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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Auckland Domain

I am interested in the Auckland Domain for several reasons. Personally, it is a place which holds many dear memories for me: Befriending the swans at the pond, visiting the memorial, the museum, Wintergarden, or just going out for drinks at Wintergarden’s Café. Before...

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...

War and Conflict’s Influence Upon Societal Reform

Change is an inevitable part of human existence, a fundamental component of our history that has so often been bolstered and revolutionised by war and conflict. Like change, conflict and by extension, war, are seemingly inevitable to our existence, events and ideas...

How could we know if a fish is happy?

"One day, Zhuangzi was crossing a bridge with Huizi over a river. Zhuangzi said, “ The fish are swimming happily.” Immediately Huizi countered this with: “ You are not a fish, how can you tell when a fish is a happy?” “You are not me, How do you know that I can’t tell...

Pre-Qin China: On the Relationship Between Conflict, Thought, and Social Structure

I Introduction Malesevic’s reading explores different views on how conflict, social thought, as well as social structure can be connected and how they each impact one another. With this in mind, the lectures for Global History and my occasional read on Chinese history...

“Western privilege” in a Therapeutic Setting

In Dr. Patrick Thomsen's lecture, I was struck by the theme of "Western privilege," and the role this privilege plays in the research process. In particular, I was challenged by Dr. Thomsen's statement, "Western scholars should look to self-critique their own...

The Need to Reflect on Youth Voting Rights.

Professor Jennifer Frost research on youth voting rights and the 26th amendment lead me upon a reflection of what it means to be youth in today's society. The young people who were involved in her research were activists that promoted social change in society. They...

On fake news: the power of propaganda in protests

"This violence isn't random; it is purposive and has reasons and goals, even though it can be incredibly intense and extreme." This is a quote that Dr. Zizek gave about the French Revolution a few weeks ago, yet when trying to find a topic to draw on for this post, I...

An Honest Reflection – I Had no Idea What Research Truly Involved.

An overarching theme I have observed in this course is that as a researcher, you need to be honest. So the first thing I need to confess is that for reasons beyond my control, I regretfully missed out on a good portion of the Power and Inequity in Research panel. But...

Who Am I? A short, self-indulgent meditation on my internal struggle.

The past weeks have been a bit rough for me. The lockdown has stifled my self-esteem quite severely, and it’s left me floating without motivation or imperative. I did, however, find the energy to attend the Arts Scholars forum on power and inequality in research. I...

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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