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Snita Ahir-Knight imageLecturer (Programme Lead)

Contact details

Email: snita.ahir-knight@otago.ac.nz

Research interests and activities

Snita (she/her) is the Programme Lead for the lived experience education and research programme World of Difference | He Ao Whakatoihara kore within the Department of Psychological Medicine. She was previously a visiting research scholar in philosophy and a teaching fellow in ethics at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington.

Find out more about World of Difference | He Ao Whakatoihara kore

She received a Degree in Social Work from Oxford Brookes University, a Master’s degree in Philosophy from the University of London, and a PhD in Philosophy from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington.

Her PhD thesis can be viewed via the Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington Open Access website

Snita is a trained child and adolescent therapist, and social worker. She has more than 15 years’ experience working in the not-for-profit, community, and mental health sectors in New Zealand and the UK.

Her main lens is philosophy; however, her not-for-profit, community, and mental health work background alongside her lived experience are important components of how she approaches her teaching and research.

Snita's research interests include mental disorder, health, children, youth and the parenting relationship.

You are welcome to contact her with collaborative opportunities, community partnership ideas, media enquiries and postgraduate supervision requests.

Snita is currently co-guest editing a Special Issue for the journal Higher Education Research & Development on the benefits and challenges of integrating lived experience in higher education teaching.

View the call for papers, closing 25 April 2025

Publications

Ahir-Knight, S. (2025, March). Breaking the silence: Opening up about lived experience. Changing Minds Stories. Retrieved from https://www.changingminds.org.nz/stories Other Research Output

Ahir-Knight, S. (2025). A welfare-based approach to accessing mental health services. Ethics, Medicine & Public Health, 33, 101086. doi: 10.1016/j.jemep.2025.101086 Journal - Research Article

Ahir-Knight, S. (2024, December). Under what criteria should a person be offered access to mental health services? Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Association of Philosophers (NZAP) Conference, Dunedin, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Ahir-Knight, S. (2024). Mental disorder-related stigma: A lived experience lens. Journal of Global Ethics. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/17449626.2024.2419581 Journal - Research Other

Ahir-Knight, S. (2024). Effective diabetes care transcends technology. Newsroom, (9 October). Retrieved from https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/10/09/effective-diabetes-care-transcends-technology Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles

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