University of Waikato

This course examines the study of how organisms on land interact with each other and the environment. It covers a number of major concepts in terrestrial ecology, from how communities are locally structured to global patterns in species diversity. It also covers how ecological theory informs the conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems using both international and New Zealand examples.

This course examines a range of metaphysical questions that relate to our everyday lives. These include questions like: what is a border; what is a person; what are race and gender; do fictional characters like Sherlock Holmes exist; does it even make sense to ask which things (really) exist and what do we mean when we ask this sort of question; how is metaphysics related to cognitive science; how should you respond when members of another culture have different metaphysical beliefs than you do; are the concepts that we use to ask metaphysical questions the concepts that we should be using; and should we try to construct new concepts, and if so, how should we do that?

This course examines Māori, Pacific and Indigenous peoples’ philosophies and relationships with land, language, culture, resources, development and political frameworks within settler-colonial states and Pacific nations and others.

This course examines the physical processes that influence the distribution of water across Aotearoa-New Zealand. Topics covered include synoptic meteorology; cloud and precipitation formation; processes that affect the availability of water resources across the diverse landscapes of Aotearoa; river flow regimes; and the potential effects of climate change this century.