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Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania

The Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania (ASAO) is an international scholarly society dedicated to the anthropology of the Pacific. ASAO welcomes anyone interested in the lives of Pacific people, including scholars working in Native/Indigenous Studies, Pacific Studies, Cultural Studies, and other disciplines.

For over fifty years, ASAO has served to connect scholars from across the globe and to further knowledge of the Pacific. Our annual meeting has played a role in the origin of several important pieces of Pacific scholarship, including Epeli Hau‘ofa's essay "Our Sea of Islands" and Marshall Sahlins's "Historical Metaphors and Mythical Realities". 

Our annual meetings are intimate, discussion-based, and cooperative, especially in support of developing topics for publication. ASAO has a book series and a special publication series. Many other publications have emerged from ASAO sessions, including but not limited to those listed in this cumulative bibliography.

ASAO supports the full participation of Pacific Islanders through the Pacific Islands Scholars Award (PISA). ASAO also encourages members to return information to the island communities from which it originated, in forms appropriate to and usable at the village level, through a program called Grant to Return Indigenous Knowledge to Pacific Islands Communities (GRIKPIC). 

ASAO also publishes a newsletter three times per year, with useful information such as annual officer reports, meeting session reports, and community updates. Many ASAO members participate throughout the year on ASAONet Listserv, a listserv hosted by the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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