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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Stretching beyond our comfort zones

Comfort zones are pretty great. They are like a safe and secure blanket, they protect us. However, while comfort zones can be pretty great, they can also be restricting.  The discussion panel regarding power and inequity in research got me thinking about how this is...

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...

Why did nobody write a love letter on a cuneiform tablet?

  Although simple and unassuming, cuneiform tablets, originating from the rich society of Mesopotamia, are the earliest known examples of writing. The earliest tablets were used for accounting and record-keeping, but as the society progressed cuneiform tablets...

Life Experiences and Good Research

We’ve seen throughout the course so far that a research project can be on any topic, although it seems that a good research project is on that is in some way connected to life experiences. Patrick Thomsen had spoken in his lecture of the way his life experiences had...

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...

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...

Epistemology and power inequity regarding research

Let me start this reflection with a comment going back to the second week of this semester when Patrick Tomsen explained the importance of genealogy, that "it is iterative, living, and shifts with the lived experiences of the researcher in relation to the society they...

The Call for Duty!

When looking at the various depictions of war that we’ve seen thus far – in art, literature, music and even sand -, there is a notable exception: the humble videogame. Ever since rising to prominence in the 1980s, videogames have been seen entertaining millions, but...

Finding Middle Ground

Reading the article on the Smithsonian’s Enola Gay exhibition and visiting the Auckland War Memorial Museum, there was a clear theme. Both acknowledged the tension between commemoration and scholarship in relation to conflict. This got me thinking about how we often...

The Undeniable Value of Experience

For me, Patrick Thomsen’s session was a reminder of the value of drawing on personal experience to shape research. Patrick’s ability to embrace his formative experiences and develop them into questions that would come to shape his research and its impact. Our lived...

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...

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The Wicked Witch of the West

The Wicked Witch of the West

After Jeremy Armstrong’s lecture, something that stuck with me was his initial description of Eastern vs. Western war during his recorded lecture. From what I understand, this initial 10 minutes of his talk was a presentation of the ‘stereotypes’ that these terms...

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Art’s Appeal to Humanity

Humans, as a species, are a peculiar one at that. A species overly aware of their own mortality and place in the universe, consequently bent upon obsessive overthinking, and because of this we’ve found ways to fabricate our own reality in a harsh world. We’re...

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When does the war actually end?

When does the war actually end?

  It is easy to think of war as a past tense. While we aren’t exposed first hand to current situations like war in Afghanistan, we can recognize this horror across media and news updates. Then we can turn the tv off and look away. We don’t need to look any...

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The Call for Duty!

When looking at the various depictions of war that we’ve seen thus far – in art, literature, music and even sand -, there is a notable exception: the humble videogame. Ever since rising to prominence in the 1980s, videogames have been seen entertaining millions, but...

read more