Kehaulani Fagatele-Folau
Bio
Kehaulani Folau (she/they/ia) is a queer Madau-Moana (Pohnpeian-Tongan) scholar-practitioner born and raised in Soónkahni (Salt Lake Valley) on the traditional and ancestral home of the Newe (Sosogoi/Shoshone; Kusiutta/Goshute), Núuchi-u (Yuuta’/Ute), and Nuwuvi (Paiute) peoples. Her scholarship and research draw from the epistemologies and pedagogies of Indigenous peoples of the Pacific, and utilize culturally relevant method/ologies such as talanoa (Tongan for talk story), iroir (Pohnpeian for reflection), and hohoko (Tongan for genealogy) in her work. Kehau is currently a postdoctoral fellow for the Research Collaborative for Higher Education in Prison at the University of Utah, where she also earned her Ph.D. in Education, Culture and Society, M.Ed in Educational Leadership and Policy, and B.S. in Ethnic Studies. Her hobbies include cuddling with her fur-baby, Havok (Cane Corso) and enjoying her partner, Lilly’s cooking.
Areas of Expertise
Prison Higher EducationPublications
- Diaz, A., Folau, K., Ojeda, R., & ‘Ulu‘ave, L. (2023). From roots to reefs: Metaphors for relational praxis from the diasporas of Abya Yala and Moana Nui. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples.
- Vaughn, K., Fitisemanu, J., Hafoka, I, & Folau, K. (2020). Unmasking the essential realities of COVID-19: The Pasifika community in the Salt Lake Valley. Oceania, 90(1), 60-67.
- Antunes, A.C., Connor, R., Coquenmont, K.K., Folau, K., Martin, A., Todd, L., and Parker, L. (2016). “The utility of “The space traders” and its variations as CRT teachable moments.” In W. Tate & G. Ladson-Billings (Eds.) Covenant keeper: Derrick Bell’s enduring education legacy, (pp. 57-80). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.
Research
Student Affairs
Indigenous Pedagogies
Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies in Education