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.

“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 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...

The Dominant Methodology isn’t Always Best: How Talanoa Re-framed my Education

Dr Patrick Thomsen's lecture early this semester stood out to me, for a number of reasons. His open attitude, his area of study, and, most significantly, his research method. Dr Thomsen collected his data through Talanoa, a Pasifika term derived from the words "Tatala...

How Thomsen’s Story has Helped me to Better Communicate With Others.

Patrick Thomsen's told a story about the importance of incorporating non-western knowledge and methodologies in research. By recognising the Western influence on his view of sexuality, Thomsen broadened his perspective, making his research more relevant to the context...

Like a Peacock

It's been a long year. The world has changed in so many ways in only a few months, yet things are still oddly the same. Time has blurred. Things that have happened only a week ago feel like old hat. Movements have progressed rapidly, and at the same time achieved...

Age?

Jennifer Frost bought age into the spotlight. Specifically, the arbitrary nature of age in our society and how age is a social construct. In terms of politics, I have always thought about how strange it is that as young people, we are reprimanded for a lack of...

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...

Navigating Confidentially When Gathering Information

Dr. Stephen Winters' lecture on monetary redress was very thought-provoking, and in particular, the strains monetary redress programs face in protecting their applicants' privacy. Dr. Winters highlighted the difficulty of contacting applicants, let alone obtaining...

Conflict in modern societies

I’m a scientist at heart, and something I find interesting is that we believe we’re ‘pacifists’ compared to other organisms. One of our focus questions this semester was that all animals except humans have conflict for resources - why are we determined to prove...

War! What is it good for? A hype as national anthem, for one thing

In the very first reading we did for this class, there was a quote from the German historian Treitschke, saying, “without war, no State could be. All those we know of arose through war.” This is an intriguing idea, and I wanted to see if I could find some concrete...

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