BCA, BAHons(VUW), MA(Auckland), PhD(VUW)
Contact
Office R4S7 Richardson Building, South Tower
Tel +64 3 479 8301
Email emma.powell@otago.ac.nz
Research
Emma has completed research on Pacific anglophone literatures, mostly in the Polynesian region and more specifically on writing and cultural traditions of the Cook Islands and the Eastern Pacific. She has written about the influence of Cook Islands Māori writers in her graduate research and was a researcher on Associate Professor Alice Te Punga Somerville's Marsden Project Writing the New World (2020). She published parts of her research in this area in Mana: 50 years of Cook Islands creative writing (2018).
Emma's doctoral work in Pacific Studies explored the genealogical practices of Cook Islands Māori people. She took a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to that study and argued for the ways genealogical praxes can help shape indigenous historiography, and notions of nationhood and futurity.
Her current research work focuses on the political, social, cultural and genealogical imbrications of New Zealand's imperial Realm. She also undertakes oral history work with the various communities that she belongs to. Her latest project with Dr Jess Pasisi (Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka), Dr Melanie Bean (University of Utah), and Dr Eilorah Malifa documents and records the stories of Pacific Women ECRs in Aotearoa New Zealand which will be available on podcast platforms later in 2024.
Emma is also co-director of the Pacific Thought Network (PacTNet) where she leads projects that amplify, extend and support Pacific research discourses at the University of Otago.
Teaching
- INDS 210 Special Topic: Exploring Indigenous Studies
- INGS 501 Indigenous Theory and Method
- INDV 301 Māori and Indigenous Development
Dr Powell is currently the programme co-ordinator for the Master of Indigenous Studies programme.
Supervision
I am happy to supervise projects in the following areas: Pacific literature; Pacific Studies; history, culture and languages of the Cook Islands; Indigenous Studies, Indigenous governance and ethics; Indigenous methodologies; Indigenous archives; oral histories; New Zealand imperialism; citizenship and nationhood in the Pacific; the New Zealand Realm; diaspora studies in the Pacific region; and other related subject areas.
Current
- Marino-o-te-au Wichman, MIndS, (TBC)
- Stacey Kokaua-Balfour, PhD, Reading ‘Enua in Indigenous Literature: Towards a (Cook Islands) Māori literary ecocriticism
- Kristy Walker, MIndS, Pacific pedagogies: An autoethnography
- James Uri-Puati, MIndS, Navigating a Return to Avaiki – Te tanga o ōku tūpuna
- Inano Walter, PhD, Va’ine Piri’anga, Va’ine ‘Enua, Va’ine Ora’anga, Va’ine Piri’anga: The Land that Connects us
- Jay Quintos, PhD, The Presence of Absence: The Material History of the Cinema on the Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao and Sulu
- Waata Papaalii-Smith, MIndS, Power, People & Plant Pathogens: An historical examination of plant biosecurity risk and its impact on Māori communities
Submissions
- Ieishah Clelland-Lange, MIndS, All the Children are Indigenous (2024)
Funding
- 2023: University of Otago Prestigious Writing Grant for manuscript, ‘‘Akapapa‘anga ara tangata: Genealogies and the Cook Islands Māori Imaginary’
- 2023: University of Otago Research Grant for ‘The New Zealand Realm: Indigenous archives and critical discussions with Niue, Tokelau, and the Cook Islands’ with Dr Jess Pasisi
- 2023: Advancing Research Collaboration Grant, Pacific Academic Staff Caucus for ‘Early Career Pacific Women in the Academy: A Podcast’
- 2020: Victoria University of Wellington Joint Research Committee, Research Grant
- 2019: Polynesian Society Inc, Bruce Grandison Biggs Grant
- 2019: Victoria University of Wellington Joint Research Committee, Research Grant
Publications
Powell, E. (2023). Objects and material culture in memory: Coils inside coils. Oral History in New Zealand, 35, 44-45. [Commentary]. Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
Powell, E. N., & Hogue, R. H. (2023). (Post)colonial Indigenous Anglophone fiction of the Pacific Islands. In D. S. Lynch (Ed.), Oxford research encyclopedia of literature. (Online ed.) Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.1377 Chapter in Book - Research
Powell, E. (2023, July). These changing years: Imagining the Cook Islands. Verbal presentation at the 5th Pacific Islands Universities Research Network (PIURN) Conference, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Powell, E., Walter, I., & Kokaua, S. (2023, July). Kite pakari ē te ‘uki ‘ou: Cook Islands Māori knowledge making and the next generation. Verbal presentation at the 5th Pacific Islands Universities Research Network (PIURN) Conference, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Powell, E. N. (2023). Tei te akau roa: An ocean of metaphor in Pacific research methodologies. Waka Kuaka/Journal of the Polynesian Society, 132(1-2), 41-55. doi: 10.15286/jps.132.1-2.41-56 Journal - Research Article