English

The study of politics includes not only how the political world operates, but also how it ought to operate. This course focuses on some of the most important contemporary political thoughts that have been presented within the last few decades. Topics include democratic ideal, liberalism, conservatism, socialism and communism, fascism, politics of identity, green politics, and populism.

This course covers family behaviors from a life-course perspective and an ecological system perspective. It introduces recent and hot research topics of family studies and provides a historical review on how family behaviors and policies change with the development of a society. The course provides an overview of theories, empirical research, research design, and methods under family sociology. The course follows a topic-specific and a case-specific approach to explore the diversity of life experience in the family sphere and the determinants of family behaviors. Topics include dating and mate selection, cohabitation and marriage, sexual life, parenting, work and life balance, gender and domestic work, break-up and divorce, intergenerational relationship, family policies, et cetera.

This course introduces students to cartographic theory and mapmaking via using digital technology. Topics include basic characteristics of maps; the function of general reference maps, charts, and thematic maps; major map projections;  generalization principles; qualitative and quantitative attributes at point, line, and area; general design principles; color and typography; map compilation; reproduction and copyright issues; understanding of types, sources, and meanings of spatial and other geographic data and their relevance in geographical research and practice.

This course examines the key groups of marine organisms within New Zealand’s waters, and shelf/coastal areas. Attention will be given to understanding their diversity, distribution and adaptations to thrive within the dynamic marine environment.

This course examines the theory and design of mixed reality production for application in creative and industry contexts, including the creative arts, digital storytelling, documentaries and journalism.

This course introduces students to key theoretical ideas about the growth, development, and change of urban areas. It is divided into two parts. The first part of the course provides an overview of the evolution of planning and development, with a focus on the UK from the 19th century to the 1980s. The second part of the course introduces a range of key concepts that are necessary for understanding contemporary cities, covering issues of modernist urban planning, deindustrialization, urban competitiveness, neoliberalism, urban regeneration, gentrification, creating spatial order in cities, and so on. Through discussing these topics, students develop an understanding of the evolution of urban planning and development approaches and the ability to analyze how economic, social, political, and environmental pressures shape patterns of land use in urban areas.