Doctoral Projects

Riripeti Haretuku (Ngapuhi, Taranaki, Te Arawa me Whakatohea), The University of Auckland

In this work, I rethink SUDI: SIDS, also known as cot death, within a kaupapa Māori framework. I use the term mate ohorere pēpi, not as an equivalent of SUDI: SIDS, but to encompass all the aspects of a Māori experience of the sudden death of a pēpi (baby).

I argue that SUDI in Māori whanau must be understood as mate ohorere pēpi, and therefore discussion and practice related to sudden Māori infant death must include Māori understandings of the Māori spiritual world, tapu, wairua, whakapono, whakapapa, whakawhānau, whenua, whānau, whānaungātangā, tangihanga.

Raaniera Te Whata (Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Moerewa, Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui), University of Otago

The overall aim of this thesis is to discover Tautoro whakapapa kōrero (important kin-community events/narratives of the distant and recent past) and strengthen the contemporary shape and flow of hapū:

1) mana tūpuna (the influence of ancestors, their leadership and deeds);
2) mana tangata (the confidence and vitality of hapū, whānau and individuals) and;
3) mana whenua (the power associated with the land, including inherited rights, power of control and the protection and conservation of especially sacred sites), and
4) tikanga (customary protocols that determine what is right and wrong in the local socio-physical environment)

Rev Wayne Te Kaawa (Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Awa, Yūhoe), University of Otago

The aim and objective of this project is to publicise what a Christological Creed or Faith Statement would consist of using Māori whakaaro rather than a western Christian hermeneutical framework. The expected outcome of this work is to stimulate discussion in the Māori ecumenical Christian community concerning an authentic Christological Creed that is based on mātauranga Māori whakaaro. 

Rory M.S. Clifford (Kai Tahu, Kāti Māmoe), University of Canterbury

The aim is to publish a research article on the findings of my research into the effects of Stress on Decision Making, Communication and Situational Awareness, applied to Air Attack Supervision Training in Aerial Firefighting. This will target the Sage journal of Simulation and Gaming, https://journals.sagepub.com/home/sag which is indexed by Scopus (CiteScore 1.570).

Koroumatai Kody Pewhairangi (Ngati Ira, Te Whanau a Apanui, Ngati Porou), Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi

The legacy of oral compositions by Tuini Ngawai and Ngoi Pewhairangi - the relational values of whanaungatanga informinga self-determining model of hapu development in action.

Jessica Gerbic (Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāti Pikiao), The University of Auckland

Māori mothers are a taonga (treasure precious) for Māori society in the role they play for Whānau, hapū and iwi. The age when wāhine have tamariki has never been a barrier within Māori culture. Yet the process of colonisation has significantly impacted the status of young Māori wāhine through targeting, isolating and misrepresenting their lived realities in their journey into and through motherhood. This disconnect has been amplified through western research, government policies and media representation.