PhD CandidateSupervision: Professor Patrick Vakaoti, Associate Professor Marcelle Dawson
Thesis: Accelerating social work through informal youth engagement
Tahere is from Samoa. She holds a BA in Psychology and Sociology from the University of the South Pacific and a Masters of Social Work from the University of the West Indies. She commenced her PhD in Sociology in 2019 and is a recipient of an Otago Pacific Islands Students Scholarship. Tahere worked as a lecturer at the National University of Samoa and is the Chairwoman of the Pacific Youth Council (PYC). PYC promotes and advocates for the interests of young people in the Pacific region.
Tahere's project seeks to understand the relationship between spirituality and youth advocacy and activism in the Pacific. Academic interest in spirituality has extended beyond religion and theology over the past three decades. Youth development research and work have become part of this shift. However, little is known about these developments amongst young Pacific activists engaged in diverse thematic areas which include but are not limited to climate change, gender equality and human rights. This project seeks to understand the young Pacific participant's perceptions of spirituality and the relationship between this and their youth advocacy and activist work.