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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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...

The Universal Stevie Nicks Experience

Nostalgia farming, in my understanding, is the act of seeking stimulus that connects oneself to memories and feelings in the past. Nostalgia farming has become increasingly more a part of peoples day-to-day lives recently, partly due to living through a pandemic and...

Art in a Time of Conflict and Capitalism

Covid-19 and the isolation which has resulted from this global shock has provided the majority of us with unprecedented amounts of free time. Curiously, despite not being an 'artistic person' this period of conflict has resulted in me feeling somewhat guilty for not...

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...

Ancient Cosmetics and Beautification

The research of Erin Griffey and Victoria Munn was intensely interesting, illuminating an area of the public imagination surrounding beauty culture and makeup. It begged the question, how far back does this go? Do humans have an innate inclination to temporarily alter...

Letting the story go and navigating the so-what territory

Dr Booth’s research on wedding bands in India and Pakistan is significant to me because it shows that a researcher cannot predetermine the findings of their study, but that does not necessarily remove its value. The procession of Indian wedding bands was loud and...

The Value of Research

Dr Thomsen’s seminar showed me that research, regardless of its specificity, does not exist in a vacuum. Initially, his research on the sexual identity of Korean men living in Seattle seemed abstract to me, in grounding his study in his lived experiences and those of...

dealing with your country’s colonial and colonized history

I believe it was Deborah who said, “history is thrust upon us and we’re expected to know it.” We learn in baby steps. We weren’t taught calculus at 13, we were taught linear algebra first. I wasn’t an immigrant six-year-old in ESOL studying Shakespeare’s use of iambic...

The nonphysical beauty

The coagulation of past Italian to modern day Italian lingistically was as necessary to upholding historical texts as it was to upholding beauty formulas to the beauty society. Imagine not being able to read or understand historic Italian because you only know...

Nazis vs Soviets Morality Battle!

The difference between America’s view of Nazis and Marixst-Leninists is pretty staggering. On one hand, you have a brutal regime that committed genocide and other atrocious acts. On the other hand, you have a secretive country that in the time span of just one man’s...

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,...

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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...

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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...

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