S. 'APO' APOROSA (PhD)
Senior Lecturer (University of Waikato)
Contract Researcher
Development Practitioner
Research for Development
Experience
Contract Research
Aporosa was a research contract at the Waikato-Tainui College for Research and Development between 2013-15. Projects included a tribal education scan which highlighted the importance of cultural connectedness and identity to increased notions of wellbeing, health and academic achievement; literature reviews on the link between cultural connectedness and identity to enhanced notions of wellbeing and health to support findings within a Health Research Council (HRC) funded Ngā Kanohi Kitea project – He Whakaoranga (HRC Ref# 12/045); and the supervision of 18 undergraduate and postgraduate summer interns. That supervision provided guidance on 13 iwi-focused development projects spanning a wide variety of subjects strongly linked to identity and ethnicity, wellbeing and health, social political and economic organisation, death and death ritual, national, local and indigenous policy concerning Māori homelessness, media perceptions of Māori homelessness, gender, Māori livelihoods and contemporary employment challenges, Māori culture and contemporary urban design, Māori versus Western leadership styles, te awa (spiritual aspects) and the development of a taonga artefacts strategy.
In that role, Aporosa also developed on an area of the He Whakaoranga project and subsequetly applied for funding. This was conceived and driven solely by Aporosa and was awarded a HRC Ngā Kanohi Kitea (NKK) Development Grant (HRC Ref# 15/563, valued at $10,000) and subsequent HRC NKK Full Grant (HRC Ref# 15/643, valued at $233,254). That project, undertaken by the Waikato-Tainui College for Research and Development, investigated rangatahi (Māori youth) identity, empowerment, wellbeing and health gains from traditional knowledge involvement.
2010 - present
2010 - present
Practical Development (Research for Development)
Aporosa’s introduction to community development was over a 15 year period (1985-2000) in which he worked with a number of Pacific and Māori communities within Aotearoa New Zealand. Since this time he has spent lengthy periods living and working in several villages and schools in rural Fiji (where he is maternally related) assisting local communities in development (building and water) projects, primary health care and as a geography teacher (year 10 and 11 students). Aporosa was awarded the 2002 Commonwealth Youth Program Regional Services Award for his leadership of a Fijian based cross-cultural project. He was frequently called upon to advise Fijian Government projects or policy matters. His lack of theoretical understanding and in turn, not being able to explain analytically why or how situations existed or could be changed, motivated him to undertake tertiary level Development Studies.
Professional Memberships / Governance
(from to present. Underline = URL where available)
2021 Pacific Strategic Committee, University of Waikato – Co-opted member
2020 University of Waikato PBRF Review Committee – Pacific advisor
2020 Te Huataki Waiora School of Health Strategy Group 4 (Academic
Endeavours) – Co-Chair
2020 University of Waikato Research Committee – Pacific advisor
2020 Kupuna Pacific University of Waikato (Pacific Senior Leadership Team)
2019 New Zealand Health Research Council Award Assessment Team
2017 The British Association for Psychopharmacology.
2008 Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania.
2009 Pasifika@Massey: Massey University Pasifika Academic Collective.
2013 Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa/New Zealand.
2013 The University of Waikato Pasifika postgraduate writers group.
2014 Australia Kava Movement.
2014 The University of Waikato Fijian Student Association – advisor.
2014 Lo’au University, Tonga – Research Associate.
2015 Impact Research New Zealand – Research Associate.
2017 The British Association for Psychopharmacology – member.
For more on Aporosa's experience, click the 'Linked in' link.