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Photo of Reader Sydney Shep

Reader

Sydney Shep

Associate Professor

Wai-te-ata Press

Orcid identifier0000-0003-0699-3739
  • Associate Professor
    Wai-te-ata Press
  • 022 563 5784 (Work)
  • RB 006, Rankine Brown, Gate 3, Kelburn Parade, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand

BIO

Sydney is a Reader in Book History and The Printer, Wai-te-ata Press. She focuses on the interdisciplinary study of transnational and cross-cultural book history and print culture in the contexts of the history of empire, history of technology, and the history of reading. Technological convergence is an additional platform for research and practice, bringing both historic and contemporary media into creative conversation though explorations into the digital handmade, generative computer art, and typographically-situated augmented reality experiences. Her current research focuses on big cultural data and collaborative kaupapa Māori approaches and is grounded in the theories, methods, and practices of digital humanities, spatial history, and cultural informatics. In 2014, she was awarded a Marsden Fund grant (her third) to study William Colenso and the Victorian Republic of Letters, with a focus on personal geographies and global networks. Sydney is also a practising letterpress printer, exhibiting book artist, and designer bookbinder who undertakes creative research commissions at Wai-te-ata Press

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

  • Associate Professor/Reader in Book History, & The Printer
    Victoria University of Wellington, Wai-te-ata Press, Wellington, New Zealand2014 - present
  • Senior Lecturer in Print & Book Culture, & The Printer
    Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand2002 - 2014
  • Lecturer in Print & Book Culture, & The Printer
    Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand2001 - 2002
  • Research Fellow & The Printer
    Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand1997 - 2001
  • Post-doctoral Research Fellow & The Printer
    Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand1995 - 1997

NON-ACADEMIC POSITIONS

  • University Carillonneur
    University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada1985 - 1997

DEGREES

  • PhD
    Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand1996
  • MA
    University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada1985
  • MA
    Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States1985
  • HonsBA
    Victoria College, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada1982

CERTIFICATIONS

  • PGCertHELT
    Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand2009 - present
    Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Learning & Teaching

LANGUAGES

  • French
    Can read, write, speak and understand

AVAILABILITY

  • Masters Research or PhD student supervision
  • Collaborative projects
  • Membership of an advisory committee

FIELDS OF RESEARCH