Successful celebration of 50 years of anthropology at Victoria University of Wellington

VUW's Eli Elinoff shares a brief summary of last week's events.

Last week the Cultural Anthropology programme at Victoria University of Wellington celebrated its 50th Anniversary. In honour of the milestone, we organized an event highlighting the history of anthropology at Victoria, exploring the changing face of the discipline in New Zealand, and speculating about the futures of anthropological knowledge.

The celebration began on May 10th with a Pōwhiri and Marae Kōrero at the meetinghouse on Te Tumu Herenga Waka Marae on VUW's Kelburn campus. We discussed the origins of the cultural anthropology programme with two of its founding members, Dame Dr. Joan Metge and Bernie Kernot.

Dame Dr. Joan Metge (standing) during the marae kōrero at Te Tumu Herenga Waka. Bernie Kernott is seated to the left, and Te Range Hīroa is to the far left.

May 11th began with a keynote address by Dr. Michael Jackson, programme alumni and Distinguished Professor of World Religions at Harvard University. Next, we had two panel discussions from anthropologists across New Zealand. Finally, Professor Dame Anne Salmond from the University of Auckland delivered a second public keynote.

On May 12th, the events concluded with a morning symposium featuring the work of current post-graduates and programme alumni.

Success for NZ-based anthropologists in the 2016 Marsden Fund

Four New Zealand-based anthropologists have had success in the 2016 Marsden Fund awards. Our congratulations go to:

Professor Thegn Ladefoged from Anthropology at the University of Auckland, who received a Marsden grant of $705,000 for his project The making of Māori society: An archaeological analysis of social networks and geo-political interaction.

Associate Professor Jeff Sissons from Cultural Anthropology at Victoria University of Wellington, who received a Marsden grant of $390,000 for his project The mysterious disappearance of tūāhu.

Dr Phyllis Herda from Anthropology at the University of Auckland, who received a Marsden grant of $530,000 for the project Ancient Futures: Late 18th and early 19th century Tongan arts and their legacies.

Dr Lorena Gibson from Cultural Anthropology at Victoria University of Wellington, who received a Marsden Fast Start grant of $300,000 for her project East Side Orchestras: Music, poverty, and social change.

The Marsden Fund was established by the government in 1994 to fund excellent fundamental research. It is a contestable fund administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand on behalf of the Marsden Fund Council.

Marsden Fund research benefits society as a whole by contributing to the development of researchers with knowledge, skills and ideas. The Fund supports research excellence in science, engineering and maths, social sciences and the humanities. Competition for grants is intense. Marsden is regarded as the hallmark of excellence for research in New Zealand.