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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Conflicts within the Good Book: How the Christian Bible Contradicts Itself

I have never read the bible.   I went to Sunday school with my friend Sianne, but more for the singing and lollies than the content of the sermon. That’s why doing Theology is so interesting. I’m plunging into the Christian world completely blind.   I was...

DISCLAIMER: Inspired by False Events

I love documentaries. Simple, narrated story-lines which require minimal attention from the viewer. They provide a fantastic (and frankly much needed) escape from everyday life. It's so easy to chill in bed with a laptop and binge an entire series, being able to relax...

The Implications of Pursuing Relevant Narratives

What's relevant to you? Seems like a broad question, but relevance can produce greater effects than we might expect.   Jennifer Frost’s research into the 26th amendment and the progression of youth voting rights in the U.S. raised some questions within me...

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...

Marriage or the internet – which matures a 19-year-old more?

Frost's discussion of the fight for youth voting rights encapsulated many talking points about civil rights, democracy, protest and strength in diversity. What grabbed my attention the most, however, was one throw-away line in the middle of her lecture. “Youth today...

Innovation in history: adapting war memorials

Innovation concepts can be used to promote different historical perspectives. In Peter Rachor’s lecture, I was asked how my research essay relates to some of the innovation concepts discussed. At the time, I had no idea what to say and said something vague and...

Framing BLM

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and the murder of George Floyd have united the world against systemic racism and police brutality. Like many historical events, the framing of revolutionary movements is important in preserving the authentic message. Joe’s lecture...

Memory, emotion, perception… and everything in between

“I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.” ― Virginia Woolf It was while watching Christopher Nolan’s 2001 film...

Catharsis and artistic expression: conflicts in context

“New needs need new techniques. And the modern artists have found new ways and new means of making their statements…the modern painter cannot express this age, the airplane, the atom bomb, the radio, in the old forms of the Renaissance or of any other past culture.” -...

Classics, classics, everywhere

Classical mythology has been consistently inspiring art and entertainment over the years for a nearly inconceivable amount of time. As a die hard classics student (and all around nerd), I am always excited to find new adaptations to these familiar stories and see just...

Having a yarn not having a yawn.

Ok, so I’m about to summarise some truth handed down from Patrick Thomsen. So this man rocks up onto the stage and immediately I’m enthralled. Was he talking about a data set vaguer than UoA’s marking schemes? No. He came onto the stage and started yarning, chewing...

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East-Me Defined by West-Me

My 15-year-old cousin recently told me I’m such a ‘westernised Indian’ in such a flippant manner and I asked myself what is she trying to insinuate? I decided, for the most part, to really understand what ‘east defined by west’ meant for an Anglo-Indian like myself....

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Diving deep

During Victoria Munn and Erin Griffey's research seminar, they discussed beauty in the likes of Renaissance paintings, reflecting the ever-growing importance of beauty within our society. Their work highlighted the importance of researchers developing a comprehensive...

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A Western World Paradigm

Dr Patrick Thomsen’s lecture was undoubtedly the most entertaining session I have witnessed so far. Thomsen fuelled his lecture with his past experiences, allowing us to understand his story. Building a research question from personal lived experiences was my key...

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Redress: What Now?

Stephen Winter’s presentation on redress programs for those who suffered abuse while in state care piqued my interest because the history of the intersection of government and the underserved has been marred with suffering. In the past, those who were unlucky enough...

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Timeless Beauty

I found Associate Professor Erin Griffey and Victoria Munn’s research investigating the origins of beauty cultures and visual cultures of beauty to be fascinating. By referring to the Renaissance, the ‘Great Works’ they relied on were digitalized manuscripts and...

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Putting Personality in a Paper

When people ask me “what are your plans after graduating?” I always used to tell them I’d never go into academia, that was far too scary: all that analysis, drawing on huge theories of knowledge with ancient traditions – there’s too much pressure. But after hearing...

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