Professor Dr Katerina Teaiwa receives top honour from Universities in Australia
The Pacific Cooperation Foundation celebrates the achievement of former trustee Professor Dr Katerina Teaiwa on being named the 2021 Australian University Teacher of the Year.
Professor in the School of Culture, History & Language at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra was awarded this recognition for her visionary approach to teaching and mentoring students in Pacific studies.
Of Banaban, I-Kiribati and African American descent, she has taught Pacific studies for over twenty years. She was the first indigenous female from the Pacific region to become a professor at ANU last year.
Her teaching methods are creative, unique and meaningful, and include experiences such as embarking on a metaphorical voyage in a canoe to gain a sense of the Pacific's vast and diverse social and cultural dimensions.
However, Dr Teaiwa says while metaphoric canoes and embodied teaching and learning are highly compelling for students, nothing beats travelling to the Pacific.
“We continually partner with universities, colleges, arts councils, non-governmental or intergovernmental organisations and communities in the Pacific and provide opportunities for students to represent the best of Australia while listening to and learning from Pacific peoples”
She says she is thrilled to receive an award that recognises her teaching contribution at ANU.