Learn from the best
Professor Brendan Hokowhitu
Ngāti Pūkenga
Before returning to Aotearoa in 2016 Professor Brendan Hokowhitu was the Dean of the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta, Canada. Now, he is the Dean of the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies - Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao.
Professor Hokowhitu is passionate about the autonomy of Indigenous Studies in the academy. His leadership also saw a successful bid to host the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) Conference at Waikato. This was not only the first time the conference had been held outside of America and Canada but also the most successful in NAISA history. Our students had access to the leading international scholars in Indigenous studies.
About
Under Professor Hokowhitu's leadership, the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies has refocussed its academic offerings to provide global leadership on Indigenous Issues. He identified the need for Indigenous learnings to extend into all areas of the workforce and was instrumental in improving the accessibility of basic tikanga knowledges to mainstream audiences.
Quirky Fact
Brendan is a huge Liverpool Football Club supporter and has been since he was 5 years old, when he travelled to England with his whānau because his parents took up exchange teacher roles in a town called Luton. His father, Eddie, wouldn't fly so the whānau travelled on a Greek Liner for a month to get to England. Liverpool haven't won the Premier League title for 30 years and so Brendan is hoping that the long title drought ends soon!
Honours
- Fellow of Te Apārangi, The Royal Society of New Zealand
- President Elect, Native and American Indigenous Studies Association
Appointments and Positions
Professor Hokowhitu has influenced policy and practice both here in New Zealand and abroad with a number of different roles. These positions include:
- Previous Dean, Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta 2012-201
- Chairperson, Māori Academic Board of Studies, University of Waikato
- Royal Society of New Zealand, James Cook Research Fellowship - Social Sciences Assessment Panelist
Featured Publications
Professor Hokowhitu's research publications focus on Indigenous Critical Theory; Indigenous and Māori Masculinities; Indigenous and Māori Media; Māori Sport and Physical Activity. A selection of his published works are:
- Hokowhitu (2019). ‘Un-charting the course: Critical indigenous research into Sport, Health and Physical Education’. In Richard Pringle, Håkan Larsson, and Göran Gerdin (Eds.), Critical Research in Sport, Health and Physical Education: How to Make a Difference. Routledge: New York, pp. 228-240.
- Hokowhitu, B. (2017). ‘History and Masculinity’. In Jeani O’Brien and Chris Andersen (eds.), Sources and Methods in Indigenous Studies (Series: Routledge Guides to Historical Sources). New York, London: Routledge.
- Hokowhitu, B. (2016). ‘Monster’. In Aileen Moreton-Robinson (ed.), Critical Indigenous Studies: Engagement in First World Locations. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
- Hokowhitu, B. (2016). ‘Indigenous Bodies, Ordinary Lives.’ In Dan Robinson & Lynn Randall (eds.), Social Justice in Physical Education: Critical Reflections and Pedagogies for Change. Toronto: Canadian Scholar’s Press, pp. 164-182.
- Hokowhitu, B. (2015). ‘Taxonomies of Indigeneity: Indigenous Heterosexual Patriarchal Masculinity.’ In Rob Innes & Kim Anderson (eds.), Indigenous Men and Masculinities: Identities, Legacies, Regeneration. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, pp. 80-95.
Books:
Hokowhitu, B., Kermoal, N., Andersen, C., Reilly, M., Rewi, P. & Petersen, A. (eds.) (2010). Indigenous Identity and Resistance: Researching the Diversity of Knowledge. Dunedin: University of Otago Press.
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Publications
Take the opportunity to learn from the best. Professor Hokowhitu teaches the following papers within the Faculty of Māori & Indigenous Studies:
MAORI303 - Indigenous Critical Theory
This paper looks at the key theoretical influences, from Marxism to post-structuralism, upon critical Indigenous studies and the most significant writings by those Indigenous scholars who have chosen to engage with critical theory.
Contact details & media tools
Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao
Professor Brendan Hokowhitu
[email protected]
+64 7 8384977
For all media enquiries please contact:
Ngāwai Smith
[email protected]
+64 22 427 5433
Photos available for download:
