Doctoral students

Carolina Castro Conrado

Research: Carolina's research investigates, Young Colombian Refugees in Aotearoa New Zealand:  Social Capital and Integration. The qualitative case study research explores the ways in which the different typologies of social capital (bonding, bridging, and linking) contribute to the resettlement experiences of young adult Colombian refugees living in Hamilton, New Zealand. I also look at its role in facilitating access to the Colombian  community as a researcher to highlight the associated theoretical, pragmatic and methodological extensions.

Alexandra Pennycuick

Research: Alex’s doctoral research investigates the experience of refugee-background students in New Zealand Higher Education. The project aims to consider how the digital learning environment impacts a refugee-background student's ability to access learning, and their sense of community, cohesion and belonging in their new academic home.

Bilal Nasier

Research: The terrorist attacks at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre on the 15th of March, 2019 resulted in the deaths of 51 Muslim worshippers, with numerous others sustaining injuries. This doctoral project will set out to explore Muslim youth's experiences of, and responses to, the attacks. 

Seunghee Pak 

Research: Everyday language practices of Syrian refugee-background youth in New Zealand. My PhD research is an ethnographic study with six Syrian refugee background youth who are in secondary schools in New Zealand. The focus is on how learners reposition themselves in New Zealand society, the access they have to different social, cultural and economic resources, and their language learning experiences.

Bernard Sama

Research: Bernard's thesis explores the New Zealand Refugee Status Determination process from a therapeutic jurisprudence perspective, that is, it examines how the process could be made better and safer for asylum seekers and the professionals who work with them. I am interested in research that focuses on refugee livelihoods and social inclusion; and on the improvement of laws, policies, and administrative processes from a therapeutic perspective.