University of Otago

This course offers an introductory study of the biological bases of behaviour and development, neuropsychology, perception, and learning. Students explore the basic biological processes that underpin our behavior, and how scientific methods and research contribute to the study of psychology.

This course explores the power of storytelling from a cross-cultural perspective. The course examines the power of stories by looking at how they originate in various cultural contexts and analyzing how stories both interpret and transform our world. The course explores how different communities use particular types of stories and media and how stories can give a voice to those who are disempowered. Students learn old and new forms of storytelling from multicultural and cross-cultural perspectives (with case studies from Asia, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Australasia), and craft global stories.

Biostatistics (statistics applied in the health sciences) is a vital tool in the mission to improve health and well-being for all people. This course provides an introduction to the core principles and methods of biostatistics. The course provides understanding of how statistics is used to answer research questions: how to look for patterns in data and how to test hypotheses about disease causation and prevention and improvement in well-being. Topics covered include the nature of random variation, the concepts of bias and confounding, study design, data description including risks and odds, binomial and normal distributions, estimation, hypothesis testing, regression, the control of confounders, critical appraisal, and the analysis of variance.

This course explores why different species behave in different ways and why individual differences in behavior exist within species. Topics include reproduction, survival, animal communication, host-parasite interactions, and coevolution. The course takes a quantitative approach through hypothesis testing, experimental design, abstract models, and phylogenetics. A background in basic statistics is recommended.

Increasingly, scientists are being called to justify some of their practices, such as human and animal experimentation, genetic modification, use of dead human bodies, and publication of controversial work. This course covers basic ethics in science and the moral and social implications of life science for human life, particularly its earliest stages. The course provides an opportunity to examine the ethical implications of life sciences and biotechnology.

This course is an introduction to the principles, methods, and concepts of geographic information systems (GIS). The uses of spatial data for mapping, presenting, transforming, and analyzing information are emphasized.

This course centers around developing practical skills in structural geology to help understand the broad field of rock deformation. Focus is on the fundamentals of describing the geometry of structures and interpreting these in terms of the kinematics and dynamics of rock deformation. The paper aims to provide a solid base for students wishing to use structural geology in research or applied science. The paper involves some student groups conducting some unique laboratory experiments that enhance significantly student understanding of rock deformation processes and contribute to ongoing research in the department. Critical reading of scientific literature is a cornerstone of this paper.

This course is an introduction to various forms of waiata (Maori performing art) including haka from traditional to contemporary times. Students learn various waiata and haka, and are taught a Maori worldview from the basis of the Maori language and Maori customary lore as expressed through the medium of the performing arts.

This course explores the consequences of evolving communication and media technologies for cities, how they are represented, and for urban economies and ways of life. City-spaces are sites of negotiation, contestation, vacation, and entrapment for city inhabitants as they communicate and share city-space with other residents, businesses, animals, and government authorities. Students examine how our experiences of cities, their formation, and governance are influenced by communication technologies and practices.