PhD students
J B B Brosnahan BA, BA(Hons), MA (Otago)
The Long Shadow of the Shoah: A Multigenerational Study of Jewish Memory and Identity in New Zealand
This study will explore the impact of the Holocaust's legacy on the Jewish community in New Zealand across generations. By conducting new interviews and consulting existing oral testimonies it will investigate the long-term effects on survivors and their descendants, commemoration and memorialisation efforts, the prevalence of Holocaust denial and antisemitism in New Zealand, and the perspectives of recent Jewish migrants. The study will also examine the processes of constructing and preserving memories (individual and collective) and histories, and the role of political, religious, and other factors in shaping these processes. These issues have been extensively examined in international literature, but little attention has been given to them by historians in New Zealand. Ultimately, the study seeks to shed light on the interplay between history, memory, trauma, and identity, and to valuably contribute to our understanding of the Holocaust's legacy for New Zealand's Jewish community.
This research is funded by a University of Otago Doctoral Scholarship.
Supervisors: Professor Angela McCarthy and Professor Angela Wanhalla
Lisa Carlin BA, BSc, BA(Hons), MSc
Enlightened Patriots: Scottish Patriotism in the Age of Enlightenment (1707–1790)
My study will explore eighteenth-century Scottish economic and military patriotism from 1707 to 1790. Using pamphlets, books, newspaper articles, and treatises of philosophers and improvers (like David Hume, Adam Smith, Sir James Steuart and Adam Ferguson etc), it will investigate the debates and the discourse surrounding economic and military patriotism and, consequently, the interactions between the two types of patriotism, how and why the debates changed over time, and how these debates resulted in practical action centering around agriculture, the military, and institutions like the Scottish school system, Scottish universities, the army (and militia), and the Scottish banking system. Ultimately, the study will shed light on aspects of Scottish Independence and Scotland's role in the union. It will also provide insight into how patriotism and identity can be conceptualized today.
This research is funded by a University of Otago Doctoral Scholarship.
Supervisors: Professor Takashi Shogimen, co-supervisors Associate Professor John Stenhouse and Associate Professor Miranda Johnson
Chloe Coombe BPhEd (Professional Studies), BA (Hons, First Class) (Otago)
A Study of End-of-Life Care and Cultures of Commemoration during the HIV and AIDS Epidemic (1980s-1990s)
This study explores the complexities of end-of-life care and commemoration within the context of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Aotearoa, New Zealand. It addresses how end-of-life concerns were managed by those affected by HIV and AIDS, exploring the interplay between personal experiences and broader societal debates on euthanasia and palliative care, involving medical practitioners, religious groups, and political organisations. It also examines how the evolution of mourning practices and remembering those lost to the epidemic informed cultural dynamics of collective grief. Particular attention will be given to key commemorative initiatives such as the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt, AIDS Candlelight Ceremonies, the New Zealand Book of Remembrance, and other mourning practices. By tracing both local and global influences on end-of-life care and commemoration, this study aims to provide new understanding of the epidemic’s impact on personal and collective levels.
This research is funded by a University of Otago Doctoral Scholarship.
Supervisors: Associate Professor Frances Steel and Professor Chris Brickell (Gender Studies)
Michelle Willyams BA Hons I, BMus, MA with Distinction (Otago)
Exploring Mental Distress related to Childbirth in New Zealand, 1860–1980.
This doctorate explores the intersection of gender, disease and class through an examination of New Zealand women's experiences of mental distress related to childbirth. My project asks whether women in New Zealand have had similar or varied treatment between 1860 and up to 1980 and what factors eventually led medical and social spheres, by the 1980s, to accept 'Postnatal Depression' as the main diagnostic tool to identify and label symptoms of mental distress exhibited by some women after childbirth. A three-fold focus on the processes of defining the 'disease', the experiences of the patient once diagnosis was made, and the often confused dialogues among the emerging medical professionals to construct and agree on the symptoms and treatment of women provides the framework to examine societal expectations of motherhood. Mental Asylum and Hospital records, Plunket, Department of Health publications and Preventive Medicine Dissertations inform this thesis, providing answers to how cases of mental distress related to childbirth were investigated, managed, and experienced in New Zealand, enlightening our understanding of the changing roles and experiences of New Zealand women between the nineteenth and twentieth century.
This research is funded by a University of Otago Doctoral Scholarship.
Supervisors: Associate Professor Frances Steel and Professor Rachael McLean
MA students
Charlotte Collins BA, Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Secondary) (Auckland)
Broadsheet and its Impact on the Second Wave of Feminism in Aotearoa New Zealand
This MA thesis is an inquiry into the impact ‘Broadsheet’ had on Second Wave Feminism in Aotearoa New Zealand. ‘Broadsheet’ (1972–1997) was not just a feminist magazine, but a political collective based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. This thesis aims to look into the impact ‘Broadsheet’ had on the individual, and to a much broader impact of changes in the overall movement in New Zealand. My argument is that ‘Broadsheet’ advanced the Second Wave of Feminism in New Zealand. This will be measured through legislation developments surrounding reproductive rights and sexual violence, changes in societal attitudes about said issues along with ideas surrounding intersectionality, and personal anecdotes through interviews. ‘Broadsheet’ has been used regularly in historical feminist scholarship in New Zealand as a source. However, what is missing is an analysis of how Broadsheet impacted the overall movement as a force. This thesis would weave political, cultural, and social history together – mimicking the catch cry of the movement: ‘the personal is political’.
Supervisors: Professor Angela Wanhalla and Professor Mark Seymour
May Kotsen BA (Hons) (Connecticut College)
The Influence of American Frontier Myths on the Creation of a National New Zealand Identity: An Exploration into Amateur Historians James Herries Beattie and James Cowan
This MA thesis examines the works of amateur historians James Cowan and Herries Beattie, both of whom explored matters of regional and national identity. James Cowan (1870-1943) was an amateur historian known for advancing a new interviewing approach and documenting the histories of the New Zealand Wars on the North Island. Herries Beattie (1881-1972), born and raised in the South Island, conducted hundreds of interviews on the “pioneer experience” and Ngāi Tahu history. While both Cowan and Beattie prioritised oral history interviews above all else (a choice considered unorthodox for the time), their published works are very different from each other. This thesis analyses discrepancies between their unpublished and published works, explores how they selected their subjects, and investigates how their audiences helped to shape the content and form of their work. In doing so, this thesis aims to reveal larger themes around collective and individual memory as well as the role of history writing in nation building.
Supervisors: Professor Miranda Johnson and Professor Chris Prentice
Victoria Maloney BA (Hons, First Class) (Otago)
Heritage: A Legacy
This thesis explores the New Zealand Heritage movement, founded during World War II. Heritage remains a movement that is virtually unknown and scarcely remembered despite its significant impact in aiding widows and children of deceased soldiers. Academia has focused on the histories of its key collaborators, the RSA and Rotary (New Zealand), yet scarcely mentioned Heritage. Thus, this study investigates the establishment and aims of Heritage, the impact it had upon the families of deceased soldiers, and its widening focus from sons to daughters to Māori children. Newspapers and archival materials will be the basis of primary research. The success and impact of Heritage will be measured against its Australian counterpart Legacy, which was the inspiration for New Zealand’s Heritage movement.
This research is funded by a University of Otago Māori Master’s Research Scholarship.
Supervisors: Professor Angela Wanhalla and Dr Erica Newman (Te Tumu).
Completed
Steven R Talley (2024)
New Hebridean enterprise in its colonial context: Tongoa 1912, Tanna 1915, Malekula 1939
Hugh Bowron, PhD (2023)
St Peter's Caversham 1864-2000
Genzhong He, PhD (2023)
Paulien Martens, PhD (2022)
Founding Fathers: Fatherhood, family and aspiration in colonial Dunedin
Jeffrey Roger, MA (2022)
Jack Brosnahan, MA (2022)
Robert Stout Revisited: The Ideas and Ideals of a Secular Puritan in New Zealand
Pauline Ireland-Kenny, MA (2022)
'The White Scourge': the milk supply to Dunedin and its suburbs, 1848–1900
Sarah Christie, PhD (2022)
Women and the New Zealand Office, 1945-1972: Keystrokes to a rewarding life?
Sebastian Hepburn-Roper, PhD (2022)
Firearms on the fringe of the empire: Māori and muskets in the New Zealand maritime world, 1805–1840
Claire Macindoe, PhD (2021)
Michelle Moffat, PhD (2021)
The Tartan Front: Daily Life in Scotland during the Second World War
Hannah Barlow, MA (2021)
More than a trickle, not yet a flood: Māori Employment and Urban Migration during World War Two