Emily Donaldson has spent the last seven years researching, visiting and understanding the Marquesas Islands and their inhabitants. Most of her visits have been to conduct archaeological research, either as a student or a teaching assistant, but some have also been ethnographic. She is currently working on publishing a Marquesan-English-French Phrasebook, and her undergraduate honors thesis addressed the influence of archaeology on the Marquesan village of Vaitahu. She went on to publish two articles on her thesis topic, and more recently wrote her Masters thesis on the appropriation of culture and nation building in French Polynesia. This will be her first time lecturing aboard the Aranui, and she looks forward to sharing both her love and knowledge of Marquesan history, culture and politics.