Event Date
Join us for this year's Narratives of Oceania VASA: The Space that is Sacred facilitated by guest speaker Dr. David Ga'oupu Matthew Palaita. This workshop draws on the indigenous Pasefika concept of VĀSĀ (Ocean)—an indigenous framework that understands the ocean as a sacred, relational space connecting peoples, lands, and knowledge systems across Oceania. Moving beyond colonial maps that divide and contain, participants will explore Indigenous Pacific approaches to mapping that center genealogy, migration, storytelling, and spiritual relationships to place. Through interactive reflection and collaborative mapping, this session reimagines cartography as a living, cultural practice—one that honors the ocean not as empty space, but as a vibrant network of identity, memory, and connection.
Dr. David Ga'oupu Matthew Palaita, Ph.D., is professor of Critical Pacific Islands & Oceania Studies and Ethnic Studies at the City College of San Francisco (CCSF). He is Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at CCSF. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Geography from the University of Washington in Seattle and a master's and doctoral degrees in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Palaita's academic career spans several colleges and universities across the U.S., building curriculum, giving lectures, teaching, and developing Critical Pacific Islands Studies programs centered on the lives of U.S. diasporic Pacific Islander/Oceania communities. His work on Critical Pacific Islands & Oceania Studies extends into K-12 school districts in California and into the San Francisco County jails bringing Pasefika knowledge and educational opportunities to justice-impacted students. He is currently editing his dissertation for publication entitled, "VĀSĀ (Ocean): The Space that is Sacred: Pacific Islanders in Higher Education."
