-profit association with the aim of spreading knowledge about the diversity of Pacific cultures in Austria as well as cultural and social relations between Austria and the countries of the Promote the South Pacific through relevant activities. The society is impartial, non-denominational and orientates its work towards scientific standards. The company was founded by Hermann Mückler , Raimund Pawlik and Ingfrid Schütz-Müller. The board consists of ten members who stand for election every two years. The OSPG has around 100 full members (as of 2006).
activity
The Austrian South Pacific Society is based at the Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna . The close scientific cooperation with ethnology is the programmatic focus of the activity and is intended to support the historically founded Oceania focus of Viennese ethnological research. a. with names like Robert von Heine-Geldern and Hugo Bernatzik , support and complement. Nonetheless, the company is open to everyone, including those who are not interested in science, as the founding goal is to offer everyone who is interested in the field a forum for information gathering, collaboration and the exchange of ideas. The naming of the company reflects the fact that the majority of the Pacific islands are located south of the equator and that the focus is on the oceanic island world with its three major regions Melanesia , Polynesia and Micronesia . Nonetheless, the island parts of Micronesia and Hawaii lying north of the equator are included.
Events take place monthly. The company's activities include lively lectures, to which competent experts from home and abroad are invited. The program of the Austrian South Pacific Society, which is based on the academic semester cycle, also includes the organization and implementation of a one-day symposium on a key topic once a year (2005: "Migration in the Pacific"; 2006: "In the mirror of others: Presentation and representation of Oceania- Objects in museums ”). There is also the possibility of informal gatherings.
In 2002 the Austrian South Pacific Society was the leading co-organizing society of the 5th conference of the European Society for Oceanists (ESfO), which took place at the University of Vienna. Participation in exhibition designs, conferences and film screenings as well as the organization of excursions and city walks “In the footsteps of the South Seas in Vienna” complete the range of services offered by OSPG. In 2006 the tenth anniversary of the society was celebrated, which is a member of the umbrella organization of Austrian-Foreign Societies (PaN, partner of all nations).
Publication series
Novara - Contributions to Pacific Research
The Austrian South Pacific Society (OSPG) publishes a series of books that goes by the name of "Novara Contributions to Research on the Pacific". Every year an annual volume appears on a key topic, which is communicated to the members of the society as a service of the society and is available in bookshops and from the OSPG. Novara - Contributions to Pacific Research is a series of publications that has set itself the goal of combining different contributions, aspects and perspectives on a key topic. It reflects the thematic priorities of the members and the work of the Austrian South Pacific Society, whose mouthpiece and official organ is this series. In addition, scientists and researchers are invited to make contributions that can contribute in one way or another to the elucidation of ethnological, historical, political or general cultural-scientific issues relating to the region of Oceania and its people. Hermann Mückler acts as series editor.
Novara Volume 9 - Therefore Oceania! 20 years of the Austrian South Pacific Society. Elisabeth Worliczek, Margit Wolfsberger, Igor Eberhard, Hannah Dittmer (editors). Vol. 9 - Novara, Contributions to Pacific Research. Series editor: OSPG. Vienna: Self-published OSPG, 2017. ISBN 3-9500765-2-2
Novara Volume 8 - Climate Change in the Pacific Margit Wolfsberger, Katharina Hobiger (eds.), 2013, LIT Verlag, ISBN 978-3-643-50533-0
Novara Volume 7 - Cathedral of Cultures. Representation of Oceania in art and museums. Igor Eberhard, Julia Gohm, Margit Wolfsberger (Eds.), 2008, LIT Verlag, ISBN 978-3-8258-1849-4
Novara Volume 6 - Migration Happens. Reasons, Effects and Opportunities of Migration in the South Pacific Katarina Ferro, Margot Wallner (Ed.), 2006, LIT Verlag, ISBN 3-8258-6998-9
Novara Volume 5 - Prelude to Empire. Consuls, Missionary Kingdoms, and the Pre-Colonial South Seas Seen Trough the Life of William Thomas Pritchard. Andrew E. Robson, 2004, LIT Verlag, ISBN 3-8258-6999-7
Novara Volume 4 - Gender and Power in the Pacific. Women's Strategies in a World of Change. Katarina Ferro, Margit Wolfsberger (Ed.), 2003, LIT Verlag, ISBN 3-8258-6710-2
Novara Volume 3 - Politics of Indigeneity in the South Pacific. Recent Problems of Identity in Oceania Erich Kolig, Hermann Mückler (Ed.), 2002, LIT Verlag, ISBN 3-8258-5915-0
Novara Volume 2 - Austrians in the Pacific II Hermann Mückler (Ed.), 1999, self-published.
