Four Pasifika students are among the cohort of Fulbright New Zealand scholarship award winners this year.
There are 27 award winners in the class of 2022 and they’ll be honoured at a special ceremony in Wellington on June 27th.
Receiving a Fulbright NZ Scholar Award is Apo Aporosa, from Kirikiriroa, Hamilton. Of Fijian descent, Apo will investigate both the hepatotoxicity linked to kava consumption, and culturally informed therapeutic interventions to reducing PTSD amongst post-combat soldiers at various institutions in Hawai’i.
“Over the moon being selected for this scholarship awards and for bringing the indigenious practices to the forefront of western academia,” he says.
“So grateful for the opportunity to study in Hawai’i and to continue my research demythologizing our indegious practices.”
Apo has a PhD and is a lecturer and researcher at Te Huataki Waiora School of Health and Te Kura Whatu Oho Mauri School of Psychology at Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato – University of Waikato.
The remaining three Pasifika students each receive Fulbright NZ General Graduate Awards. They are:
Dexter Stanley-Tauvao is from Wellington and is of Samoan descent. He will travel to New York City to complete a Master’s Degree in Musical Jazz Studies at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College.
“Winning this Fulbright Award is a pretty big honour I think; it’s a highly-competitive field of graduates who all have amazing stories and backgrounds, so to be included in this kind of group is pretty special,” Dexter says.
“One of my goals out of this Master’s degree is to compose an album of Polynesian Jazz – during my time at Vic, I was lucky to meet and work with Matatumua Dr Opeloge Ah Sam, who has been a mentor and friend of mine since I started studying.”
Dexter graduated with a Bachelors in Music with First Class Honours in 2018, and a BA in German from Te Herenga Waka Victoria University.
Zoë Henry hails from Auckland and is of Maori and Niuean descent. Her family is from Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu and Makefu, Niue.
Zoë is a current PhD student and she will research Indigenous conceptions of punishment at the University of California in Los Angeles towards a PhD at the University of Auckland.
Joseph Xulué is of New Caledonian and Samoan descent. His research will take him to Harvard University, Massachusetts. He will complete a Master of Laws in criminal justice reform for Indigenous peoples’ rights.
Joseph graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws in 2016 from the University of Auckland.
The Fulbright New Zealand Graduate Awards are granted to promising New Zealand graduate students enrolled in postgraduate studies and research in the United States. The Fulbright programme began 1946 dedicated to academic excellence, building connections and fostering relations across borders.
