Manu narratives of Polynesia
Raphael submitting his thesis in April.
Te Tumu would like to congratulate Raphael Richter-Gravier, one of our stellar postgraduate students, for having completed all the post-examination formalities for his PhD on “Manu narratives of Polynesia: a comparative study of birds in 300 traditional Polynesian stories“.
Raphael was supervised by Professor Michael Reilly and Dr Michelle Schaaf from Te Tumu, and through a co-tutelle arrangement, also by Professor Bruno Saura from the University of French Polynesia. Raphael’s research is comprehensive and in-depth, looking at a wide range of bird stories on a number of themes from all around Polynesia, including Aotearoa.
If you are interested in delving into some of the stories, or reading Raphael’s thesis in its entirity, it is now available online on the university’s OUR Archive. Click here to access it.
Raphael will be graduating in December, and is planning to publish from his research.
Latest PhD submission
Raphael Richter-Gravier submitting his thesis for examination.
Te Tumu is proud to announce the latest PhD submissions by one of our students, Raphael Richter-Gravier, entitled “Manu narratives of Polynesia: a comparative study of birds in 300 traditional Polynesian stories”.
Raphael came to Otago in 2012, having previously studied history in his native France, to pursue a Diploma for Graduates in Japanese and Māori Studies. He was a top student in his reo papers; that he has always achieved the highest grades in all his papers shows his amazing work ethic and flair for languages. He started his PhD in 2016 on bird narratives, with Professor Michael Reilly and Dr Michelle Schaaf of Te Tumu as supervisors. Raphael’s thesis was completed as a “co-tutelle” from both Otago and l’Université de la Polynésie française. Raphael’s other supervisor was Professor Bruno Saura, an expert on Polynesian culture at UPF.
Koia, koia, e hoa. We look forward to your graduation.
