Dr Liana MacDonald has been appointed as Otago's inaugural Chair in Māori, Moriori and Indigenous Peace Studies, and Co-Director of Te Ao o Rongomaraeroa National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.
The University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka welcomes a new leadership appointment to Te Ao o Rongomaraeroa National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (TAOR).
Dr Liana MacDonald (Ngāti Kuia, Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Ngāti Tama, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga) is the first person to step into the recently created role of Chair in Māori, Moriori and Indigenous Peace Studies.
In this role, she will lead the Centre’s engagement with Indigenous, Māori and Moriori peace practices, bolstering bicultural principles and processes in Aotearoa New Zealand.
This mahi is an essential part of the Centre’s mission agreed between the Aotearoa New Zealand Peace and Conflict Studies Centre Trust and the University of Otago when the Centre was founded in 2009.
Dr MacDonald will also be Co-Director of TAOR alongside Professor Richard Jackson.
Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Blaikie says the University welcomes Dr MacDonald into this important leadership role within Te Ao o Rongomaraeroa and the Division of Humanities.
“Peacebuilding and learning from Indigenous practices sits well with our aspirations as a university, as laid out in Vision 2040, to use our people and knowledge to transform lives and connect communities.
“Dr MacDonald’s leadership and engagement with students, practitioners and policy makers in this important area will enrich our role as critic and conscience of society as well as aligning with our aspiration to be a Te Tiriti led university.”
Dr MacDonald is an Indigenous sociologist, educationalist and interdisciplinary researcher currently working at Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka.
She says she was initially attracted to the position because it places Māori and Indigenous knowledges and perspectives at the centre of teaching and research.
“As I looked further into the role, I saw that much of my own research and writing resonates strongly with Peace and Conflict Studies, including work about settler colonialism, history and racism in Aotearoa and education, and recent community-focused and collaborative research projects with schools, iwi and a local district council.
“On a personal level, I'm looking forward to learning more about my Kāi Tahu whakapapa. He uri ahau nō Ngāti Waewae me Ngāi Tūāhuriri ki te taha o tōku pāpā.”
TAOR is based within Te Kete Aronui Division of Humanities and undertakes multidisciplinary research and teaching in peace and conflict studies. It was founded in 2009 by agreement between the Aotearoa New Zealand Peace and Conflict Studies Centre Trust and the University.
Acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor Humanities Professor Hugh Campbell says he is excited to be welcoming Dr MacDonald to the Division.
“She is ideally placed to both honour the long history of the Centre, and to take it even more deeply into the development, teaching and enacting of peacebuilding and reconciliation practices in Aotearoa New Zealand.”
Dr MacDonald will take up her new role in January 2025.