Rate My Professor Kirstie Ross

Kirstie Ross serves as Head Curator of Published and Special Collections at the Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library. She holds degrees in music and history from the University of Auckland, including a Bachelor of Arts in History, Political Studies, and English, and a Master of Arts with Honours in History completed in 1998. Following her graduate studies, Ross conducted research for the Waitangi Tribunal. Her scholarly work includes the book Going Bush: New Zealanders and Nature in the Twentieth Century, published by Auckland University Press in 2008, which examines Pākehā engagement with nature from the 1890s to the 1970s and originated from her Masters thesis research using Hocken Collections materials starting in 2004. Other key publications feature 'Materialising social history in museums' in Te Ara: Journal of Museums Aotearoa (2007), 'Biculturalism and Social History at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa' (2013), 'Te Papa's Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War' (2022), and contributions such as 'Making Sense of the War (New Zealand)' in the 1914-1918-online International Encyclopedia of the First World War. She has also co-authored Holding on to Home: New Zealand Stories and Objects of the First World War with Kate Hunter (2014).

Ross brings extensive experience in cultural heritage institutions. She worked nearly 15 years as History Curator at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, curating exhibitions including Blood Earth Fire: Whāngai Whenua Ahi Kā and Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War: Karipori: Te pakanga nui. She then held the position of Senior Curator of Cultural Heritage at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery before joining the University of Otago in 2023. Her research focuses on New Zealand social history, museums, biculturalism, weather and culture, Great War material culture, and the history of collecting and antiquarianism. At Hocken, she oversees collections spanning books and manuscripts from 1473 and has curated exhibitions such as Janet Frame's Bookshelf: A Writer's Reading Life (2024), The Hallenstein Legacy 1873–2023, ISSUES! 100 years of Critic, and Landfall Tauraka celebrating 250 issues. As a former Treaty historian, she emphasizes integrating historical collections into contemporary Te Tiriti-led discussions and broadening public access in Ōtepoti/Dunedin.