Today, Austronesian languages are spoken by almost 400 million people in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, and Madagascar. Austronesian was the most widespread language family in the world before the 16th century, and multiple disciplines have examined how it developed and spread across an impressive range over the course of thousands of years. The full history is deep and broad, and therefore we welcome contributions about the diverse ways of understanding how the Austronesian diaspora occurred and how it affected a large part of the world.
Classic studies most famously have involved multi-disciplinary perspectives, such as comparative linguistics, cultural anthropology, archaeology, and human skeletal remains in physical anthropology. More recently, new contributions have come from genetics, botany, zoology, and bacteriology. Further concerns have involved community engagement, indigenous representation, and sustainable heritage management.
We welcome discussions about understanding the Austronesian past and about developing this knowledge toward inspiring and benefitting current and future communities. We invite experts from around the globe to join us in sharing the latest discoveries and insights.
For inquiries and submissions, please contact:
Hsiao-chun Hung, Australian National University – hsiao-chun.hung@anu.edu.au
Daud Tanudirjo, Universitas Gajah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia – daud.tanudirjo@ugm.ac.id
Eusebio Dizon, National Museum of the Philippines – drbongdizon@yahoo.com