Courses - Faculty of Arts
Pacific Studies
Stage I
Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa/Pacific Worlds
Introduces students to Pacific Studies and the worlds of Te Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa (The Pacific). Through the study of taonga or cultural treasures drawn from specific cultures and societies, insights into Indigenous Pacific knowledges and practices are developed. Spanning deep history and the contemporary moment, this course provides a critical understanding of change in the Pacific over time and space.
The Contemporary Pacific
Explores the ways in which Pacific peoples frame their contemporary world in the context of globalisation. It also examines factors which shape contemporary Pacific life and popular culture as well as some of the challenges emanating from how Pacific peoples construct and make sense of their own and others’ historical, political, socio-cultural, economic and religious worlds.
Pacific Embodied Practices
Practical and theoretical introduction to performing cultures of the Pacific with emphasis on Polynesian cultures. Basic music and dance skills are taught in practical instruction. Consideration of commonalities and differences among Pacific cultures. Academic discussion of styles, instruments, performer categories and the place of the performing arts in Pacific cultures.
Stage II
Theorising Pacific Studies
Broadens and deepens knowledge of the Pacific and fosters critical understandings of how that knowledge is created. Focuses on Pacific approaches as they theorise Pacific Studies alongside other allied disciplines, identifies the influence of Pacific thinkers and refines thinking via the critical analysis of key debates.
Prerequisite: PACIFIC 100 or 45 points in BGlobalSt courses
Pacific Innovation and Sustainability
Examines innovation and sustainability of Pacific Peoples in the Pacific and within the Pacific communities of Aotearoa. Explores the adaptability and innovation of Pacific peoples to create sustainable communities that embody both traditional cultural values and identities, and are also focused on future development, opportunity, mobility, and communal success.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed
Restriction: PACIFIC 305
Pacific Youth: Contemporary Realities in the Pacific Region
Addresses critical contemporary issues for youth in the Pacific region with a particular emphasis on Aotearoa. Throughout this course, issues around health and wellbeing, identities (ethnic, spiritual, gender), education, climate change, artistic expressions, resilience, youth engagement and risk taking behaviours will be examined, and the impacts these have upon Pacific young peoples, their families and their communities will be explored.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed
Restriction: PACIFIC 306
Topics in Pacific Arts
Surveys traditional Pacific art forms focusing on aesthetics, function and adaptation. Considers their histories, significance and sociocultural functioning within contemporary Pacific diasporas. Art forms covered as part of a changing global Pacific include body adornment, bilum (string bag), tatau (tattoo), tapa (barkcloth) and weaponry. Issues discussed include gender, power, ritual and the impact of new technologies on notions of tradition.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed
Restriction: PACIFIC 308
Gender and the Pacific in a Globalising World
Gender affects the way identity, culture and wellbeing is experienced and navigated in the Pacific. Moreover, these processes are complicated by emerging cosmopolitanisms that impact gendered bodies, cultures, institutions, nations and states. This course examines the intersections of race, sex, biology, ableism, colonialism, nationality, politics and social movements in our constructions/understanding of gender in a Pacific and global context.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed
Restriction: PACIFIC 307
Pacific Leadership: Navigators of Change
Pacific leadership has had profound effects on Pacific peoples, playing critical roles in how Pacific societies have responded to the forces of colonisation, Christianity and capitalism. The course will examine Pacific traditional leadership and contemporary leadership in areas such as politics, academia, education, the arts, sports and health, analysing changes and developments.
Prerequisite: 15 points from PACIFIC 100, 105, 110, or 15 points at Stage I in Education, Anthropology, History, or approval of Head of School or nominee
Restriction: PACIFIC 309
Pacific Embodied Practices 2
Instruction in the intermediate music and dance forms of specific Pacific nations. Practical focus on acquisition of fundamental music and dance skills, for example songs, commands, gestures, posture, costumes, discussion of styles, instruments, performer categories and the place of the performing arts in the identified Pacific cultures. Two-four music and dance items will normally be taught during the semester.
Prerequisite: PACIFIC 110 or 30 points in Transnational Cultures and Creative Practice
Polynesian Warriors: Sport and Pacific Cultures
Sport has profoundly impacted Pacific peoples and cultures, playing critical roles in colonialism and education in the past, to migration and commercialisation in the present. Sport has changed Pacific cultures and been changed by Pacific cultures. Pacific cultural encounters with globalisation, race, capitalism, migration and public discourse will be explored through the experience of sport.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed
Restriction: PACIFIC 311
Pacific Indigenous Literatures and Knowledges
Studies Pacific genres of oral literature in English translation. Genres include oratory, poetry, tales of creation, folk tales, and proverbs and sayings.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed
Restriction: PACIFIC 312
Pacific Wellbeing: Empowering Dimensions
Examines empowering notions of Pacific wellbeing for Pacific individuals, families and communities. Students explore definitions of Pacific wellbeing and the cultural concepts, models, practices and worldviews that have enhanced the overall positive wellbeing experiences of Pacific peoples across the Pacific region.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed
Restriction: PACIFIC 313
Pacific History: New Zealand in the Pacific from 1900
Explores the historical relationship between New Zealand and the Pacific from 1900 onwards. Traces the central importance of New Zealand in the history of the Pacific from the rise of New Zealand’s colonial empire, through the world wars, and towards the movement for decolonisation. Examines the continually evolving place of New Zealand as a nation in the Pacific Ocean.
