University of Otago

This course politics of environmental and climate (in)justice. It looks at modern theories of justice versus environmental reality, individualized property regimes versus collective good, colonialism versus te Ao Māori, positivism versus mātauranga Māori, universalism versus localism, and seeks just ways forward. Case studies will be drawn from Aotearoa and global experiences of environmental and climate injustice. It looks at the foundations of liberal political thinking and draws from critical and decolonial theory and te ao Māori in our search for useful tools to fashion just decolonial environmental politics.

The course examines the role of culture in shaping psychological processes, with particular focus on Māori world views, and Pacific cultural contexts.

The course examines New Zealand’s relations with major countries, its policies in key regions, and its position on contemporary issues in international politics. It explores how a small state navigates complex global environments where optimal outcomes are not always possible. It also provides an insider’s perspective on how strategic decisions are made, drawing on conversations with senior political leaders, diplomats, and national security officials. It analyzes how New Zealand evaluates options, develops policy, and responds to global challenges in ways that safeguard its defense, economy, and societal interests.

This course examines literary classics that have attracted controversy for reasons including political content; issues of morality/obscenity; transgressing conventions of form; polemical works; questions of authorial identity and authenticity; and controversies over prizes and literary merit.

This course examines the interactions of biological and physical processes in the ocean and how physical processes regulate productivity and distribution of organisms in oceanic and coastal ecosystems, from the microscale to the macroscale.

This course examines how basic principles of behavior analysis (e.g. operant conditioning) can be used across a range of situations to modify behavior. Situations include classroom behavior management, physical activity and exercise, child safety, and sustainability.

This course examines how magmatism has shaped Earth, how magma forms and evolves physically and chemically to make igneous rocks, and what controls its subterranean emplacement or volcanic eruption.

In this course students will develop a basic conversational fluency and proficiency in the pronunciation of the Māori language. Students will learn some basic sentence structure patterns, gaining confidence in using these patterns both in writing and in speaking, as well as aural confidence in listening to basic Māori language.

This course examines current issues in the study of psychological disorders. It presents an introduction to a range of psychological disorders of childhood and adulthood and highlights the scientist-practitioner approach that is applied in clinical psychology.

This course examines practical elements of studio-based television production.