100-level

ANTH105
Human Evolution
Description
This course is an introduction to the biological, behavioural, and cultural evolution of hominids from the earliest evidence to the emergence of the Neolithic revolution. Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of evolutionary theory, paleoanthropology, archaeology and physical anthropology. Up-to-date knowledge about how we have become what we are today, and how such knowledge has been produced in academic research will be presented. By examining the human past, students will develop an understanding human universals and sociocultural variation, which enables us to develop a deeper bicultural understanding of Aotearoa New Zealand today.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2026
Semester Two 2026 (Distance)
Points
15 points
ANTH108
Witchcraft, Magic and The Dead
Description
This course aims to challenge taken-for-granted assumptions about witchcraft, magic and the dead, as well as introducing students to key anthropological concerns such as ritual, symbolism and religion.
Occurrences
Semester One 2026
Semester One 2026 (Distance)
Points
15 points

200-level

ANTH212
Kinship and Family in Comparative Perspective
Description
This course is designed to help students understand the importance of kinship and family in human societies and appreciate the complexities and variation in how kinship and family are conceptualized and practised in different cultures. In this course, we will discuss classic and contemporary case studies of kinship and family in cultures and societies around the world, including Africa, China, Europe, the United States, and the Pacific area (including New Zealand), to list just a few. In examining these cases and case studies, we will probe the issues of biology and culture, personhood and subjectivity, and structure and human agency in varied ways of conceptualizing and practising kinship in different cultures. This course also covers comprehensive knowledge of historical and contemporary theories and methods in kinship and family studies to help students develop critical perspectives on how kinship and family are practised in contemporary life.
Occurrences
Semester One 2026
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 15 points at 100 level from ANTH or SOCI or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
Restrictions
ANTH312
ANTH223
Ethnicity, Racism and Genocide
Description
This course provides a critical introduction to the historical and anthropological study of ethnicity, racism, genocide and migration.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2026
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 15 points at 100 level from ANTH, HIST, MAOR, or SOCI, or 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
Restrictions
HIST283, MAOR230, PACS204, SOCI223
ANTH266
The Place of Witches: An Anthropology of Witchcraft, Healing, and Magic in the Atlantic World
Description
This course explores witchcraft, healing, and magic in the Atlantic World from an anthropological perspective. It covers a series of sub-topics such as witch-hunting, the regulation of witchcraft and sorcery beliefs and practices, divination, magical landscapes, and revitalization movements.
Occurrences
Semester One 2026
Semester One 2026 (Distance)
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 15 points at 100 level from ANTH or SOCI; or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
Restrictions
ANTH366
ANTH298
Religion and Society: Why God Won't Die
Description
This course is an introduction to the Sociology & Anthropology of religion focused on thinking and rethinking religion, culture & society. Central to the discussion is why god and religion has not disappeared as was predicted in much modern social theory. In considering this question, the course provides a critical discussion of the ways religion, god and religious practices have been thought, dismissed and applied over the past 150 years within the Sociology & Anthropology of Religion.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2026
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 15 points at 100 level from ANTH or SOCI, or any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
Restrictions
SOCI278, SOCI292, SOCI392 in 2012

300-level

ANTH301
Doing Ethnography: Concepts and Practices
Description
Ethnography is a research procedure central to the discipline of anthropology. It has also become an essential research method for many other fields in social sciences and humanities. This course aims at helping students understand the basic principles and praxis of ethnography. For this purpose, this course is designed as a combination of both theory and practice. Through lectures and assigned readings, this course addresses theoretical reflections by scholars on the epistemological, political and ethical implications of ethnography. This course also has a mock ethnographic project in which students work through major steps of doing ethnography.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2026
Points
30 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at 200 level from ANTH or SOCI, or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
ANTH312
Kinship and Family in Comparative Perspective
Description
This course is designed to help students understand the importance of kinship and family in human societies and appreciate the complexities and variation in how kinship and family are conceptualized and practised in different cultures. In this course, we will discuss classic and contemporary case studies of kinship and family in cultures and societies around the world, including Africa, China, Europe, the United States, and the Pacific area (including New Zealand), to list just a few. In examining these cases and case studies, we will probe the issues of biology and culture, personhood and subjectivity, and structure and human agency in varied ways of conceptualizing and practising kinship in different cultures. This course also covers comprehensive knowledge of historical and contemporary theories and methods in kinship and family studies to help students develop critical perspectives on how kinship and family are practised in contemporary life.
Occurrences
Semester One 2026
Points
30 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at 200 level from ANTH or SOCI, or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
Restrictions
ANTH212, GEND218, GEND318, SOCI212, SOCI312
ANTH326
Food Systems, Sustainability & Social Change
Description
This course will focus on building understanding of contemporary debates about food, sustainability, and society by exploring contemporary food systems and efforts to transform them. We will examine a range of socio-environmental challenges relating to food's production, distribution, consumption, and waste. How these challenges are framed and analysed will be critically considered using sociological approaches that draw out social, cultural, political, economic, and ethical dimensions. We will then explore social action aimed at improving the sustainability and/or justice of food systems' structuring, governance, and/or practice. Local, national, and international examples will be used to ground our examinations of these efforts. More specific approaches or actions discussed may include regenerative agriculture, corporate concentration, food redistribution, alternative proteins, food sovereignty, application of Maori principles to food systems, among other things. Combining in-class and field experiences, as well as a social action project, the course is designed to foster critical thinking and motivate community engagement for transforming food systems.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2026
Points
30 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at 200 level from ANTH or SOCI, OR any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
Restrictions
SOCI406; SOCI377
ANTH366
The Place of Witches: An Anthropology of Witchcraft, Healing, and Magic in the Atlantic World
Description
This course explores witchcraft, healing, and magic in the Atlantic World from an anthropological perspective. It covers a series of sub-topics such as witch-hunting, the regulation of witchcraft and sorcery beliefs and practices, divination, magical landscapes, and revitalization movements.
Occurrences
Semester One 2026
Semester One 2026 (Distance)
Points
30 points
Prerequisites
P: Any 30 points at 200 level from ANTH or SOCI, or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
Restrictions
ANTH266

Not Offered Courses in 2026

100-level

ANTH104
Indigenous peoples, development and anthropology
Description
This course provides a critical view of the contemporary and historical situation of indigenous people in New Zealand and elsewhere. The course pays attention especially to the wider socio-political and economic contexts that indigenous people have experienced and continue to live in. This includes questions relevant to colonial and post-colonial contexts, the relationship between indigenous people and the modern nation-state, and their position within a globalized world. The question of cultural survival is addressed through analyses of genocide and ethnocide, constructions of identity (including bi-cultural identity), and the nature and extent of appropriation and modification of culture by both indigenous peoples and those with whom they have political and economic relationships. The nature and effects of hegemonic rule, accommodation of new cultural elements, subaltern resistance and the development of new identities and movements, are also included. The course illustrates that indigenous people are not simply victims of oppression and marginalization, but self-conscious actors who in all periods of history and with different means have - more or less successfully - resisted structures of power and domination and fought for their rights.
Occurrences
Not offered 2026
For further information see ANTH104 course details
Points
15 points