Victoria University of Wellington

This course explores American literature of the 19th century with special attention to major works and writers. Topics include gothic, race, indigenous populations, transcendentalism, and national identity through a range of literary forms, including poetry, short stories, novels, and the essay.

This course introduces the practice of digital asset creation and animation for narrative media. The course develops basic skill sets central to animation and visual effects production, including polygonal modelling, surface shading, texturing, lighting, and animation using 3D digital content creation software. Practical skills are complemented with design principles and technical concepts related to this studio practice.

This course explores the understanding of landscape and site analysis/development. Focus is on the testing and development of ideas involving experimentation with various iterative design strategies for testing designs, and informing the creation of critically aware design solutions. Students work on creative processes that involve physical model making, line drawing, and montage. Through these processes students explore the relationship between form and environment. The three projects in this studio course explore site, light, thermal, and acoustic environments.

This course provides an introduction to the fundamental skills in sound engineering, recording, synthesis, and production. Students learn a range of basic music technology skills that can be used in disciplines such as audio production and post-production, as well as sound design and synthesis for electronic music production, film, and game audio.

This course examines the histories of Maori and Pakeha cultural interactions during the nineteenth century. It explores relationships between identity, power and place, in both international and local forums. It begins in the late eighteenth century and ends in the early twentieth century. Themes include: ways of knowing the past; Maori social systems; early cultural encounters and exchange; intimate relationships; fatal impact ideology; Te Tiriti o Waitangi; Maori commercial activities; the New Zealand Wars and forces of colonization; Pakeha settlement; Maori prophetic movements; Te Arawa and the international tourist trade; modern Maori leadership; the Native school system; New Zealand's overseas empire.

Introduction to Pacific Studies and Culture. This is a survey course on a range of Pacific nations, covering socio-cultural, geographical, economic, and historical issues including indigenous perspectives. This course is a journey through the immense geographic, historical, cultural, political and economic diversity of the Pacific Islands region. A particular focus of this course is on the intellectual and academic heritage of Pacific Studies, so questions of what it means to study the Pacific when the university is our anchor are explored.

Maori have always been scientists and this science enabled them to adapt to, survive and thrive in the landscape of Aotearoa. This course examines how, by looking at matauranga and putaiao Maori (Maori knowledge and science) in both traditional and contemporary contexts. It examines the differences and similarities between Western and Maori ways of knowing. Workshops and field trips on topics such as hangarau (technology) and rongoa (medicine) allow students to engage with matauranga and putaiao in practical ways.

This course examines the major challenges, transformations, and debates in contemporary social policy. Topics include growing social inequality, unemployment, drug legislation, the housing crisis, or the environment. The course focuses on theoretical explanation, examining why social policy is implemented as it is in today’s society. It analyzes policy and discusses how activists, social entrepreneurs, and policy makers can participate in the policy process and advocate for progressive change.

This course examines the major influences on and developments in feminist theory and gender and sexuality studies up to the present day. Topics include gender and sexual difference and diversity; sexual politics and sexuality; the relationships between gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and class; and postmodernism and post-feminism. These topics are explored in a global and cross-cultural context, through close engagement with the writings of key thinkers in the field.