Tuesday, June 20, 2023

10:00-11:00 AM

PSB-240 + Zoom Registration (PDF poster)

Globally, the value of indigenous knowledge and world views are increasingly being recognised, as the limitations of ‘Western’ science are being realised. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, mātauranga Māori – the traditional knowledge system of indigenous Māori peoples – and associated tikanga Māori (ethics), is being incorporated into undergraduate and graduate degree programmes at the University of Otago such as Genetics, Agricultural Innovation, Statistics, Data Science and Bioethics. This is being driven by a range of factors including renaissance of Māori culture, tribally-based litigation settlements with the NZ government of historical grievances arising from colonisation, a steadily growing Māori population, more inclusive research policies aimed at reducing health and socio-economic inequities, as well as a growing Māori economic asset base – primarily in primary and tourism sectors – estimated to be $NZ 50-70 Billion.

In this seminar I will provide an overview of the content I (co)teach in the aforementioned degree programmes, along with learning outcomes associated with individual courses and the requisite graduate competencies in their respective degree programmes. I will also provide descriptions of teaching techniques such as ‘flipped classes’ where students are asked to evaluate research proposals from the perspectives of indigenous communities using knowledge of tikanga Māori, along with previously published guidelines for appropriate engagement with Māori communities. Although this content has only been introduced over the past 3-4 years, we expect graduates will not only be better equipped to interact with indigenous communities, they will also have a more holistic understanding of the broader issues associated with the scientific knowledge and skills they have acquired.

Dr Phillip Wilcox Māori tribal affiliations are Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa, and Rongomaiwahine. He is an Associate Professor in the University of Otago’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, with experience in applied genomics and statistical genetics. He is also an Affiliate of the University of Otago’s Bioethics Centre and is the current convenor of MapNet, a NZ-wide collective of gene mapping scientists, and led the Virtual Institute for Statistical Genetics from 2008 to 2013.

For almost 20 years, Wilcox has worked in the interface of genetic sciences and te ao Māori (the Māori world), and co-leads two genomics-based projects focussing on Māori health. He also spent almost 10 years as technical advisor to his iwi, Ngāti Rakaipaaka, regarding the Rakaipaaka Health and Ancestry Study. A/Prof Wilcox has also worked on genetics of plant species (particularly forest trees) and human diseases. He teaches tikanga (Māori bioethics)-based frameworks in science courses at both graduate and undergraduate levels, as well as statistics and quantitative genetics, and teaches genetics-related content to pre-NCEA high school students in marae-based learning environments in the University of Otago’s Science Wānanga initiative. He co-initiated the Summer Internship of iNdigenous peoples in Genomics (SING) Aotearoa, and until recently was a member of the Health Research Council of New Zealand’s Ethics Committee which oversees all of NZ’s institutional and regional ethics committees.

Co-sponsored by The Genomics Institute and Baskin Engineering.