Haere mai, whaowhia te kete mātauranga / Welcome, fill the basket with knowledge
'Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua', look back to move forward, calls for a looking or reflecting back on Aotearoa New Zealand histories. In this course we do that by asking ‘ko wai tātou’? Who are we all, together? Where are we? What – and who – is ‘Aotearoa New Zealand’? What does it mean to belong to this place, and how has this belonging changed over time? Who have been included and excluded in these histories?
This course engages such questions by exploring Aotearoa New Zealand histories since the 18th Century. It ranges from tangata whenua worlds of hapū and iwi, to conceptions of ‘Māori’ and ‘Pākehā’, to the naming of Niu Tīreni, Maoriland, and Middle-earth. These differences reflect how communities have organised themselves (Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Kīngitanga, liberal democracy), imagined themselves and their relationships (whakapapa, religion, race, gender), and understood connections to other places (Pacific, imperial, global).
This course will interest students who seek an introduction to Aotearoa New Zealand histories, who want to think more deeply about historical practices in this place, and/or who are interested in public applications of history through communities and schools.