VUW's Eli Elinoff shares a brief summary of last week's events.

Last week the Cultural Anthropology programme at Victoria University of Wellington celebrated its 50th Anniversary. In honour of the milestone, we organized an event highlighting the history of anthropology at Victoria, exploring the changing face of the discipline in New Zealand, and speculating about the futures of anthropological knowledge.

The celebration began on May 10th with a Pōwhiri and Marae Kōrero at the meetinghouse on Te Tumu Herenga Waka Marae on VUW's Kelburn campus. We discussed the origins of the cultural anthropology programme with two of its founding members, Dame Dr. Joan Metge and Bernie Kernot.

Dame Dr. Joan Metge (standing) during the marae kōrero at Te Tumu Herenga Waka. Bernie Kernott is seated to the left, and Te Range Hīroa is to the far left.

May 11th began with a keynote address by Dr. Michael Jackson, programme alumni and Distinguished Professor of World Religions at Harvard University. Next, we had two panel discussions from anthropologists across New Zealand. Finally, Professor Dame Anne Salmond from the University of Auckland delivered a second public keynote.

On May 12th, the events concluded with a morning symposium featuring the work of current post-graduates and programme alumni.