Museum and Heritage Studies Research
On this page:
- Museum and Heritage Studies Staff and Their Research Specialities
- Current Research
- PhD MHST 690
- MA MHST 591
- MMHS Dissertation MHST 593
- Staff Research
- Current Student Research Topics
- Past Student Research
Museum and Heritage Studies Staff and Their Research Specialties
Dr Conal McCarthy
Museum history, theory and practice, and aspects of heritage and visual culture
Dr Lee Davidson
Leisure (history, theory and contemporary practice); visitor studies; narrative research methods; tourism and natural / cultural heritage
Current Research
Museum and Heritage Studies Victoria University Research Round Up
There will be something of interest for everyone amongst the research underway and recently completed at Victoria University. If you would like to know more about any of the research below or may be able to offer some input, please email us at address. We are also always interested in hearing your ideas about research that is waiting to be taken up.
PhD MHST 690
Philipp Schorch was awarded a PhD in 2011 for his thesis entitled: 'Te Papa:a forum for the world? A narrative exploration of a global public sphere.' Elizabeth Pishief recently completed her thesis entitled: 'Constructing the identities of place: An exploration of Māori and archaeological heritage practices in Aotearoa New Zealand' and it is currently being examined.
Current PhD students are researching: 'Convergent practice between galleries, libraries, museums and archives' (Shannon Wellington); and 'Reconnecting taonga in Museums collections with their source communities' (Arapata Hakiwai).
MA MHST 591
Anton Berndt's MA thesis on: 'The State of Play: An exploration of games and their value in museum exhibitions' is currently being examined. Kiri Griffen has recently started her MA on: Private Tastes and Public Desires: Exploring the Perspectives and Practices of Private Collectors who Share Their Collections Publicly.
MMHS Dissertation MHST 593
Research projects underway for the Master of Museum and Heritage Studies dissertation include: museum leadership in NZ (David Luoni); Going social: Experiments in social media by New Zealand museums (Georgie Fell); Repatriation of human remains (Coralie O'Hara); Green museums (Nina Finigan); and We Never Knew: The differences between museum history and academic history explored through an exhibition on the New Zealand wars (Elspeth Hocking).
Students who recently completed their Master of Museum and Heritage Studies dissertations (MHST 593) investigated the following topics: incorporating dance into museum exhibitions (Naiomi Murgatroyd); the evaluation of a pilot study to establish a national visitor research framework for New Zealand's museum sector (Casimar Larkin); Ngā Tahu iwi exhibition at Te Papa Tongarewa (Ana Sciascia) Crisis Management in Museums (Emily Murray); curatorial practice (Reuben Schrader); war remembrance in modern day NZ with a focus on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior (Gareth Phipps); and an exploration of the meanings of making local history in Havelock North (Lorie Mastemaker). Two other dissertations investigated collection policy in national museums (Chloe Searle) and the construction of hybrid identity by Asian New Zealanders and its representation in museum exhibitions (Vera Mey).
Staff Research
Meanwhile staff have been busy too. Conal McCarthy has completed his latest book Museums and Māori: Heritage professionals, indigenous collections, current practice which will appear with Te Papa Press in April 2011. He is working on his next book which is an edited volume on museum practice in a new series International handbooks of museum studies with general editors Sharon Macdonald and Helen Rees Leahy for Blackwell. In 2011 he starts work on a major international research project on museums, field work anthropology and social governance funded by the Australian Research Council. His first book was a study of New Zealand architecture in the nineteenth century and his second book Exhibiting Māori: A history of colonial cultures of display was published by Berg in 2007.
Lee Davidson has just finished a book titled 'Serious Leisure and Nature' (with co-author Bob Stebbins), which will be published by Palgrave early in 2011. She has also completed a chapter for a book on 'Intangible Natural Heritage' edited by Eric Dorfman and due for publication in 2011 by Routledge. Her other projects include an article on visitor characteristics and commitment using Te Papa's Visitor Profile database, and the development of a national visitor research framework for NZ's museum sector, in association with Museums Aotearoa.
