Stella Coram

I am a New Zealand born Maori living in Melbourne Australia with my Australian husband Shane. I grew up in a small country town in the North Island of New Zealand called Bulls. It was not the done thing for Maori girls, especially, to go to university in the 1970s in my country of origin and did not get there until I entered as a mature-age student in Melbourne in 1987. I liked it so much I kept going until I received my PhD in Education (Monash) in 2004. Following on from this, I did a stint teaching social sciences in the tertiary sector and whilst I enjoyed engaging with students very much I seemed to but heads with the 'system' and took my leave. I am a critical scholar writing from the margins on the changing significance of race and racism within indigenous contexts in sport, education, policy and media. My research for which I am published in peer-reviewed journals as well as in book chapters is driven singularly by social justice. Extinguishing Title (2013) which examines the paradox of cultural relevance to Maori land rights was shortlisted for the Nga Kupu Ora Maori Book Awards in 2015. My latest book Ruff and Ritual: The Politics of Paradise in Papua New Guinea (Green Hill, 2017), which examines the unintended consequences of aid to a developing nation, in this case Papua New Guinea (PNG), draws on my experience as a 'trailing spouse' to Shane who deployed to PNG as an Australian official in 2014. I have other projects on the go including forthcoming research on my extended family's connection to the famous German literary figure Johann von Goethe. I have come to writing unexpectedly and will continue to do until I get it right.