Research

The Centre for Pacific Studies is a dynamic research institution. Our distinguished staff are recognised internationally for both their academic publications and their experience in consultancies. Many staff members are also active in external research projects funded by various government ministries and district health boards. Their findings inform the actions of politicians and policy advisers.

As a Pacific Studies student you will be encouraged to engage in supervised research that fits your own interests and career goals.

Customary and introduced forms of political and economic governance systems

Dr Steven Ratuva’s research areas are political governance, security, development, conflict, peace studies and indigenous knowledge. He has just completed a major research project for the UNDP on democratic governance in Fiji, and major research on social protection and the global crisis in the Pacific for the Asian Development Bank.

He carried out similar research for the International Labour Organization on traditional forms of social protection. He was part of an international team of researchers commissioned by John Harper Publishers of London to put together a reference book series on Political Parties of the World, Revolutionary Movements and Boarder Conflicts, in which he was responsible for the Pacific countries. He is part of a team carrying out research for the Pacific Island Forum on governance and leadership principles in the Pacific.

Dr Ratuva is currently involved in editing a book on regional security and working on a book on the Fiji coups. Some of his main research interests now are the interface between customary and introduced forms of political and economic governance systems, and norms and ethics in the Pacific at the local, national and regional levels. He is working on a series of papers on these topics.

The Monolingual Tongan Dictionary Project

Melenaite Taumoefolau is trainer, editor and researcher for this groundbreaking project aimed at Tongan speakers – an encyclopedic dictionary describing not only linguistic meaning but also cultural meaning and significance. Melenaite's role in this NZAID-sponsored research is to co-ordinate research to collect words and meanings from old sources and from people in the villages and outer islands of Tonga, a task which began in 2002. Former Tongan teachers were selected and trained in conventional methods of lexicography and defining techniques. Three definers now work in Tongatapu and two in Auckland.

In June 2007 a subject-entry volume was published, consisting of vocabulary entries for plants, fish and shellfish, birds, weaving, tapa-making, poetic terms, terms of warfare, traditional games, fishing and navigation, proverbs, terms from marriages and funerals, traditional medicine, and hospital terms. The project also entailed producing a dictionary proper, consisting of the alphabetical ordering for all the words and phrases collected.

Takuu Bilingual Dictionary Project

After the publication of a bilingual edition of fables and a comprehensive musical ethnography, Richard Moyle's current research on this Polynesian-speaking Outlier in Papua New Guinea is an encyclopedia of the language. All three publications have been at the request of the island community, which wanted an enduring record of their culture for the benefit of future generations of Takuu living off-island.

As well as containing conventional linguistic meanings, the encyclopedia will provide details of local usage, e.g. the techniques of fishing, food preparation, house building and canoe construction. Takuu continue to practice traditional Polynesian religion, and the dictionary contains details of the many ritual activities performed on both land and sea, the activities of the human spirit both before and after death, and the techniques for obtaining ancestral assistance in times of difficulty or danger.

It is hoped to produce the encyclopedia in DVD format also, with photographs of items in the material culture and video clips of activities such as singing, dancing, fishing, canoe racing, house building and communication with spirits.

Star Path: Project for Participation and Success

Melani Anae is a member of the of the Academic Reference Group of a University of Auckland Partnerships for Excellence project, in collaboration with Manukau Institute of Technology, headed by Prof. Dame Anne Salmond. This project will be of great significance in understanding and suggesting ways forward for increased educational participation and success for Maori and Pacific students.

Melani is also one of the eight Principal Investigators in a consortium of researchers from The University of Auckland, headed by Dr Susan Morton, entitled Longitudinal Study of Children and Families in New Zealand – Development Phase, for the Health Research Council and Ministry of Social Development. Melani is responsible for the Pacific component of the project and for the Culture and Identity Domain.

For more about staff research, see individual staff homepages

For more about PhD student research see individual PhD homepages

Read about recent publications by staff from the Centre for Pacific Studies