The symposium will be held at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, from July 24th-27th, 1997. The Museum is an ideal venue for this symposium. First, it will allow the active participation of indigenous people from remote areas of northern Australia at minimal cost. Secondly, it will ground discussions in an environment that has considerable local expertise in both indigenous enterprise and the delivery of information technologies to indigenous communities. Thirdly, immmediately prior to and at the conclusion of the symposium there will be an opportunity for interested participants to visit some Aboriginal community initiatives to see at first-hand how Aboriginal people are dealing with some of the issues under discussion at the symposium.
Symposium participants encompass the disciplines of art, anthropology, archaeology, cultural tourism, education, indigenous economics, law, political science and sociolinguistics, as well as multimedia enterprise and technology. Each speaker is eminent in his or her field. An innovative aspect of the programme was the establishment of this WWW site prior to the symposium in July 1996. The aim here is to solicit global input without detracting from focussed discussion. Global participation will be sought regarding:
Additonal Features and Plans
A FAQ (frequently asked question) facility will be built into the Web site in order to generate information on the most frequently asked questions. These questions will be put to the discussion session of the symposium and responses posted on the Web site.
People around the world will also be able to submit material which could be down-loaded for discussion during the symposium. In addition, extended conference abstracts will be submitted in advance and posted on the Web site for commentary prior to the meeting. This approach will provide a forum that is powerful in its capacity to harness intellectual energy and identify global concerns.
In addition, a Chat Forum will be established for the discussion session, providing on-line access to key participants who are unable to attend the symposium. This facility will be used primarily to increase and broaden the active participation of prominent Native American thinkers and to access the expertise of some US counterparts of the session speakers.
At the conclusion of the symposium, the Web site will be transformed into a central directory for people interested in the issue of Indigenous Cultures in an Interconnected World. Taken together, the above strategies will result in a symposium which by its very nature is indicative of the kinds of facilities and opportunities that the Internet can provide for promoting a greater acceptance of differences among peoples around the world.