International Centre for Language Revitalisation

Staff

Dr Tania Ka‘ai - Director

Dr Tania Ka‘ai is Professor in Māori Innovation and Development, in Te Ara Poutama, Faculty of Māori Development. She is of Te Whānau a Ruataupare o Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Wheke o Ngāi Tahu, Hawaiian descent. Dr Ka‘ai is an alumni of Waikato, Auckland and Harvard Universities. She has worked in tertiary education for 21 years; 12 of these in university education as a Professor. She joined Te Ara Poutama in July 2007 and was appointed Director of Te Ipukarea – the National Māori Language Institute in July 2008 and Director, International Centre of Language Revitalisation in 2011.

Dr John Moorfield - Professor

Dr Moorfield has been Professor in Māori Innovation and Development at Te Ara Poutama, the Faculty of Māori Development since July 2007. He is a specialist in Māori language, literature and culture, including teaching Māori as a second language. Included in his publications are a series of four graduated textbooks and resources, called Te Whanake, for teaching Māori to teenagers and adults. Most of the resources are now available online and include a dictionary, podcasts, and online assessment.

Tania Smith – Executive Assistant and Programme Administrator

Tania is from the Ngāti Ranginui tribe in the Bay of Plenty and also Waikato. She is employed part-time as the Executive Assistant for Te Ipukarea and the International Centre for Language Revitalisation where she manages the administrative requirements for Te Ipukarea and the Centre. Tania is also a part-time Programme Administrator: Postgraduate for Te Ara Poutama. She brings a wealth of tertiary institutional knowledge to AUT having spent seventeen years in administration at tertiary institutions. Tania completed a Master of Professional Business Studies endorsed in Māori Development in 2010 and a Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching in June of this year. She is currently completing her proposal for a Master of Philosophy.

Elisa Duder – Research Fellow

Elisa is a second language learner of the Māori language. When her son was very young she decided his first language was to be Māori and through her son has seen the commitment language revitalisation efforts require of families and communities. Her research interests are the use of digital technologies in the second language teaching and learning of te reo Māori, the role of second language learners in language revitalisation and how Pākehā, or non-Māori, contribute to research in Māori contexts.

Dr Rachael Ka‘ai-Mahuta – Associate Director/Senior Lecturer

Dr Ka‘ai-Mahuta is of Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu and Native Hawaiian descent. She also has connections to other areas of the Pacific. Her doctoral thesis explored the role of Māori songs as political commentaries and archives of Māori political history. Dr Ka‘ai-Mahuta is a graduate of Māori language immersion schooling. She wrote her Master of Arts thesis entirely in the Māori language. Dr Ka‘ai-Mahuta is now a senior lecturer in Te Ara Poutama and an associate director for the International Centre for Language Revitalisation. Her research interests are in indigenous politics, Māori performing arts and Māori language.

Dr Dean Mahuta – Senior Lecturer

Dr Mahuta is from the Waikato Tribe on the northern banks of the Waikato River in the North Island of New Zealand. His doctoral thesis focused on the identity connections of the Waikato people and the Waikato river. His thesis was written completely in the Māori language. Dr Mahuta was the first person to complete his PhD in Māori at AUT and he is also a graduate of Kura Kaupapa and Wharekura, which are the Māori language immersion schools in Aotearoa/New Zealand. He is also one of the first three graduates of Māori immersion schools to be awarded with his doctorate. Dr Mahuta is now a senior lecturer in Te Ara Poutama and an associate director of Te Ipukarea, National Māori Language Institute. His research interests are in the representation of Māori language and culture in digital spaces, particular those areas regarding digital gaming and technology.