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What is Pacific Studies? In the scheme of area studies and interdisciplinary projects, Pacific Studies scholarship is small-fry. The size of Pacific Studies professional associations as well as the rate of citations of Pacific Studies publications in wider humanities and social science indices cannot compare to area studies of more populous or more strategic regions. In relation to “Asia Pacific Studies,” Pacific Studies—even if constituted by the substantial research and literature that exists on the Pacific islands region—would figure as a puny David next to the Goliath of Asian Studies, and the results of their encounter would be decidedly unbiblical.“Asia Pacific Studies” will probably not have much of an impact on the ways that Asian Studies is conducted in the future, but the specific project out of which this volume arises provides an occasion for some introspection and re-evaluation within Pacific Studies. Whether Pacific …