Academy to address dearth of Mäori leaders
massey-university
Tue Jun 02 2009 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Academy to address dearth of Mäori leaders
Tuesday, 2 June 2009, 2:05 pm
Press Release: Massey University
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Academy to address dearth of Mäori leaders
An inter-university academy to support Mäori academic and professional leadership will be launched tomorrow in Wellington.
Manu Ao – the Mäori Academy for Academic and Professional Advancement will be lead by Massey University under the chairmanship of Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Mäori) Professor Mason Durie and Te Kähui Amokura, the Mäori standing commitment of the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee.
Dr Selwyn Katene, appointed academy director in April, is based at Massey’s Wellington campus. He says there is a dearth of Mäori academic leaders. "We have a crisis, where is the next Mason Durie? The academy is part of succession planning to promote and foster Mäori leadership.”
The launch will take place at Victoria University’s Te Herenga Waka Marae. Speakers include Professor Durie, Vice-Chancellors’ Committee chairman Professor Roger Field, Tertiary Education Commission chief executive Dr Roy Sharp, Oxford University graduate Dr Ngapare Hopa, and Mäori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples.
The initiative has $2.5 million funding from the commission for three years and is supported by all eight universities. A pilot project for the past two years has provided weekly seminars, Professor Durie says.
“It was established in response to the need for a well-qualified Mäori academic and professional workforce of high calibre Mäori leaders," he says. "The expanded project has three main aims – advancing Mäori scholarship, strengthening links between Mäori professionals and Mäori academics and accelerating Mäori leadership. These aims will be met through a series of academy sponsored activities including seminars, lectures, leaders’ groups, fora and symposia.”
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Dr Katene (Ngäti Toa, Ngäti Tama, Ngäti Tüwharetoa) is a graduate of Victoria and Massey Universities with a Doctorate of Philosophy in Mäori Studies in 2007 from Massey. His PhD research focused on the experiences of Ngäti Tama and its relationship with the Crown and other iwi and Mäori groups in Wellington from 1997-2004.
He says part of his work will involve developing partnerships between professional organisations and academics. “I have a background in health and have always been interested in Mäori leadership. My master’s dissertation was on Mäori leadership, and this is the academy promoting Mäori leadership.”
Weekly ‘interactive seminars’ featuring keynote speakers begin next month with Sir Tipene O’Regan on July 22 on the subject of how Mäori reclaim usage of Mäori place names, Moana Jackson will present the seminar on July 29 talking on foreshore and seabed, and John Tamihere on August 5 on the topic of the proposed Auckland super city.
Planning is also underway to hold a national symposium on Mäori leadership in Wellington next year.
ENDS
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