Update from Geopark Partner: JICAS

Geopark Partner, Jersey International Centre of Advanced Studies (JICAS), will be hosting an international conference next year (2025) in collaboration with Shima and the Small Island Cultures Research Initiative (SICRI). JICAS’s Director and Programme Coordinator, Dr Sean Dettman, is calling for people to submit proposals around the conference’s themes of Islands and Island Studies.

Venue: JICAS, Jersey

Dates: 3 to 7 June 2025

Organised by the Jersey International Centre of Advanced Studies (JICAS) in collaboration with Shima and the Small Island Cultures Research Initiative (SICRI).

The interdisciplinary field of Island Studies began in the early 1990s with the establishment of ISISA (the International Small Islands Studies Association). The field was subsequently enhanced through the formation of SICRI (the Small Island Cultures Research Initiative) in 2005, and with the establishment of a number of academic periodicals, including Island Studies Journal (in 2006), Shima (2007), The Journal of Marine and Island Cultures (2012) and the Okinawan Journal of Island Studies (2020). Organisations such as Island Innovation (founded in 2018) have also pursued collaborative research, development and dialogue between and for Islanders.

The Islands and Island Studies 2025 conference will provide an opportunity for researchers, administrators, policy makers and Islanders to explore key questions concerning Island societies and jurisdictions in the early 21^st Century and to review research in the field to date. The conference will comprise 3 plenary sessions and two parallel panel strands:

Plenary #1 —Lessons from and challenges for Jersey, Channel Islands — featuring contributions from Government of Jersey officers and representatives of local organisations.

Plenary #2 —Two decades of Island Studies as represented in its journals — featuring presentations from journal editors Philip Hayward (Shima), Sun-Kee Hong (The Journal of Marine and Island Cultures), Ping Su (Island Studies Journal) Ayano Ginoza (former editor of the Okinawan Journal of Island Studies) + response by Jonathan Pugh (Professor of island Studies, Newcastle University, UK) (tbc).

Plenary #3 —New Voices in Island Studies (programmed by SICRI) — featuring presentations from six emerging island Studies scholars.

The conference will commence with an early evening reception on 3^rd June 2025, there will be three full days of panels and papers on 4^th–6^th June and a study trip (tbc) on 7^th June.

Proposal submission details:

Proposals for panels and/or individual papers for the parallel strands are welcome on the following topics:

Issues in Island Studies

Research collaborations with Island communities

Island cultures in periods of transition

Island societies, climate change and the Anthropocene

Proposals for papers should be 250–300 words long and should be submitted to [email protected] by 1st November 2024 and notifications of acceptance will be issued by 10th December 2024. Any inquiries as to the suitability of proposed topics and/or proposals for panels can be sent to Philip Hayward (on behalf of the conference organising committee) at [email protected] by 1st October 2024.