Weaving New Pacific Futures: Pacific Pathways through Academia

Event Details

Date: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Time: 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Venue: University of Technology Sydney (Great Hall Balcony Room, Tower Building/Building 1 - Level 5)
Travel information: Google Maps: UTS Tower Building

Public Lecture + Panel Talanoa

Join us for a powerful and thought-provoking public lecture featuring two of the Pacific region’s esteemed scholars – Lefaoali’i Associate Professor Dion Enari (Unitec) and Seuta’afili Dr Patrick Thomsen (University of Auckland) – as they explore the challenges, strengths, and future directions of Pacific research in health, wellbeing, and education.

At this special event, you will see and hear them weave personal story, cultural knowledge and academic life. They will showcase through storytelling how their journeys in academia have been shaped by lived experience and personal discovery. In an increasingly transnational Pacific world, their experiences - which span Australia, Samoa, Korea, New Zealand and the United States - reflect how Pacific scholars navigate and transform academic spaces while holding firm to Pacific indigenous ways.

Together, they will present on their lived experiences as Pasifika academics navigating and transforming institutional spaces, while remaining deeply grounded in Indigenous knowledges and cultural worldviews.

The event will conclude with a Talanoa-style panel featuring other Pacific scholars based in Sydney, offering diverse insights from across the region, disciplines, and cultural contexts.

Event Schedule

Time	Session
4:00 PM	Doors open – networking and refreshments provided
4:15 PM	Welcome to Country + Opening Remarks
4:20 PM	Speaker: Lefaoali'i Dr Dion Enari
4:50 PM	Speaker: Seutaʻafili Dr Patrick Thomsen
5:20 PM	Panel Talanoa: "Indigenous Sovereignty in Scholarship" with Litiana Turner, Dr Innez Haua, Christine Afoa, Dr Lefaoali'i Dion Enari, Dr Seutaʻafili Patrick Thomsen
5:50 PM	Audience Q&A
5:55 PM	Closing remarks and thank you
6:00 PM	Event concludes

Special Guests:

Seuta’afili Dr Patrick Thomsen (Samoa – Vaimoso, Vaigaga) is currently a Senior Lecturer (above the bar) in Global Studies and a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medical Health Sciences at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland. Dr. Thomsen focuses on queer Pacific identities, transnationalism, and Indigenous health equity, with particular attention to Pacific Rainbow+ communities through award-winning projects like Manalagi.

He was born and raised in South Auckland, receiving his PhD from the University of Washington-Seattle, MA from Seoul National University and BA in Political Science from the University of Auckland. He was the first Samoan scholar to receive his PhD from the Center for Korea Studies and Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, uniquely, deploying Samoan ways of knowing and being in a Korean queer studies context. He is the Principal Investigator for the award-winning Manalagi Project, New Zealand’s first Pacific Rainbow+ Health and Wellbeing Project funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand. He is also the Queer and LGBT+ Studies Collection Editor and the Pacific Islander Studies Collection Co-editor for Lived Places Publishing. As a well-known social commentator in New Zealand having written for Radio New Zealand, E-Tangata, Newsroom, The Diplomat Magazine among many others.

Lefaoali’i Associate Professor Lefaoali'i Dion Enari (Lepa, Malaela, Vaiala, Safune, Nofoali’i, Vaiusu) sits in Ngā Wai a Te Tūī (Māori and Indigenous Research Centre) and School of Healthcare and Social Practice, Unitec. Dr. Enari is known for his leadership in Indigenous Samoan research, cultural knowledge transmission, and language revitalisation, with contributions across sport, mental health, and decolonial methodology.

He was born Auckland and raised in Brisbane, Australia, receiving his PhD from Bond University, Gold Coast, MA in International Relations and BA from Griffith University. He is the first and only Pacific Associate Professor at Unitec. Lefaoali’i is also the current Sunpix Ministry of Education 2024 Pacific Educator of the year. His research covers Indigenous, Sport and Pacific issues regularly as an author and interviewed on several International and National media platforms including World news, ABC News, ABC Radio, The Guardian, Thomson Reuters Foundation, New Zealand Herald, Radio New Zealand, Samoa Observer, and The Coconet.

Panel Talanoa special guests:

Dr Innez Haua
Lecturer in Indigenous Studies, Macquarie University
A Māori scholar (Ngāti Porou and Ngāi Tāmanuhiri), Dr Haua’s work explores Indigenous diasporas, Māori resettlement in Australia, and cultural sustainabilities and Indigenous raltionalities. Innez is actively involved in initiatives that promote Indigenous perspectives in education.

Litiana Turner
Lecturer in Education, Excelsia University College
Born in Fiji and raised in Australia, Litiana brings over 20 years of experience in education and ministry. She teaches in education and social work, advocates for Pasifika youth, and creates faith-based resources celebrating identity and inclusion.

Christine Afoa
Student Equity Project Officer, UTS Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion
A proud Samoan woman from Western Sydney, Christine leads Pasifika programs at UTS that foster academic success, cultural pride, and belonging. Her work spans mentoring, outreach, and leadership events, advocating for Pacific visibility in education and the arts.

For more information or any questions, please contact UTS Pasifika Programs: pasifika@uts.edu.au

This event is hosted by the University of Technology Sydney and proudly sponsored by UTS Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research and UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion.