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Division of Humanities Departments

Division of Humanities Departments

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Apart from being able to specialise in traditional core disciplines (such as History, Philosophy and Music), Humanities students may also choose among a variety of new interdisciplinary programmes such as Asian Studies, Film and Media Studies, and Performing Arts), as well as programmes that lead to professional qualifications in Law and Teaching. Students taking Humanities at Otago are encouraged to combine their liberal studies with papers and programmes that have a professional or vocational orientation, especially by doing a double degree for example, BA/BCom, BA/LLB, or BA/BTchg(Prim).

Sub-communities within Division of Humanities Departments

Centre for Sustainability [213]
Department of English [91]
Department of Geography [210]
Department of Languages and Cultures [34]
Department of Media, Film and Communication [39]
Department of Theology and Religion [126]
Music, Theatre and Performing Arts Studies [65]
Te Tumu School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies [92]

Collections in Division of Humanities Departments

Anthropology and Archaeology [126]
Centre for Research on Children and Families [6]
Classics [27]
College of Education [97]
History and Art History [194]
Law Collection [105]
National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies [43]
Philosophy [37]
Politics [57]
Sociology, Gender and Social Work [190]
Visual Culture [2]

Recent Deposits

Fetausia'i - a servant leadership paradigm for the mission of the Methodist Church in Samoa

Latu, Latuivai Kioa (Thesis, Master of Theology, 2017)

Christian churches in Samoa today face public criticism regarding the autocratic style of leadership they have embraced and encouraged, which goes hand in hand with their lack of attention for people below the poverty line. ...
Wind flow and sediment transport through foredune notches during oblique-onshore incident winds

Simons-Smith, Tom (Thesis, Master of Science, 2017)

Coastal managers have often promoted the stabilisation of coastal dunes to protect coastal lands and infrastructure. In fact, some coasts might be better protected by encouraging the development of broader, active dune ...
He Wahine, He Whenua I Ngaro Ai? Maori Women, Maori Marriage Customs and the Native Land Court, 1865-1909.

Walter, Inano (Thesis, Master of Arts, 2017)

The aim of this study is to investigate and identify the effects the Native Land Court and native land legislation had on customary Māori marriage practices from 1865 to 1909. While researchers have produced a variety of ...
Adequate protection: an examination of transborder data protection standards in the European Union

Flood, Henry (Thesis, Master of Laws, 2017)

This paper considers the requirements of “adequate protection” of transborder data flows in the European Union.
How Franz Marc Returns

Carey, Jean Marie (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

How can we recover Franz Marc, a central figure of German Modernism, in a way that reveals new interpretations of his life and work? In this doctoral thesis I attempt to answer this question, which neither art historians ...
The Politics of Military Adaptation: The Development of a Theoretical Framework to Explain Military Adaptation's Importance to Politics

Carlini, Del (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

This thesis investigates the phenomenon of in-conflict military adaptation and its dependence on political and bureaucratic oversight of military forces. Warfare is co-evolutionary. Armed forces deal with the pressures ...
Composition and Identities

Lechthaler, Manuel (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

Composition as Identity is the view that an object is identical to its parts taken collectively. I elaborate and defend a theory based on this idea: composition is a kind of identity. Since this claim is best presented ...
Mathematics as a secondary subject: the girls' view

Hagan, Fiona (Thesis, Master of Arts, 2017)

Mathematics evokes a range of negative emotions from many girls as they struggle to see its worth. Many girls hate mathematics, they view it as unimportant and boring, and they enjoy their other school subjects far more. ...
Rural Livelihoods in Sierra Leone: Longitudinal Insights from Panguma and Kayima

Bateman, Jerram Paul (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

‘Sustainability’ has become a buzz word in development in recent decades, particularly in relation to livelihoods approaches. ‘Sustainable development’ is commonly defined as that which meets the needs of the present without ...
Motivation, Learner Attrition, and the L2 Motivational Self System: A New Zealand Study of Heritage and Non-Heritage University Language Learners

Olsen, Maxwell Francis (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

It has been said that, if sufficiently motivated, anyone can learn a second language (Corder, 1967). But it is also true that no one succeeds in learning a second language (L2) if they stop. This study investigated motivation ...
Child Sexual Abuse: Knowing and Not Knowing in Social Work Practice and Education

Beale, Sally Elizabeth (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a pervasive yet elusive social problem, arguably crossing all domains of social work practice. Within the practice sphere of mental health and addiction CSA is particularly prevalent, however, ...
Locating “I think, therefore I am” in the Meditations

Pensler, Samuel (Thesis, Master of Arts, 2017)

“I think, therefore I am” (Cogito, ergo sum) suggests a “naïve” interpretation whereby anyone who argues as follows is certain of their existence. I think. Therefore, I am. Curiously, the famous line doesn’t appear in ...
Investigating and Enhancing Willingness to Communicate and Motivational Self-System of Yemeni Rural EFL Learners

Al-Murtadha, Mutahar Ahmed (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

A major problem in second language (L2) learning and teaching is learners’ low willingness to communicate (WTC). WTC refers to the extent to which an individual is ready to initiate communication with others. Some L2 ...
The algorithmic subject: the neo-liberal apparatus and the social media technology of power.

Hacon, Christopher Laurence (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

This thesis is a Foucauldian inspired apparatus investigation that contributes to our understanding of neo-liberalism. The thesis will show that neo-liberalism has varied and, at times, contradictory relationships with ...
Runholding in the Wakatipu Basin 1900-1950

Scrivener, Ross (Thesis, Master of Arts (M.A.), 2007)

The pastoral high country, encompassing the tussock-clad hill and mountain lands running down the backbone of the South Island of New Zealand, has since the mid- 1800s been the domain of vast Crown pastoral runs producing ...
Blessings and Woes in Luke: Intertextual Echoes of Antithetical Covenant Blessings and Curses in Luke's Gospel with Particular Reference to 6:20b-26

van den Brink, Julia Remoth (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

Luke contrasts his Beatitudes with a corresponding series of Woes creating an antithesis between the eschatological fate of the blessed and those in woe. This antithesis displays similarities to the covenant blessings and ...
Changing food habits of New Zealanders of European descent 1870-1970 : an anthropological examination of the mechanisms of cultural change

Mitchell, Janet (Thesis, Master of Arts (M.A.), 1995)

Between 1870 and 1970 both the culture and food habits of New Zealand European society underwent change. In the past food habits have been examined using either an historical approach or consumption and nutritional data. ...
Power of my Maori name: Stories of indigenous struggles in white New Zealand

Stevens , Alexander Windsor (Thesis, Master of Indigenous Studies, 2012)

Every day in Aotearoa (New Zealand), people of Maori ethnicity (the aboriginal peoples of Aotearoa) will experience their indigenous names being mispronounced when accessing health and social services. The New Zealand ...
Rational economic families: social reproduction and social policy in 1980s and 1990s New Zealand

McMartin, Anna Mary (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

This thesis examines social policy during New Zealand’s era of neoliberal transformation, the fourth Labour government of 1984-1990, followed by the fourth National government of 1990-1999. It traces the shift from a ...
The Trials of Rivalry: Sino-Japanese Relations since the 1910s

Withitwinyuchon, Nutthathirataa (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

This dissertation asks a challenging question: how can we explain the origination and, more importantly, the intensification of Sino-Japanese rivalry? It elucidates what led to rivalry between China and Japan in the first ...