Cultural Politics/Cultural Activism

This course offers students a grounding in Cultural Studies theories and methods. It examines the political dynamics and historical foundations of contemporary culture, and the strategic roles that it can play as a force for change. Drawing from a wide variety of examples, it focuses on how culture - as a process, as a practice, and as the production of meaning - functions as a battleground in the assignment of and struggle for social power.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level from CULT or ENGL, or any 60 points at 100 level from any subject.

ENGL232

Te Ao Marama: Maori Thought

The paper explores key aspects of Maori thought, philosophies and ideas through Maori history and culture. Topics include: oral traditions and iwi traditions, tikanga, customs and social life, whakaaro rapunga, philosophies and Maori thought leaders, gender and sexuality, identity and Maori art and writing, conservation, natural lore of land, ocean, taniwha, kaitiakitanga and resource management.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level from HIST, MAOR, or TREO, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

HIST259

Te Tiriti: The Treaty of Waitangi

This course uses the Treaty of Waitangi to frame examinations of contemporary New Zealand society. We ask questions designed to highlight and emphasise the relevance of the Treaty of Waitangi to everyday New Zealanders. In addition, the course looks at the importance of this document in the maintenance of Crown and Maori relations. Topics covered range from the signing of the Treaty, and historical developments, to the protest movements and activism of the continuing Maori renaissance period, race relations and one law-for-all.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level from CULT, HIST, HSRV, MAOR, POLS, SOCI, SOWK, or TREO, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

POLS218, POLS258, HIST268, SOCI209, HSRV207, CULT219

Pacific Sustainability and Climate Resilience

This course examines ways in which community-based and indigenous innovation have been used to build up strategies of adaptation and resilience in oceanic communities, focusing on the Pacific. Deconstructing the deficit narratives characterising the Pacific Islands as inherently susceptible and reconceptualising the concepts of resilience and sustainability for socio-ecological justice is a key component of this course. Through thousands of years of navigation around the largest ocean on the planet and adapting to extreme weather systems such as cyclones and other climate change induced calamities, Pacific peoples have developed a high level of human innovation and resilience, which have formed their cultural strategies for survival. Community and indigenous knowledge relating to buildings, adaptive social organization, food security, farming, environmental restoration, coastal management will be explored. The critical issues of sustainability, resilience and adaptation to climate change and other natural and human created challenges in the Pacific. The Pacific Islands are at the forefront of extreme weather patterns and the course examines the ways in which indigenous knowledge, humanities, science and technology can work together to respond to the expanding and deepening environmental and human impacts.

15 points

Any 45 points at 100-level

Ethnicity, Racism and Genocide

This course provides a critical introduction to the historical and anthropological study of ethnicity, racism, genocide and migration.

15 points

Any 15 points at 100 level in HIST, ANTH, MAOR, PACS, or SOCI, or CLAS120, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

ANTH223, MAOR230, PACS204, SOCI223