WSBG congratulates Dr Jesse Pirini on Fulbright Scholar Award
One of the recipients of this year’s Fulbright New Zealand Scholar Awards is Dr Jesse Pirini, Co-Director of The Atom Innovation Space and a Senior Lecturer in Management here at the Wellington School of Business and Government.
Dr Pirini’s research project seeks to develop a model for visualising Indigenous knowledge pertaining to management and organisation. Building on earlier work, his study aims to bridge traditional knowledge systems with contemporary visualisation techniques.
He will be visiting the Amherst and Boston campuses at the University of Massachusetts (UMass), and says much of the excitement is in immersing himself in a different culture. He is excited about linking up with the wider scholarly community in Boston.
Dr Pirini has not visited UMass previously but knows that the Boston campus has a great Organisations and Social Change group, and is the home of the Institute for New England Native American Studies. UMass Amherst also houses the just recently established Centre of Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science. The focus there is on connecting Indigenous knowledges with mainstream science to create new ways to address the most pressing issues of our times.
Hard not to be stimulated in these surrounds. Dr Pirini’s hope is to build connections that will inform his visualisation project and “see how other Indigenous cultures are working with business data in ways that ensure they have an Indigenous worldview embedded in the visualisation.”
The research aspires to foster cultural inclusivity, inform policy, and contribute to a more holistic appreciation of diverse perspectives on business and organisation.
Dr Pirini works with the charitable trust board, Te Matarau a Māui, and is hopeful the project will help in evaluating their economic development around activities, primarily by visualising the impacts they have in the Māori business ecosystem.
He is hugely honoured to be part of the Fulbright community, and says he has already met many past and current Fulbright recipients.
“It’s really special to be part of such a large global community of scholars.”
Dr Pirini says he is “always happy to inject a bit of Kiwi into any research space”, but is also enjoying the influence others are having on his ideas, and is excited at the thought that this work could make a serious contribution to spaces like Te Matarau a Māui, increasing chance for people to move beyond the opportunities afforded in working locally, and to possibly connect on a more international level.
The most difficult part of the application process was actually not telling anyone the news. (“It’s been a long wait!”) Dr Pirini was not allowed to tell anyone until the official announcement was released, and says the lengthy application process is due to invitations from various American universities, meaning time is needed to build relationships and prove your worth as a visiting scholar. He is grateful for connections via his Te Herenga Waka―Victoria University of Wellington colleagues.
Dr Pirini will travel to Boston for five months, from late July until December. His partner and two children will be joining him, and he says they’re all looking forward to trying different foods and attending some sports, cultural, and community events. “And the kids cannot wait to watch TV on the plane for 12 hours straight.” The family dog will be missed, as funding did not extend to pets.