Prerequisite: 15 points at Stage I in Pacific Studies or History and 30 points passed
Restriction: PACIFIC 314
Pacific Language Studies: Issues and Resolutions
Explores and researches Pacific language issues relating to language and identity, language and cultures and worldviews, language endangerment and language maintenance, Pacific language orthographies, Pacific language translation, and Pacific language teaching and learning.
Prerequisite: 15 points at Stage I in Pacific Studies, and 30 points passed
Restriction: PACIFIC 317
Stage III
NZ-Born Pacific Identities
Explores the complex issues of growing up as NZ-born persons of Pacific descent. Examines how their dual or multiple identities affect and interact with their behaviours, priorities, social relationships and their concept of self. The course will use a cross-cultural perspective, exploring ethnic identities of other minorities. The concept of inter-generational ethnic identity will also be considered.
Prerequisite: 30 points at Stage II in Pacific Studies
Advanced Pacific Studies
This is the 'capstone' course for the Pacific Studies major. It is particularly engaged with the theory and methods of Pacific Studies. Different modes of presenting Pacific Studies work, and their relevance for real world applications - from policy papers and briefings to NGO reports - are also explored. The central feature of the course is the large project to be completed by each student, which will combine knowledge taught in this course with original research.
Prerequisite: PACIFIC 200 and a minimum B– average at Stage II in Pacific Studies
Pacific Innovation and Sustainability
Examines innovation and sustainability of Pacific Peoples in the Pacific and within the Pacific communities of Aotearoa. Explores the adaptability and innovation of Pacific peoples to create sustainable communities that embody both traditional cultural values and identities, and are also focused on future development, opportunity, mobility, and communal success.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed at Stage II
Restriction: PACIFIC 205
Pacific Youth: Contemporary Realities in the Pacific Region
Addresses critical contemporary issues for youth in the Pacific region with a particular emphasis on Aotearoa. Throughout this course, issues around health and wellbeing, identities (ethnic, spiritual, gender), education, climate change, artistic expressions, resilience, youth engagement and risk taking behaviours will be examined, and the impacts these have upon Pacific young peoples, their families and their communities will be explored.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed at Stage II
Restriction: PACIFIC 206
Gender and the Pacific in a Globalising World
Gender affects the way identity, culture and wellbeing is experienced and navigated in the Pacific. Moreover, these processes are complicated by emerging cosmopolitanisms that impact gendered bodies, cultures, institutions, nations and states. This course examines the intersections of race, sex, biology, ableism, colonialism, nationality, politics and social movements in our constructions/understanding of gender in a Pacific and global context.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed at Stage II
Restriction: PACIFIC 208
Topics in Pacific Arts
Surveys traditional Pacific art forms focusing on aesthetics, function and adaptation. Considers their histories, significance and sociocultural functioning within contemporary Pacific diasporas. Art forms covered as part of a changing global Pacific include body adornment, bilum (string bag), tatau (tattoo), tapa (barkcloth) and weaponry. Issues discussed include gender, power, ritual and the impact of new technologies on notions of tradition.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed at Stage II
Restriction: PACIFIC 207
Pacific Embodied Practices 3
Under supervision of instructors, students plan, rehearse, publicise and present a public song and dance performance. Repertoire selection, costuming, and rehearsal skills will be taught.
Prerequisite: PACIFIC 210 or 30 points at Stage II in Transnational Cultures and Creative Practice
Polynesian Warriors: Sport and Pacific Cultures
Sport has profoundly impacted Pacific peoples and cultures, playing critical roles in colonialism and education in the past, to migration and commercialisation in the present. Sport has changed Pacific cultures and been changed by Pacific cultures. Pacific cultural encounters with globalisation, race, capitalism, migration and public discourse will be explored through the experience of sport.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed at Stage II
Restriction: PACIFIC 211
Pacific Indigenous Literatures and Knowledges
Studies Pacific genres of oral literature in English translation. Genres include oratory, poetry, tales of creation, folk tales, and proverbs and sayings.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed at Stage II
Restriction: PACIFIC 212
Pacific Wellbeing: Empowering Dimensions
Examines empowering notions of Pacific wellbeing for Pacific individuals, families and communities. Students explore definitions of Pacific wellbeing and the cultural concepts, models, practices and worldviews that have enhanced the overall positive wellbeing experiences of Pacific peoples across the Pacific region.
Prerequisite: 30 points passed at Stage II
Restriction: PACIFIC 213
Pacific History: New Zealand in the Pacific from 1900
Explores the historical relationship between New Zealand and the Pacific from 1900 onwards. Traces the central importance of New Zealand in the history of the Pacific from the rise of New Zealand’s colonial empire, through the world wars, and towards the movement for decolonisation. Examines the continually evolving place of New Zealand as a nation in the Pacific Ocean.
Prerequisite: 15 points at Stage II in Pacific Studies or History and 30 points passed
Restriction: PACIFIC 214
Special Topic
Prerequisite: 30 points passed at Stage II
Restriction: PACIFIC 215
Special Topic
Prerequisite: 30 points passed at Stage II
Restriction: PACIFIC 216
Pacific Language Studies: Issues and Resolutions
Explores and researches Pacific language issues relating to language and identity, language and cultures and worldviews, language endangerment and language maintenance, Pacific language orthographies, Pacific language translation, and Pacific language teaching and learning.
Prerequisite: 15 points at Stage II in Pacific Studies, and 60 points passed
Restriction: PACIFIC 217
Postgraduate 700 Level Courses
The Pacific: Interdisciplinary Studies
An examination of the ways in which the Pacific has been and is studied in the humanities and social sciences; an analysis and evaluation of views and perspectives on the development of the region and its peoples.
Pacific Language Studies
Students will research topics such as the historical origins of Pacific languages, their linguistic structure, orthographies, speech levels, sociolinguistic situation in Aotearoa including language shift, loss and maintenance, bilingualism and biliteracy, and the relationship between language, culture and identity.
Special Study
An approved research topic.
To complete this course students must enrol in PACIFIC 708 A and B, or PACIFIC 708
Intervention, Prevention and Promotion of Pacific Wellbeing
Appraises some critical issues negatively affecting Pacific wellbeing across the Pacific region. Examines both the research and systemic processes that seek to combat these adverse effects via strengths-based Pacific-focused interventions and prevention strategies, as well as other approaches that promote positive aspects of Pacific wellbeing.
Pacific Indigenous Thought
Explores the relevance and use of Pacific Indigenous ideas and ways of knowing to understand place, position, and responsibility. Examines how Pacific peoples conceive of themselves in relation and considers forces influencing how they think, and what they think, about themselves, their roles, and their connections and obligations across the Pacific region.
Special Topic: Teu le va and Pacific Research
Explores ‘teu le va,’ and how it is theorised and practised in diverse research settings. Focuses on its inception as an indigenous cultural reference and a Pacific research paradigm used by Pacific researchers and Government ministries. Provides knowledge, practical discussion and applications of ‘teu le va’ in the framing of Pacific models, methodologies, relational ethics, methods, and research design.
Pacific Research Methodologies and Practices
Analyses critical approaches to Pacific research development and evaluation of research design in Pacific Studies. Focuses on analytical engagement with a range of Pacific methodologies and methods in Pacific research. Includes application of theory to research questions and development of proposals for research that draw on Pacific world views and form a basis for robust, innovative and significant research contributions.
Restriction: PACIFIC 702, 709
The Global Pacific
An interdisciplinary approach to understanding contemporary challenges for Pacific societies, incorporating anthropological, sociological, historical, and Pacific/Indigenous Studies sources. Examines contemporary challenges and potential futures of the Pacific through a focus on the key themes of colonial legacies, globalisation, and transnationalism; the movement of people and commodities; articulations of popular culture and practice; and sovereignty, power, and movements toward indigenous resurgence.
Restriction: PACIFIC 704
The Pacific: Interdisciplinary Studies
Examines Pacific Studies as an (inter)discipline, its constituent parts, its intellectual and institutional genealogies, as well as its diversities and its challenges.
Restriction: PACIFIC 700
Pacific Policies, Pacific Peoples
Taking a transdisciplinary approach informed by Pacific scholarship, this course will critically analyse the production of policies that impact Pacific people in Aotearoa New Zealand and in the Pacific.
Restriction: PACIFIC 718
Pacific Policies, Pacific Peoples
Taking a transdisciplinary approach informed by Pacific scholarship, this course will critically analyse the production of policies that impact Pacific people in Aotearoa New Zealand and in the Pacific.
Restriction: PACIFIC 717
Research Project - Level 9
To complete this course students must enrol in PACIFIC 785 A and B, or PACIFIC 785
Dissertation - Level 9
To complete this course students must enrol in PACIFIC 792 A and B, or PACIFIC 792
Dissertation - Level 9
To complete this course students must enrol in PACIFIC 793 A and B, or PACIFIC 793
Thesis - Level 9
To complete this course students must enrol in PACIFIC 796 A and B