Arts Scholars

Koi te hinengaro, koi te arero, koi te mahi!
Sharp of mind, tongue, and work!

Keep up with the latest discussions and thoughts from our Arts Scholars whānau

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The Western Gaze

The post-colonial perspective of Dr Patrick Thomsen, despite his position as a queer Pasifika man, reflects the importance of the researcher’s consideration of knowledge genealogy. Thomsen’s research seminar is a reminder of the Western gaze that is pushed upon us; of...

More war and food links…

Cooking for Victory? This interview is a fascinating look at the role of Winston Churchill's chef! https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018754010/churchill-s-forgotten-cook-serving-up-victory-in-the-kitchen  

What does good research and epic cake fails have in common?

Oh the glorious cake fail. Without you, google images would not be so nearly as enticing for the would-be procrastinator to make bad life choices. You are part hilarious, part instructive and part dream-destroying. But most of all, you stand testament to the harsh...

Is Old Enough Getting Old? Do Age Limits Promote Equality or Discrimination?

Jenifer Frost discussed how youth activism to lower the voting age emphasised education and maturity as well as disparities in their responsibilities, hence the phrase "Old enough to fight old enough to vote". This got me wondering about which age barriers could be...

We can’t breathe

2020 strikes again the world reacts to the lynching of George Floyd; Fuel to the flame that’s been growing with every murder. In the last few weeks there has been unprecedented publicity of the mistreatment of indigenous, Black and other minority groups that continues...

ANZAC – today and tomorrow

This year, amidst the lock down and the chaos, many New Zealanders are planning the long, arduous trek to the letter box to stand and honour the traditions of a nation, a stationary dawn parade for ANZAC day. Even while relegated to the confines of our properties,...

Labels and Positionality

Of all the sessions we had this year, one of the most impactful for me was Dr. Madhavi Manchi's session on research positionality. She answered a lot of the questions that I didn't know had been at the back of my mind since I started my Arts degree, the core of these...

The Stories of Victims of Violence: Retellings of the ‘Iliad’

The last time I read Homer’s ‘Iliad’ was in my Year 11 Classics class, but it’s the text that first came to mind when Joe Zizek brought up the topic of how we should discuss past violence. The ‘Iliad’ may be of hotly-debated historical value, but it’s a story with a...

A Conceptual Analysis of Conflict

The eighth paperback Collins English dictionary defines conflict as: [An] opposition between ideas or interests. A struggle or battle. To be incompatible. The Latin root word of conflict is ‘confligere’, or ‘to combat’. While the Latin and second definition interest...

Multimedia Research: The Use of Song in the Research Process

Reflecting upon the lecture from Dr. Jennifer Frost brings up gratitude for my own placement in history. Voting is something I place a lot of importance on, and finally being able to participate in democracy has made me excited and motivated to make a difference. To...

Addressing the Redress

Dr Stephen Winter's research into the process of redressing the abuse suffered by those in the care system in New Zealand was fascinating to look at. For a long time now, governmental care systems like orphanages have been something that I've been interested in,...

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Research is personal.

I've always been taught to keep as many confounding variables out of the data as possible - including myself, my views, thoughts, and opinions. But Dr Hirini Kaa and Patrick Thomsen told a different story. Their personal experiences guided them to their research...

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Lived Positionality

Dr Patrick Thomsen's lecture on examining the struggles of gay men in Korea through the lens of a pacific lens was quite the ride. The past year has instilled in me a curiosity about how varied viewpoints can be used to analyse different topics. I personally have...

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Collecting Notions

Collecting Notions

For a presentation last year, I researched Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey". You might also have heard of it as the "monomyth". If not, here's a simplified summary: the Hero's Journey is a sequence of plot points, which are said to loosely match every story we...

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Obscure War

Obscure War

We are very fortunate to be able to talk about war in theoretics. We are able to keep war at an antiseptic distance from ourselves, avoiding discussion of the “nasties” of conflict and, for the most part, live completely detached from the effects of war and conflict....

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History A, History B

Recently, while I was listening to a series of lectures on Herodotus, the lecturer distinguished between what she called History definition A and History definition B*. She also briefly mentioned the confusion caused when people do not realise which definition they...

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Perception

Perception

As Halloween recently passed, my mind shifts to the commodification of culture. Nowadays you can purchase anything from toy guns to real guns, and murdering video games to watching WW2 in colour. (Greatest Events of WW2 in Color - Netflix). I feel less as if war is in...

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Where do I go from here?

The first day of Arts scholars, I remember being perplexed when Sara brought in a Barbie in US army garb to discuss the gendered dimensions of war.    I called myself a feminist back then (and I still am). But it wasn’t really grounded in any sense of “academia,”...

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Politicians and the Media

Our discussions surrounding positionality have been great and allowed me to have a lot of self reflection. Following  Tova O’Brien’s recent interview with Jami-Lee Ross and the large positive reception it’s had, my thoughts turned to  positionality within the media. ...

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