Who What Where When Wyverns: Pauline Mornet (Wyvern 2017)
Sometimes an incidental conversation can change your life’s trajectory. Pauline Mornet (Wyvern 2017), came to the University of Melbourne straight from school to study a Bachelor of Arts. With a background in theatre, Queen’s role was to be the scene for a significant change in direction.
“Queen’s College was a rigorous community with scholars from different disciplines, and stages of their academic careers. For me, this was really interesting and generative. I enjoyed engaging with the older students who were doing their PhDs, they really exposed me to the lengths you could take tertiary education.”
And Pauline has taken her education all the way.
“I left Australia and completed my Bachelor of Arts in Political Humanities from Sciences Po Paris. That allowed me to be exposed to sociology, political science, economics, and philosophy. I had a question in the back of my mind, ‘What is the relationship between performance and power?’ My inquiries were not fully resolved so I went to New York University to do a Master of Arts in performance studies. At NYU I received a lot of tools on how to think, and how to use performances of everyday life as a source of inspiration for creativity. In the US I found the intersection between performance and politics.”
Pauline is now mid-way through her PhD, one of a cohort of three to embark on Theater and Performance Studies at Stanford University.
“My dissertation is on the relationships between arts, performance, and technology. I’m looking at California in the 1960s, the performances they were doing, the ways technology was being harnessed then, and how that’s informing us currently.”
Pauline has clear advice for Queen’s students.
“It’s really hard for people to leave Australia, but I encourage students to think, ‘What could leaving Australia do for me, with regard to answering questions with a different, international lens?’ The experience of going overseas definitely opened me to opportunities I would not have had in Australia. As an undergraduate you may not have the tools yet, to follow your inquiries so it’s really important to stay open to finding new methodologies. Be open to practice-based research.”
And the incidental conversation?
“When in Queen’s I was deciding whether to study abroad or not, and the Dean, Jake Workman (Wyvern 2005, Arch Wyvern 2014), was very encouraging. He said, ‘You can always come back.’ And here I am attending the International Federation in Theatre Research Conference at Melbourne University. It’s a full circle moment.”
Pauline is happy to be contacted by students and Wyverns via her email:
