100-level

MAOR107
Te Ara o Tawhaki: Maori Thought, Beliefs and Practices
Description
This course provides an introduction to Maori knowledges and metaphysics through a study of topics such as voyaging, art and aesthetics, warfare, conflict and peace. We also look at how approaches to Maori knowledges and their impacts are critiqued.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Semester One 2025 (Distance)
Points
15 points
Restrictions
PACS102
ENGL118
Creative Writing: Skills, Techniques and Practice
Description
This course provides a grounding in the skills, techniques and tricks a writer needs to transform ideas and material into art. Guided exercises will develop students’ creative practice of observation, play and experiment; the study of selected poetry, short prose and dramatic texts will introduce diverse forms and approaches. Students will also develop a feedback and revision practice at the weekly workshops; closely and sensitively engage with both published and peer texts.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Points
15 points
HIST128
New Zealand History from Waka to Weta
Description
From the arrival of the first peoples, to the successful creativity of Weta Workshops, this course introduces the essentials of New Zealand history according to the very latest scholarship. Located at the fault lines of the past, the course mixes wars, strikes, disease, guilt and apology with utopic visions and world-leading creativity and innovation. Major themes are Maori and Pakeha conflict and collaboration, the development and tensions of a ‘new world’ colonial nation, and New Zealand’s changing place on the world stage. Through a series of innovative assignments, you will learn how to research and write history at the university level.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2025
Points
15 points
Restrictions
HIST108, HIST109, HIST124

200-level

DISC212
Screenwriting: research and story development
Description
Through the format of the short film, students will be exposed to various types of film, including narrative, documentary, and experimental films. They will then develop their own short film ideas, including initial concept or story idea, research, character exploration, dialogue, scene structure and plot development. Written work includes character profiles, plot outlines, a treatment and initial draft - or the equivalent documents relevant to a documentary or experimental film. An important feature of the course is feedback, whereby student’s critique and support each other’s projects. Finally, students will learn the essential elements of the screenplay format and deliver a completed short film screenplay.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
DISC101 and DISC102
MAOR268
Kiriata: Maori film and Media
Description
This course examines the intersection of Maori identity in film, media and other creative works. It considers the political, historical, social, cultural and ideological influences that have shaped dominant mainstream constructions and counter-hegemonic representations of Maori and indigenous peoples in film, media and creative works. It also highlights the roles of artist, director and industry to produce Maori stories and aesthetics. A number of films will be screened throughout the course.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 15 points at 100 level from CINE, MAOR, or TREO, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
Restrictions
CINE213
MAOR282
Kapa Haka - Introducing Maori Performing Arts
Description
Designed for Maori and non-Maori, performance competent and new learners, language and non-language students this course takes the class on a journey of exploration to a high level of performance. Course content includes study of the mythological and traditional origins and customs of performing arts from moteatea (traditional song), poi (ball dance), waiata a-ringa (action song), haka and the art of warfare and mau rakau (weaponry - ti rakau, titi torea, hapai rakau, taiaha, patu). The course also covers the role of male and female leaders, biographies of important composers and the renaissance of kapa haka and its place in Maori culture and society. Students learn a full performance bracket which includes a distinctive Ngai Tahu component as well as a selection of historical and sacred classic tribal anthems.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 15 points at 100 level from MAOR or TREO, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
Restrictions
TREO282, MAOR265, MAOR382, TREO382, MUSA252
MAOR285
Modern Histories of Ngai Tahu
Description
The story of Ngai Tahu is a fascinating example of a small impoverished community of tribal members who by the 1970s had been reduced to a membership of less than 400. Within two decades this tribe had emerged as one of the largest corporations in the South Island with a tribal membership of over 40,000. It is the largest land-owner in the South Island with significant interests in fisheries and tourism. Explaining how and why this happened will be one of the core themes of this course. The first part of this course will look at some of the early history of Ngai Tahu through to their movement from its pre-contact era to initial contact with early explorers, the settler government and the subsequent land transactions that ran from 1844 to 1864. The second part of this course will trace Ngai Tahu’s claim over nearly 150 years and the concurrent development and implementation of corporate structures. It will then turn to an overview of how Ngai Tahu and the Crown negotiated one of the largest Treaty settlement packages in the nation's history, but also what opportunities and challenges that brings today.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
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.
Restrictions
HIST292

300-level

PACS311
Pacific Cultural Knowledge and Digital Innovation
Description
This course explores the nexus between Pacific cultural knowledge and digital innovation, and how they relate to contemporary socio-economic and environmental challenges. The course unpacks concepts such as digital transformation, digital innovation and digital disruption in relation to Pacific cultural knowledge. It examines the use of cultural knowledge as being complementary with technology as well as the growing digitalization of Pacific life and culture across the Pacific and globally. The course looks at how the two engage with each other and how digital transformation has impacted on Pacific communities in profound ways. The course will use the transdisciplinary approach to explore these crucial issues.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2025
Semester Two 2025 (Distance)
Points
30 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at 200 level from PACS, or any 60 points at 200 level.

Not Offered Courses in 2025

300-level

TITO301
Indigenous Stories, Digital Realms
Description
This course considers the representation of Indigenous narratives within the digital world. By closely analysing a series of case studies from various media including gaming and VR (virtual realities), as well as trends in film, television, and other media, we discuss thematic and stylistic trends in Indigenous texts as well as production methods and ethics utilised in their creation and development.
Occurrences
TITO301-25S1 (C)
Semester One 2025 - Not offered
For further information see TITO301 course details
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
TITO201 or TITO202