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

Like what we do? Find out more.

So the Revolution is Being Televised, Now What?

Many of us are thinking about the new era of civil rights movements that are currently occurring. Footage of rioting and innocent people getting beaten and/or killed is something that our collective conscience is trying to deal...

The Path of an Inside Outsider

My cultural identity has always stood at the forefront of my research interests. But I had neglected to consider the potential of it also becoming a barrier. Throughout the discussion, I had resonated with Dr Jemaima Tiatia-Seath when she recalled the challenges you...

Our relation to the stories we tell

Dr Thomsen’s personal story is related to, but, uniquely different from those revealed in his research. I think this is both empowering and potentially hazardous. There are of course benefits to working in a familiar space; having connections, understanding jargon,...

Violent Video Games? Conflict (or lack thereof) in the Grand Strategy genre.

The Australian outback: unexplored, uninhabited, dangerous. You’re an explorer setting out for the first time across the new frontier.

On Brass Eye, post-truth, and the superiority of Arts Scholars

While the Science Scholars strive for accuracy in their research, we Arts Scholars one-up them by discussing why that accuracy is worth striving for; in arts-speak, we examine the ethical implications of certain discursive structures surrounding the production and...

A Marxist Defence of Modern Conservatism

In too many ways, the Conservative label has been polarised to suit the unfolding narrative of political unrest in the Trump era.  A combination of Politics 106 lectures and a video article by the former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper provided an Enlightening...

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...

Quentin Tarantino: The Art v Artist Conundrum

When I was 16, my dad introduced me to Tarantino’s Kill Bill. It felt revolutionary.    From then on, I was hooked on Tarantino films, both as father-daughter bonding and because they fueled my love of film.   But, like all good things, my love for...

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....

Nuclear Testing and Impacts on Indigenous People

Hi Team. This came across my FB feed. One more of the travesties of colonialism. https://www.facebook.com/ABCTV/videos/288687948821354/

Gender and War

When we talk about war, so often it is in terms of the male soldier or male head-of-state. When women are mentioned, it is often in the lumped phrase ‘women and children’. As we’ve progressed through this term, it has left me wondering: where are the women?  Simply,...

read more
Hated in our Nations

Hated in our Nations

Spoilers  for episode 6 of season 3 of Black Mirror below.  Civilian casualties are as common as they are condemned. Numbers remind us that governments, be it democratic or authoritarian, kill large numbers of civilians as a military strategy. In his lecture, Thomas...

read more
Labels and Positionality

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...

read more