12. Talanoa with Dr. T
In this three part series of celebrating Pacific Island women for their work as leaders in research and storytelling as part of the international women’s day, we had the privilege to speak to our second guest, Dr. Tarisi Sorovi-Vunidilo. Dr. Vunidilo is a renowned indigenous Fijian archaeologist, Fiji language expert, and cultural holder. She is also an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo, where she teaches courses in indigenous museology and heritage management.
In this segment, Vunidilo unpacked her love for story-telling, and her work as an indigenous archaeologist. She uses her platform to inspire her students about the history of places, artifacts, and indigenous people. She considers herself privileged to be an indigenous person, and sees her role as a bridge between western science and indigenous people of the Pacific as well as her own indigenous Fijan people - iTaukei (literally meaning ‘owner's of the land and resources in Fiji)
When she is not teaching in her classroom, you are sure to find her on her popular weekly platform sessions on Facebook, YouTube, and instagram called ‘Talanoa with Dr. T’ where she co-hosts with her husband to share tutorials on Fijian language and heritage - that includes Fijian archaeology, anthropology and museology. The weekly Talanoa with Dr. T is an online platform for learning and the content ranging from teaching the Fijian language, to the history of Lapita pottery and Fijan mat weaving.
Her popular online classes have grown from just tutorials for Fijian children around the world to an additional segment where she invites individual Fijians living around the world to come on her show to share their stories in order to create a place to bring everyone together.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnLmUHiHb2i-2fCcvX6Ff6Q
https://www.facebook.com/talanoawithdrt