The Uni debuted its (slightly tongue-twisting) inaugural annual School of Arts lecture last week, themed around ‘What did the arts student say to the future?’ Hosted by Otago’s most well-known BA graduate, the Vice Chancellor Honorable Grant Robertson himself, the lecture included frank discussion about how useful the skills arts students gain are for the future (and no, they did not shine away from the shit arts students cop). Critic Te Ārohi was amongst the packed Burns 1, with an audience that was more shuffleboard than Suburbia.
Despite the future focus, this is a lecture with a past, returning after a brief but hectic hiatus. Originally meant to take place in October last year, it was postponed due to ‘security concerns’ the day after Campus Watch clashed with pro-Palestine protesters in the Clocktower on the 9th, resulting in the arrest of one student. Unsurprisingly, the lecture is a brainchild of the School of Arts, a subset of the Division of Humanities. This encompasses theology, philosophy, languages and cultures, history, English and linguistics, classics, and the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies programmes. So if you’re enrolled in anything like that, lend Grant an ear and us an eye.
Grant acknowledged the delay when he began his speech, but had amended his lecture to include relevant developments since then. The main one was the cancellation of humanities and social science funding by the current government (RIP Marsden Fund). This is one of the snazziest funding methods available to researchers in Aotearoa, so humanities getting kicked out was unsurprisingly condemned by staff all across the University. More uplifting discussion centred around how arts students contribute meaningfully to the University community, contributing to groundbreaking research initiatives such as the Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer Team and He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme that have won the Prime Minister’s Science Prize two years in a row. Share the STEM love around!
Grant also offered a five-point action plan to “give arts graduates the most powerful story to tell the world.” These involved “[re-asserting] the value of the arts to the University” and “busting the myths” that surround an arts education. Getting broader, he mentioned University rankings, and specifically how arts is upholding Otago on the global stage (“Make the case to the world!”). Throughout the entire lecture, he drew on his own experiences as an arts student, not shying away from recalling his trauma from having his mind “tortured” by the late politics professor James Flynn. He even cracked some BA jokes that we’re pretty sure still circulate on campus thirty years later (“What did the BA graduate say to the BCom graduate? [...] Would you like fries with that?”), landing giggles from both the distinguished and dusty audience members.
Like your mate during kick-ons, Grant grew more philosophical in the final two points of his lecture – a hangover from his student days or political past coming to light. His fourth point was to “break down the silos”, emphasising that “we have to be prepared to innovate in how the arts are taught, where, when and by who.” This fed into his final point (which was a bit ironic as ex-Finance Minister). “We need a new funding system for tertiary education. There needs to be more certainty in University funding.” Preach.
One of the (few) students in attendance, Harry, told Critic Te Ārohi that he thought Grant was “engaging, articulate and witty.” But he also reckoned that it was hard to see him through any other lens than as a Labour minister – like trying to call your teacher by their first name after high school.
With an arts education appearing to be permanently on the chopping block – five big booms for Asian, European and German studies – the lecture series points to an optimistic future for the School of Arts. For BA students, (the few in attendance, at least) a good dose of hope was paired with a fatherly slap on the back and the sentiment that “there’s more in your future than being an overqualified barista.” Thank God for that.