History research interests

Browse the research interests of staff in the History programme.

For detailed research areas and lists of publications please see the profiles of individual staff.

Overview

Wellington has the best research archives and resources in the country for New Zealand history as well as good early modern material. Not surprisingly, the University's past leading History scholars have worked in these areas. They include Australian and New Zealand historian Fred L Wood, New Zealand and James Cook scholar JC Beaglehole, and British and New Zealand historian David A Hamer.

Currently our research focuses on the modern period, covering a wide geographical region:

• Early Modern and Modern European History
• American History
• New Zealand, Pacific and Australian History
• the Atlantic World.

Research strengths of the programme

Research strengths of the Programme include:

• representations and presentation of History, especially cinematic representations, historiography, fiction, biography and autobiography
• Comparative History, an excellent example of which is New Zealand, for putting into the wider international context
• Social History, especially relations of gender, class, caste, race and slavery, the history of sport and crime.