PhD CandidateSupervision: Dr Fairleigh Gilmour & Associate Professor Rebecca Stringer
Thesis: Analysing the 'Mother' Identity Through Pregnancy, Childbirth & the Postpartum Period
Kia ora, my name is Charlotte Bruce Kells and I have been with the University of Otago since I moved here from Wellington in 2015 to finish my undergraduate degree. Having completed my honors and master's degrees with the Department of Sociology, Gender Studies & Criminology, I am now working toward my PhD.
My passion for studies lies primarily in the social construction of motherhood, and particularly the role the media plays in this social construction. My current research looks in-depth at the transition that takes place during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum as a person develops their 'mother' identity. It is my hope that this research will help contribute to wider understandings of new parents' needs and how as a society we can better support them.