Current Student Research Topics
| MHST 593 Dissertations | |
| Emily Murray | Protecting your assets: An evaluation of museum planning practices in New Zealand museums. |
| David Luoni | New Zealand made: Developing New Zealand's museum leaders. |
| Naiomi Murgatroyd | Moving museums: An exploration of the role of dance in New Zealand museums |
| Casimar Larkin | Small Museums' Participation in Visitor Research |
| Ana Sciascia | Iwi exhibitions at Te Papa Tongarewa: A Ngai Tahu perspective. |
| Georgie Fell | Going social: Experiments in social media by New Zealand museums |
| Coralie OHara | Repatriation of human remains |
| Nina Finigan | Green museums |
| Elspeth Hocking | We Never Knew: The differences between museum history and academic history explored through an exhibition on the New Zealand wars |
| MHST 591 MA Thesis | |
| Anton Berndt | The State of Play: An exploration of games and their value in museum exhibitions. |
| Kiri Griffen | Private Tastes and Public Desires: Exploring the Perspectives and Practices of Private Collectors who Share Their Collections Publicly |
| MHST 690 PhD Thesis | |
| Arapata Hakiwai | "Bits and pieces all over the place - making us whole again!" Maori identity and development through the agency of taonga in museums |
| Elizabeth Pishief | Constructing the identities of place: An exploration of Maori and archaeological heritage practices in Aotearoa New Zealand. |
| Shannon Wellington | With this Ring, I thee Wed: marriage as a root metaphor for organisational culture in converged memory institutions |
| Philipp Schorch | Te Papa: a forum for the world? A narrative exploration of a global public sphere. |
Past Student Research
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MA by Thesis |
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Lynette Townsend |
"Seen but not heard? Collecting the history of New Zealand childhood" 2008 |
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Dissertations |
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Pamela Sibley |
'The individual visitor's experience of museums: A study of six individual visits to the Museum of Wellington City and Sea'. 2007 |
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Lynne Allan |
'Closing the gap between developer intention and visitor reception: A case study of the 'Stowaways' segment at the Te Papa exhibition Blood Earth Fire'. 2007 |
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Karen Astwood |
'Reframing colonial collecting: A study of 19th century collectors and collecting at the Hawkes Bay Philosophical Institute'. 2007 |
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Paulette Wallace |
'Demolishing public history: The Whitely memorial in Taranaki as a site of contested heritage'. 2007 |
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Blyss Wagstaff |
'Jewellery, craft or art: Collecting contemporary decorative arts in New Zealand museums'. 2007 |
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Jamie Bell |
'Who do you think you are?: Constructing and representing Central Otago identity'. 2007. |
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Helen Hawkins |
Developing young athletes in high performance, 2007 |
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Frances Speer |
Good use: A study of collection utilisation at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2007 |
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Tamarisk Sutherland |
"More than 'a one night stand': Evolving partnerships between public museums and corporate organisations", 2006 |
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Katie Duke |
"Making Art Public: Towards a new model for public art in Wellington", 2006 |
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Anne Harlow |
"Art, craft and hip hop: A history of The Dowse 1971-2006", 2006 |
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Imelda Bargas |
"New Zealand history in secondary schools: An examination of teacher topic selection at year 13 level", 2005 |
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Sarah Snelling |
"Museum websites: Creating greater access to the New Zealand art collection?", 2005 |
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Christy Ballard |
"The negotiation of narratives: A case study of the Indian community exhibition Aainaa: Reflections through Indian weddings at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa", 2005 |
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Marguerite Hill |
"Madness in the early twentieth-century New Zealand: The patient case records of Porirua hospital, 1909-15", 2005 |
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Odette Tupouohomohema |
"The 'Pacifikisation' of museum practices: A case study of the Tonga Museum, past, present and future", 2005 |