Dr. Tara Pond

With a strong passion to share knowledge that impacts a diversity of communities, Academic Manager Tara Pond is driven to engage with mahi that will benefit marginalised groups. Tara completed her PhD thesis at AUT on bisexual+ women’s identities and marginalisation four years ago.

Now, Tara is using the knowledge gained as a member of our Academic Quality team, contributing to assessment and moderation. She will also advise our Master's students, utilising her wide range of expertise in Methodologies and Research Methods, Social Psychology, LGBTQIA+, Gender and Sexuality, Social Justice, Discrimination, Social Science, Critical Thinking, Intersectionality Theory, Feminist Theory, Social Constructionism, and Ethics.

Tara believes it is vital to acknowledge the existence and the necessity of subjectivity, as we all carry our histories, social contexts, beliefs, values, culture, and identity into our work. At academyEX, Tara is most looking forward to seeing the student presentations and learning about a diversity of topics that students are passionate about discussing.

Her superpower is a fun one - the ability to befriend any cats - even the shy ones that usually don't like humans.