This is an interdisciplinary, skills-based course that takes students through a special research topic, with input from various disciplines within Arts and Arts related faculties. A broad theme is examined from different angles by a number of guest lecturers. The course focuses on research and communication skills and the introduction of different disciplinary approaches from the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
A key aim is the consideration of the ways different academic disciplines can, in their own unique ways, work complementarily to enrich our understanding. Themes are designed to pique the interests of students through close examinations of identities, societies, and the impact of the stories we tell about these things. The theme is subject to change. Approaches that have been examined to date include History, Sociology, Criminology, Psychology, Law, Pacific Studies, Maori Studies, Statistics, Media Studies, Theology and Religious Studies, Classics and Ancient History, Art History and Architecture.
By the end of the semester students will:
Have been introduced to different disciplinary approaches to the complexities of identity.
Better appreciate how different disciplines address and analyse a common topic from very different perspectives
Have been introduced to theoretical, historical and contextual material on the ways social anxieties are expressed and critiqued.