Sian Sullivan

Southern Deserts 6 (SD6) is the 6th event in a series of international conferences focusing on arid and semi-arid areas of the southern hemisphere, namely in South America, southern Africa and Australia. The conferences bring together scholars, early career researchers, students and local and Indigenous peoples in a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary conversation about diverse dimensions of Southern Deserts. Critical content and vibrant discussion at previous Southern Deserts conferences has revolved around cultural landscapes, rock art studies, heritage management, maritime deserts, post-colonial analysis and geomorphology. Our proposed themes for SD6 are 1) The deserts and the sea – maritime encounters; 2) Tending the desert – sustainable land-use; 3) Marking the desert – rock art and belief; and 4) Desert pasts and futures – memory, place and heritage: see www.southerndeserts.net. We are applying to the Wenner-Gren Foundation for funds to assist economically disadvantaged international researchers, heritage managers and local people to participate in SD6. We aim to provide partial assistance for travel and subsistence costs for around 15 international scholars at different stages of their careers (particularly from South America: we have secured alternative finance to support Australian participants); as well as for Namibian participants who would otherwise be unable to attend.