Women's Studies Association (NZ)/Pae Akoranga Wāhine

As part of the closing down process of WSA(NZ) an oral history project was undertaken to preserve memories of our fabulous Association, which came into being fifty years ago as part of 'second wave feminism'. We expect the project to be of continuing interest to feminist scholars, historians, and students. Nicky Newton was commissioned to manage the project, aided by Hilary Lapsley from the Association. An Oversight Group consisted of historians Keri Mills and Charlotte Greenhalgh.

Our project was also informed by Nicky Newton's experience on the Global Feminisms project. There was also an earlier oral history project of members by Jill Abigail in the late 1990s, which are lodged in the National Library. Our aim was to document the intervening years since those interviews, as well as to add further narratives and lived experiences of some of the key players.

Advice was taken from the National Library and the National Oral History Association of New Zealand (NOHANZ). The interviews on Zoom video and audio will be placed within the Oral History and Sound Collection of the Alexander Turnbull Library, along with transcripts and consent forms. The 12 participants also consented to their interviews being placed on this website, where they are accessible to a wider audience. The interviews give a vivid picture of the experiences with the Association and the wider women's studies and feminist communities over the last decades, including inspiring moments and challenges.

The Oral Histories

Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Tūhoe, Ngāpuhi, Waikato) was the first wahine Māori to earn a PhD in a New Zealand university. She has made many contributions to women's studies and lesbian studies, including her 1991 book Mana Wahine Māori. She was Māreikura/Patron of the Women's Studies Association and gifted it the name Pae Akoranga Wāhine. An Emeritus Professor, she has worked in the heritage and university sectors, is a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, a Companion of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and a Fellow of the Auckland War Memorial Museum. She has returned to the pā and serves on the Paepae Tapu o Ngāti Whakaue.

Phillida Bunkle, educated in England and the United States, was a founder of the Women's Studies programme at Victoria University, where she taught for many years. She was involved in the Women's Studies Association from its early years. Her interest in women's health led to the exposure, with Sandra Coney, of the Unfortunate Experiment at National Women's Hospital on women with cervical cancer, resulting in the Cartwright Inquiry. She was Member of Parliament from 1996 to 2002. She has continued to write on women's studies topics.

Rosemary du Plessis, born in South Africa, began lecturing in sociology at the University of Canterbury in 1974, taught some of the first gender studies courses in New Zealand and co-established a Feminist Studies programme. Her research has focused on gender, family, paid and unpaid work, new technologies and women's stories of the Canterbury earthquakes. She has held various roles on committees and boards, including the Women's Studies Association, New Horizons for Women and the National Council for Women and is an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Anne Else is a writer and editor. She was co-founder of Broadsheet, New Zealand's feminist magazine, has a PhD in gender studies from Victoria University of Wellington, and was editor of the Women's Studies Journal from 1988 to 1991. She has published books and articles on many topics relating to women's studies, notably on adoption, donor conception, state care and surrogacy, women's organisations, women's writing and literature, paid and unpaid work, ageing, and food.

Prue Hyman, a graduate of Oxford University, taught Economics and Women's Studies at Victoria University of Wellington for many years. She has published widely in the field of feminist economics, and has campaigned actively on a number of issues, particularly on women's rights, lesbian issues and equal pay and pay equity. Prue was convenor of the Women's Studies Association from 2000 to 2010.

Lorna Kanavatoa is of Te Atiawa, Ngāti Kahungunu, Niue and Papua New Guinea heritage and is mana whenua in the Wellington region. She taught courses on Māori women for Women's Studies at Victoria University and has been closely involved in community development work.

Hilary Lapsley, a psychology researcher, was an early member of the Association's national committee and was later convenor from 2014 to 2018. Hilary has published in the areas of women's mental health, lifecourse studies, ageing research and bicultural research. She taught Women's Studies at the University of Waikato from 1989 to 2000.

Kay Morris Matthews began her academic career in women's studies at University of Waikato as a younger colleague of Jane Ritchie and Rosemary Seymour. She lectured in Education at the University of Auckland, and then joined the Women's Studies programme at Victoria University of Wellington as an Associate Professor. She is now an emeritus professor of the Eastern Institute of Technology in Hawke's Bay. Published widely in education and women's studies, her most project has been a book and museum exhibition, Hidden in History: Trailblazing Women of Hawke's Bay.

Claire-Louise McCurdy taught women's studies courses in the community from the mid-1970s, beginning with the Auckland Workers' Educational Association. She was also involved in pioneering courses and written materials for tutors of Women's Studies, as well as serving on the collective for Broadsheet, New Zealand's feminist magazine. She was involved in running the national Women's Studies Association from 1979 until 1999, as well as serving as President of the Federation of Workers' Educational Associations 1997-2004. She is now secretary of the Labour History Project.

Aorewa McLeod, a graduate of Oxford University, taught in the English department at the University of Auckland for 37 years. She pioneered courses on women writers that became very popular. She was involved in Auckland Women's Studies Association from the earliest times and later the national association. After her retirement, Aorewa undertook an MA in creative writing at Victoria University of Wellington and produced a fictionalised autobiography, Who Was That Woman Anyway, exploring the lesbian and feminist worlds of her experience.

Pōwhiri Wharemarama Rika-Heke (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kahu, Te Aupōuri) has been involved in the Women's Studies Association/Pae Akoranga Wāhine since its early days. A trained social worker and teacher, in 1988, she became Private Secretary to the Ministry of Women's Affairs, and then was in policy roles in government before taking up academic appointments at universities in New Zealand and Germany, where she completed a PhD. She has specialised in commentary on Māori women writers.

Rachel Simon-Kumar is a Professor in the School of Population Health and Co-Director of the Centre for Asian and Ethnic Minority Health Research and Evaluation (CAHRE) at the University of Auckland. She came to New Zealand from Kerala, India to study for a PhD with the Women's Studies Department, University of Waikato. While at Waikato she was a member of the Women's Studies Journal collective. Her feminist research interests include ethnic women, development studies, social policy and women's political representation.

19 May 2026