Chelsea Torrance

Chelsea's thesis focuses on the ways masculinity and New Zealand national identity are represented in museums.

After a rocky first start to my career, dipping my toes in politics and the union movement, I moved from Wellington to Hamilton where I completed my BA in History and Women's and Gender Studies. My BA nurtured my interest in gender, history and social justice and looking for a way to combine the three, I returned home to Wellington to begin postgraduate studies in Museum and Heritage Studies.

In 2016, I completed my postgraduate diploma in Museum and Heritage Studies. Throughout the year I had the opportunity to work on some exciting digital cultural heritage projects. For my MHST512 placement, I worked at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Manatū Taonga helping to formulate a social media content plan for the research and publishing group. The Ministry later invited me back to work as a researcher, to update content on Te Ara. After finishing my Diploma, I took up the role of Web Curator of Victoria University of Wellington’s Creative Legacies Project where I helped to document and digitise stories about the university's unique cultural and creative heritage on an interactive app, STQRY.

Upon wrapping up my work on the Creative Legacies Project, I have returned back to full-time study—this time a Master of Arts. My thesis focuses on the ways masculinity and New Zealand national identity are represented in museums, using the New Zealand Rugby Museum and The Topp Twins exhibition at Te Manawa as case studies.