Novara Volume 1 - Austrians in the Pacific Hermann Mückler (Ed.), 1998, self-published.
Pacific dossiers
One of the cornerstones of the OSPG's activities has been the series of lectures that take place at regular intervals from the very beginning. In the past twenty years, numerous well-known speakers have spoken on a wide variety of oceanic topics, people and the linguistic and cultural diversity that prevails there. You have made a significant contribution to making the OSPG a forum in which historical and current points of reference to the region find their place. Some topics were complex in their content and offered a wealth of data and cross-references. Many of the lectures gave suggestions in various directions and the board of the OSPG was repeatedly asked whether it was not possible to receive one or the other lecture in written form. Simply so that you can take the content home with you, study it again in peace, so that you can more easily remember the key points of a presentation. The idea was taken up and was therefore the basic idea behind the series of Pacific Dossiers. The dossiers should appear at irregular intervals and should address all the topics that need to be broadened and deepened. All those lectures that were above average and outstanding in some way should be offered in written form as a dossier. The series of the Pacific Dossiers was founded as a supplement to the lecture series Latest Research on Oceania, especially for young graduates, in order to offer them the opportunity to publish. Another idea was to publish the latest research on Oceania, as presented in the lecture series of the same name, as soon as possible. Since the first dossier in 2006, a total of 12 have been published. Some of the dossiers are now out of print. We try to ensure that your content is still accessible. The OSPG is working to continue this successful series of publications - which is primarily dependent on the time resources of the members and the financial resources of the association.
Dossiers published so far:
Dossier XIII - The worlds of Protestant missionary women in Oceania in the 19th and early 20th centuries Edeltraud Hruschka, 2015
Dossier XII - Clubs of Oceania. Blood, pomp, ritual. Clubs and their roles in the societies of Oceania Milène C. Rossi, 2015
Dossier X –100 years of Rabaul. A consideration from a postal history perspective. Dieter Warncke, 2012
Dossier IX - Aspects of Climate Change in the Pacific Elisabeth Worliczek and Wolfgang Kempf, 2010
Dossier VIII - All about James Cook Lukas Hartmann and Jennifer Newell, 2010
Dossier VII - Women's Worlds Modern painting from Papua New Guinea. Exhibition catalog special edition, 2009
Dossier VI - Longing: “South Seas” poems and more Augusta Laar, Carina Nekolny, Sylvia Petter, Judith Pfeifer, Petra Sturm, 2008
Dossier V - Austria and the Pacific Region. Exploring the Cultures of Oceania and Australia Karl R. Wernhart, 2008
Dossier IV - Weaving A Basket Of Knowledge. My continent spanning health research projects linking Aotearoa / New Zealand and Austria Christine Binder-Fritz, 2008
Dossier III - The Modern Artist as “Rubbish Man”? Socio-economic inconsistencies in Papua New Guinea Erika Neuber, 2007
Dossier II - Aspects of the traditional architecture of Oceania with a focus on New Caledonia Günter Zöhrer, 2007
Dossier I - Development cooperation between the EU and the Independent State of Samoa Wolfgang Lichtl, 2006
literature
- Hermann Mückler: Ten years of the Austrian South Pacific Society (OSPG) - a balance . In: circular of the Pacific network, Neuendettelsau 2006, pp. 24–28.