New Zealand Studies

This course focuses on political parties and major policy debates in New Zealand. Topics include the ideologies and action principles of major parties, shifts in inequality and the welfare state, state funding of political parties, relations between central and local government, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and environmental policy.

This course examines Indigenous, Māori ways of understanding, doing, and creating history. It also examines how Māori historical frameworks engage with the legal and political processes of the Waitangi Tribunal. 

This course introduces Kapa Haka, the Māori performing arts. It explores the origins of Kapa Haka through Māori histories and narratives. It also examines the development of Kapa Haka over time, with a focus on contemporary competition formats such as Whakataetae, as well as the fundamentals of Kapa Haka, including group singing, hand and foot coordination, and choreography, preparing learners to perform as members of a Kapa Haka group.

This course examines migration to New Zealand from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales between 1800 and 1945, situating it within the broader context of British and Irish migration and New Zealand’s role in the Age of Mass Migration. It covers factors in Britain and Ireland that encouraged emigration, conditions in New Zealand that attracted immigrants, and the migration and settler experiences of specific groups.

This course introduces the foundational concepts, histories, and contemporary realities of Māori, Pacific, and other Indigenous peoples. It explores Indigenous philosophies and worldviews, with a focus on relationships to land, language, culture, resources, development, and political systems across settler-colonial contexts, Pacific nations, and beyond. It also examines how Indigenous communities respond to climate change by drawing on ancestral knowledge and practices to advocate for environmental justice and resilience.

This course examines the ways in which Pacific peoples frame their contemporary world in the context of globalization. It also examines factors which shape contemporary Pacific life and popular culture as well as some of the challenges emanating from how Pacific peoples construct and make sense of their own and others’ historical, political, socio-cultural, economic and religious worlds.

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.