Fourth International ASAA Conference

Australasia - Asia: Change, Conflict and Convergence:

Sachitra MAHENDRA

The fourth international conference of the Association for the Study of Australasia in Asia (ASAA) was held recently at the Peradeniya University.

The conference was interdisciplinary, dominantly influenced by academics of English and cultural studies. ASAA's Australian representative Dr. Cynthia Vanden Driesen met the Peradeniya University Vice Chancellor and other University officials to discuss the possibilities of promoting further institutional contacts between the University of Peradeniya and other Australian universities.

She also discussed the possibility of setting up a Centre for Australian Studies at the Peradeniya University under the supervision of Professor Tudor Silva who completed postgraduate studies at Monash University in Victoria.

Membership of the centre should be extended to all other areas and the possibilities of furthering mutual collaboration through a range of disciplines be explored.

Dr. Ian vanden Driesen explained to the Minister of Higher Education Prof. Vishwa Warnapala on ASAA's work role and their project plans.

Dr. Ian vanden Driesen has had a long career of teaching Economics at the University of Peradeniya (then the University of Ceylon) before his departure for the Ife University in Nigeria and Prof. Wishva Warnapala is one of his former university students.

Celebrations: Australia-Sri Lanka Interactions authored by Vanden Driesens in 1998, there are many rich and complex elements in the ties between Australia and Sri Lanka.

The ASAA conference will only add to the further development and enrichment of those ties to the mutual benefit of both countries.

The Association was originally established under the name of the Asian Association for the Study of Australia in August 1995 as a result of an academic meeting with the participation of delegates from India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.

The Association was expanded into the Asian-Australasian Association for the study of Australasia in October 1998 at a meeting in Dhvanyaloka, Mysore, India, when New Zealand was admitted into the membership of the Association.

The name of the Association was changed again in 1999 to its present name of The Association for the Study of Australasia in Asia (ASAA). ASAA aims to bring together individuals, institutions, and associations concerned with the study and the teaching of Australasian studies in Asia and to foster interest and promote research in all aspects of Australasian life.

The inaugural conference of the Association was held in Kerala in January 1997. Two more conferences have been held since then: Mysore in 2000 and Kerala again in 2003. Three substantial publications have emerged from these conferences: New Directions in Australian Studies (1998); Austral-Asian Connections (2001), and Diaspora (2004).

The motifs of Change, Conflict and Convergence can be traced across varied disciplines: history, politics and diplomacy, women's studies, library studies, sports studies, philosophy, religion, literature, media, science, computing. They can be traced, within each of the separate regions, or between them, or between Australia and each of these regions.

"We are looking for imaginative cross disciplinary interpretations. Many Canadian scholars joined the Association. In fact a special session was reserved for Canadian/ Australasian studies. Sri Lanka is famous for its idyllic scenery, pristine beaches, rich wild life and cultural and historical traditions that trace back for several thousands of years.

Its famous ruins are among the world's cherished heritage listings." Dr. Vanden Driesen said.