Associate Prof Chris Brickell works in the Gender studies programme in the Dept. of Gender, Sociology and Social Work (Gender 102 is one of the options papers for First Year Health Sciences). At the time of writing he is also acting head of the recently established Criminology Department. He has research interests in the history of male same-sex sexuality and intimacy, and in aspects of cultural change, focusing on gender relations in post-war New Zealand.
This breakfast largely took the form of a most interesting question and answer session. His research takes him around New Zealand museums, among other things, and his comments on how good - and socially intertwined - some of the small town ones are, was interesting in itself.
He noted the importance of private diaries in this kind of research, and in response to a question, remarked on the concern archivists have with the rise of electronic messaging and photographs as this impacts on future research.
There used to be a “Drag Night” at this College, which was basically cross-dressing, which was dropped this year on the grounds that some found it offensive, and on the advice of Queer Support, though others enjoyed it immensely. Prof. Brickell expressed a degree of ambivalence about it himself, noting that such events can go in a number of different directions, some entertaining, others undesirable.
His work involves a rather fascinating aspect, the study of diaries, one dating back to the 1840’s. His research also involves interviewing people around the country and visiting various museums - he had some interesting anecdotes on Museum staff interactions, which I shall not divulge. Re interviewing: “I had with one guy who’s now died - because that’s what happens after I’ve interviewed them - but, actually, he was 92 at the time , so I don’t blame myself too much on that one.”
