Alice Te Punga Somerville
Alice Te Punga Somerville (Te Āti Awa, Taranaki) is a poet, scholar and irredentist. Dr Te Punga Somerville is the author of "Once were Pacific: Māori connections to Oceania" which provides the first critical analysis of the disconnections and connections between 'Māori' and 'Pacific'. Her research work delves into texts by Māori, Pacific and Indigenous peoples that tell Indigenous stories in order to go beyond the constraints of the limited stories told about them. Academic career. Since 2021, Te Punga Somerville is Professor of English and of Critical Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia . From 2017 to 2021, Te Punga Somerville was Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies at University of Waikato. Her previously held academic posts have been Senior Lecturer in the School of English at Victoria University of Wellington (2005 - 2012), Associate Professor Department of English University of Hawai'i at Manoa (2012 - 2015) and Senior Lecturer Department of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University 2015 - 2017. Te Punga Somerville completed a Master of Arts in English at the University of Auckland. She then completed her PhD in English and American Indian Studies at Cornell University in 2004