The research trip in February/March 2025 provided me with the opportunity to conduct supplementary investigations at research institutions in Honolulu and to engage in discussions with project partners. The focus once again centered on the engagement with "Ancient Hawaiʻi" in educational and public history contexts., as well as on epistemological inquiries into Hawaiian approaches to the past. A project meeting with Derek Taira from the College of Education/ University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa was central to advancing our collaborative project.

I consulted the Hamilton Library and the Hawaiian & Pacific Collections Department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, in addition to the Waihona Palapala Aupuni o Ka Mokuʻāina/Hawaiʻi (Hawaiʻi State Archives) and the Hawaiʻi State Library.

Furthermore, I had the opportunity to visit the exhibition "Kū a Lanakila! Expressions of Sovereignty in Early Territorial Hawaiʻi, 1900–1920” at the Bernice P. Bishop Museum and to explored the Lending Collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA) through an exchange with Amber Strong Makaiau.

Of particular significance were the conversations regarding the project "Teaching Ancient Hawaiian History” with Kaleilehua Maiʻoho Carillo, as well as a day spent at Hālau Kū Māna, where I engaged in dialogue with students and teachers and observed several classroom sessions.

After continuing on to Aotearoa/New Zealand, I joined the Waipapa Taumata Rau/University of Auckland as a visiting academic. I was affiliated with the at the School of Curriculum and Pedagogy and hosted by Barbara Ormond, who arranged a number of scholarly meetings for me with other academics engaged in scholarly work on decolonial curriculum development and Māori history, as well as with professionals working directly within the Ministry of Education. The stay was further enriched by literature research conducted at Te Herenga Mātauranga Whānui/University of Auckland General Library and by delivering two guest lectures at the School of Curriculum and Pedagogy.

An additional highlight of the visit was the opportunity to engage with the historical and ethnological Māori collections at Tāmaki Paenga Hira/Auckland War Memorial Museum and the Māori portraits at the Toi o Tāmaki/Auckland Art Gallery.

I subsequently continued my research as a visiting scholar at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa/Massey University. This phase of the stay was primarily focused on literature research at the university’s main library, as well as on scholarly exchanges with colleagues in the fields of History and Māori Studies.

Thanks to the support of my host, Huia Jahne, Professor of Māori & Indigenous Education at the School of Māori Knowledge, I gained valuable insights into some current debates within Māori Studies. In addition, I was able to engage in discussions with Māori historians at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences on questions of curriculum development and Indigenous epistemologies.

A day trip to the University of Wellington and a visit to Te Papa Tongarewa further complemented my research activities in the southern part of New Zealand’s North Island.