100-level

DIGI101
Working in a Digital World
Description
This course provides students with an understanding of how the digital world is engineered, and exposes them to a range of tools commonly used by knowledge workers. Students will learn to critically evaluate systems from both a technical and human point of view.
Occurrences
Semester One 2026
Points
15 points
Restrictions
COSC 110, COSC101
DIGI102
Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Ethics
Description
Computing technology has already revolutionized our lives and shows no signs of stopping. Algorithms are everywhere. AI powered by our data are increasingly determining our lives. The implementation of this technology has leapt ahead of our understanding of its ethical, societal, legal, and political significance. From self-driving cars to autonomous weapons, data-brokers to the metaverse, no aspects of our lives will be the same again. In this class, we shall learn about, and bring together in conversation, cutting edge work from both within and outside academic philosophy concerning the challenges posed by the ever-increasing use of computing technology and A.I. Questions raised in the course include: do tech companies violate our right to privacy when they harvest our data? Can automated algorithmic decision-making deliver us a future free of human bias? How could you tell whether a computer has a mind? And is the human brain in fact a computer?
Occurrences
Semester Two 2026
Points
15 points
Restrictions
PHIL137, POLS137
DIGI103
Statistics 1
Description
An introduction to the ideas, techniques and applications of statistics and probability.
Occurrences
Semester One 2026
Semester Two 2026
Points
15 points
Restrictions
STAT101
DIGI126
Sound Technologies
Description
This course teaches practical skills in digital sound for musicians, filmmakers, game developers, aspiring "bedroom producers," and anyone interested in working with sound in the digital domain. Students learn how to match sounds with moving images, how to edit and manipulate audio files in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), and fundamental concepts and terminology that enable them to communicate effectively with music technology experts. Instruction includes lectures and hands-on studio tutorial sessions.
Occurrences
Semester One 2026
Points
15 points
Restrictions
MUSA125, MUSA126

200-level

DIGI204
Communicating with Data and Digital Media
Description
This course explores how to write clearly about numbers, data and descriptive statistics, how text is turned into data and what such ‘datafication’ implies for communication practices. The first part of the course covers writing techniques, introductory data visualisation, presentation approaches for different audiences, and issues of interpretation and bias. The second part of the course focuses on textual data more closely, introducing common methods for analysing and extracting information from texts, then turns to a critical examination of social and ethical issues that arise through data collection and analysis.
Occurrences
Semester One 2026
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 60 points at 100-level.
Restrictions
WRIT204
DIGI205
Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
Description
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide the tools for managing, analysing and presenting spatial information in an intuitive and graphical way. This course provides students with an introduction to the fundamental concepts, principles and techniques of GIS. The course examines the use of geographic technology including global positioning systems as well as GIS. It also introduces you to the development of GIS and GPS software skills, including ArcView.
Occurrences
Semester One 2026
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at 100 level from the BA, BE (Hons), BSc or Bcom.
Restrictions
GEOG205
DIGI207
Social Media
Description
This course contains practical work in the community and groupwork. The course prepares students to do public communication in a rapidly changing media environment. The first half of the course explores how a range of social media platforms work and how professional communicators are attempting to use it. Topics include networks, online community, social media analytics and social media campaigns. In the second half of the course students apply these ideas in small-group projects for a community organisation or company. This course is available only to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Communication.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2026
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
15 points COMS or 60 points BC Schedule V. Subject to approval by the Head of Department.
Restrictions
COMS222, COMS207

300-level

DIGI301
Close to the machine: digital literatures from the avant-garde to AI
Description
This course offers a wide-ranging exploration of ways in which literary reading and writing are being amplified, deterritorialised or hybridised by digital computing and the Internet. We will read a variety of combinatory writing, interactive fiction, as well as literary texts emerging from digital lifeworlds such as those of social media and software, and will examine how digital objects and processes - such as randomness, networks and machine learning - relate to narrative and poetic techniques. Alongside these, the course will consider wider cognitive and cultural implications connected to these shifts, including for literary research.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2026
Points
30 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at 200 level from DIGI or ENGL, or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
Restrictions
ENGL345

Not Offered Courses in 2026

200-level

DIGI201
Digital Cultures
Description
This course will challenge students to critically assess both digital cultures, and their relationship to them. Students will engage with digital tools they might not have experienced before, and consider how a range of digital tools enable, restrict and/or undermine their role as citizens.
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2017
For further information see DIGI201 course details
Points
15 points
DIGI202
Cyberspace, Cyborgs, and the Meaning of Life
Description
This course investigates a raft of questions - concerning mind, metaphysics, knowledge and human nature - thrown up by the ongoing revolution in information technology. These include: Might I attain immortality by porting myself into cyberspace? Am I already in cyberspace? Is the universe nothing but a computer? Should we fear a forthcoming Age of Robots? Is my iPhone part of my mind? Could a computer ever be programmed to be creative and intelligent, and to equal or exceed the problem solving capacities of the human brain?
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2019 , 2020 , 2022 , 2023 , 2025
For further information see DIGI202 course details
Points
15 points
DIGI210
Big Data and society: Navigating Concepts, Methods and Critical Perspectives
Description
Big data has gained significant attention over the last decade. But what is Big Data? The focus of this course is both theoretical and practical, first delving into concepts related to data, quantification and big data and critical perspectives from across the humanities and social sciences. The course delves into the central methods of big data, exploring simple and practical ways to use different digital data sources to analyse, visualise and tell stories with data. This practical component also considers the limitations of big data and will teach skills to critically assess data-driven methods and research.
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2023
For further information see DIGI210 course details
Points
15 points
DIGI212
Crime, Justice and Digital Society
Description
From cybercrime to ‘big data’ policing, digital technologies are reshaping crime and criminal justice practice. This course will: Introduce students to key concepts related to the intersection of crime and justice with data, quantification and digital society; Engage students with debates related to digital technologies and criminal justice through case studies of surveillance, online extremism and predictive policing; Introduce key statistics used in criminal justice policy-making, law enforcement, incarceration and rehabilitation in New Zealand and explain how these statistics are created, used and sometimes abused; Introduce data and digital literacy skills; Embed an understanding of indigenous data sovereignty; Relate theory to emerging practice by engaging students with professionals at the leading edge of digital technologies and criminal justice.
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2022
For further information see DIGI212 course details
Points
15 points
DIGI223
Text Analytics
Description
This course introduces computational methods for understanding the vast amount of information and human knowledge that has been stored as language data. This field is also known as computational linguistics or natural language processing.
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2023 , 2024
For further information see DIGI223 course details
Points
15 points

300-level

DIGI302
Cyberspace, Cyborgs, and the Meaning of Life
Description
This course investigates a raft of questions - concerning mind, metaphysics, knowledge and human nature - thrown up by the ongoing revolution in information technology. These include: Might I attain immortality by porting myself into cyberspace? Am I already in cyberspace? Is the universe nothing but a computer? Should we fear a forthcoming Age of Robots? Is my iPhone part of my mind? Could a computer ever be programmed to be creative and intelligent, and to equal or exceed the problem solving capacities of the human brain?
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2019 , 2020 , 2022 , 2023 , 2025
For further information see DIGI302 course details
Points
15 points