This course introduces students to themes central to the study of the cultures of the French, German, Italian and Spanish-speaking worlds. Cultural case studies will allow students to draw out commonalities without losing sight of historical, politic...

Great Ideas is a course reflecting on some of the most exciting, important and revolutionary ideas that have shaped society and culture as it is today. It also considers how those ideas have an ongoing influence. It’s an interdisciplinary course look...

Atrocity, violence, persecution, warfare and injustice form part of the record of human history. So do attempts to redress such wrongs. The course examines historical case studies of oppression of many sorts based on race, gender, ethnicity, religion...

This course introduces students to the discipline of history through the study of colonial encounters in the greater Pacific region, drawing on experiences of indigenous peoples in Australia, the Pacific Islands, and New Zealand. Ranging from pre-con...

New Zealand's peoples occupy one of the most remote parts of the world. As an island people, their history has been one of constant connection and innovation. Surveying the dynamic movements that made Aotearoa New Zealand a destination for peoples fr...

The global catastrophes of the Great War and the 1918 influenza pandemic were followed by hope, reconstruction, crisis and conflict as the world was re-made. Taking an international approach and using as entry points the extraordinary events of 1936 ...

This course puts the early United States and Canada in the broad historical context of Empires in the Americas and indigenous societies. Topics may include: Inca and Aztec empires; Columbus and the Spanish American Empire; Salem witchcraft trials; mi...

How do Europe’s historical upheavals and contradictions inform our contemporary notions of modernity? Students will investigate the histories of the continent, and the local and global implications of Europe’s path towards modernity. Demographic chan...

World War One broke apart empires and families and fostered political, social and technological revolution. Using empire, nation, community, family and individual as frames, this global history of World War One examines the complex facets of the conf...

This course examines key developments in later medieval and early modern European history that helped to shape the modern world.

A study of popular revolt, social protest and political sedition in Britain from the sixteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century.

This course will focus primarily on three representations of the underworld: the Odyssey, Vergil’s Aeneid, and Dante’s Divine Comedy. We will trace the development of the underworld from one work to another and consider the influence of each work on ...

An introduction to Māori historical methods and practical research skills, emphasising a range of older and more contemporary methodological frameworks for the study of history.

A study of the main features of Roman social history from the time of Augustus to AD 200. Topics include class structure, law, education, the family, slavery, poverty and public entertainment. Offered in alternate years.

Workforces are changing at a rapid pace with various predictions regarding the future nature of work. In this interdisciplinary course, students will critically examine the changing nature of the work and employment from a range of perspectives inclu...

A study of the main features of Greek society with special emphasis on Athens of the Classical period. Topics include the life cycle, population, class structure, economy, democracy, slavery, warfare and festivals.

This course explores political propaganda in inter-war European society, focusing predominantly on Britain, Germany, France, the Soviet Union, Italy and Spain. It investigates techniques of persuasion in democratic and totalitarian states, examining ...

This course examines the early history of the USA as it expanded across the North American continent, became an industrial power, emancipated slaves, and dispossessed native peoples. It looks at the effects of the United States' origins in an age of ...

The course traces the historical interaction between criminalisation, punishment and the expansion and retraction of human rights in the United States from 1865 to 1975. It will include American involvement in international jurisprudence about genoci...

This course examines the history of the US as it expanded from a continental to an international power. It analyses crucial episodes in the century including the New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and the US's role in the po...

This course provides an introduction to the history of the peoples of the Pacific Islands from their initial settlement of the region to the present day. Beginning with Pacific Islanders' colonisation of the region, the course then charts Pacific Isl...

Australia and New Zealand are often described as neighbours, cousins and mates. But are we? Australia is a large and diverse country with a complex history. Students will examine aspects of Australia's past since the late 1700's focusing on themes of...

This course examines the histories of Māori and Pākehā cultural interactions during the nineteenth century. It explores relationships between identity, power and place, in both international and local forums.

This course introduces students to the digital tools and methods used by historians in producing historical scholarship, and issues surrounding ‘digital history’. Students will be introduced to writing for the web, database basics, digital mapping, a...

A study of Gandhi and his India and his influence on democratic movements in other parts of the British Empire, South Africa and the USA.

A study of late Medieval Europe and the world during the time of Christopher Columbus, and the historical processes set in motion by his four voyages to the Americas.

This course explores the relationship between History and the ‘moving image’. Drawing from case studies from four different continents, the course will engage with the theory and practice of cinema's dual role as mirror and catalyst of social trends,...

We examine the history of New Zealand’s relations with the Pacific islands from the 1890s to the 1990s through the life histories of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa and NZers in the Pacific (e.g., travellers, traders, “chiefs”, missionaries, students, pe...

This course examines the concept of race, the origins of racial thinking and the practice of racial intolerance and persecution in Europe and its colonies from 1750 to 1950. Emphasis will be given to the meanings of race through its codes: class, col...

HIST 238 examines, along chronological lines, the history of Italy from the rise of Fascism until the end of the "First Republic" and the rise of media mogul Silvio Berlusconi's "Forza Italia party", dedicating particular attention to the history of ...

This course introduces the nations of the Soviet Empire, discussing both federal regions within the USSR itself and dependent states beyond the Soviet frontier. Lectures contrast the evolution of Communist rule at the Russian core of the empire with ...

This course on the German-Speaking world starts at the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648 and concludes at the present day, and it takes the interplay between German linguistic nationalism and other political loyalties as its main theme.