Victoria University of Wellington Courses

Antarctica: From Geology to Human History

4

Explore the continent of Antarctica and more than 500 million years of geological history and 250 years of geographical discovery and scientific endeavour.In this course, you will learn through lectures filmed on location on Ross Island and in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica.Cliff, an Antarctic veteran, with 12 seasons on the ice, will introduce you to some of our planet’s most remarkable landscapes—the Dry Valleys, the Transantarctic Mountains and the world’s southernmost volcanic island. At a remote field camp, he interviews fellow geologists studying fossil-rich sediments—from a time when Antarctica was 20°C warmer than today—to see what Antarctica’s past climate can reveal about what the future might hold.Rebecca, a science historian and writer who has written extensively about Antarctica, visits Captain Robert Scott’s huts on Ross Island and interviews conservators from the Antarctic Heritage Trust and scientists and logistics staff working at Scott Base and McMurdo Station. You’ll learn about the explorers and scientists from around the world who have been drawn to work and sometimes risk their lives here—from James Cook’s first venture below the Antarctic Circle, to the British scientists who discovered the ozone hole, to the first women to work on the ice.

Ethical Leadership in a Changing World

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In this era of low levels of trust, increasing cynicism, fake news and rampant uncertainty, leaders committed to an ethical approach have never been more important. But what makes an ethical leader, and why is their approach so important to organisations? This course is an introduction to the theories and practices of ethical leadership, with a focus on organisations. Drawing on New Zealand case studies — one of the least corrupt countries in the world — this course will enable you to recognise the role of ethics in organisational decision-making, analyse the actions of leaders from an ethical perspective, and learn to become a truly ethical leader yourself. Through the voices of recognised leaders from New Zealand’s private, public and NGO sectors, you will also hear about the main issues ethical leadership should address. Individuals, organisations and society all benefit from ethical leadership. In this course we will show you how and why this value-based leadership matters to us all.

New Zealand Landscape as Culture: Maunga (Mountains)

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In this course, you will learn about New Zealand’s mountains, or 'Maunga', and the cultural identities attached to them. We'll explore the lives of indigenous Māori people who trace their ancestry to their mountain, as well as the European, Pākeha people who identify with mountain culture. New Zealand was formed on the line where the Pacific Plate dives under the Australian Plate. We will investigate the unique and volatile geology that has created our mountain chain and our large geothermal fields. This geology helped spawn Māori origin narratives as well as European cultural stereotypes such as the 'Southern Man'. Māori refer to their home landscape as 'whenua'. We will take you across the whenua of these islands. New Zealand is a bicultural nation. Colonisation by the British in the nineteenth century produced a complex history and competing cultural ideas about landscape. The place of mountains in European culture led to conflicting beliefs about the ownership and status of mountains. You will hear about the Māori world view from Dr Maria Bargh (Te Arawa and Ngāti Awa), who teaches Māori culture and politics at Victoria University. Professor Lydia Wevers will introduce you to Pākehā, or European, New Zealand culture. Combined with guest appearances from other experts, the course content will encourage you to think about landscape as an expression of culture and allow you to transfer these expressions to the landscape of your own home.

Restorative Justice and Practice: Emergence of a Social Movement

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This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of restorative justice, widely regarded as one of the most important innovations in modern justice practice. Drawing particularly on the experience of New Zealand, it traces how restorative justice has grown from small beginnings into a wider social movement for change across all sectors of society, including schools, families, workplaces and community agencies.You will learn about:What restorative justice is and why it is such a significant development in recent criminal justice thought and practiceHow restorative justice emerged and spread around the world, and what the evidence is that it worksThe pioneering role New Zealand has played in incorporating restorative practices into its justice, welfare and education systemsHow restorative justice has grown from modest beginnings in the criminal justice sphere to become a global social movement for the creation of a more democratic, caring and peaceful societyThis course is for anyone committed to a more just, compassionate and peaceful world. It will be of particular interest to justice professionals, educationists, social workers, community activists, conflict practitioners and policymakers.

New Zealand Landscape as Culture: Motu (Islands)

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In this course, you will learn about the islands of New Zealand, or Ngā Motu o Aotearoa, where humans have lived for a thousand years. The indigenous Māori people of New Zealand tell a powerful origin story about our islands. New Zealanders take pride in being islanders as it is part of their story, national identityand culture. Remote from other landmasses, you will learn how the islands of New Zealand have a unique geology and form part of the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’. Our long history of remotenesshas been expressed by a New Zealand poet as ‘Distance looks our way’. But the idea of distance is a European one - who are we far away from? For the peoples of the Pacific we inhabit one group of islands in the Pacific, 'asea of Islands'. New Zealand is a bicultural nation. Māori voyagers named this chain of islands Aotearoa or land of the long white cloud. Colonisation by the British in the nineteenth century produced a complex history. You will hear about the Māori world view, and Pākehā, or European, New Zealand culture, from Dr Maria Bargh (Te Arawa and Ngāti Awa) who teaches politics in Te Kawa a Māui, the School of Māori Studies, and Professor Lydia Wevers, a specialist in New Zealand literature and history. With guest appearances from other experts, the course will also explore the geology, popular culture, politics, art and literature of landscape. You will learn to think about landscape as an expression of culture and be able to transfer these ideas to the landscape you live in. Māori refer to their home landscape as ‘whenua’. We will take you to the whenua called Aotearoa.

New Zealand Landscape as Culture: Wai (Water)

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In this course, you will learn about New Zealand’s water, or 'wai', and the cultural identities attached to them. We'll explore the lives and identities of Indigenous Māori people who can trace their ancestry to their awa, or river, as well as the European, Pākehā perspectives on water. Discussing how the different cultures interpret and relate to water.We will delve below the surface to look at the unique geology that has created our watery nation, and the taonga (culturally prized possession) found within these waters. While also investigating the political, cultural and economic dynamics of our waterways.New Zealand is a bicultural nation, and colonisation by the British in the nineteenth century produced a complex history and competing cultural ideas about landscape. The place of water in European culture led to conflicting beliefs about the ownership and status of water. This has implications today for the management of water resources, and how this can be done to ensure that cultural, economic and environmental imperatives are respected in Aotearoa New Zealand.You will hear about the Māori world view from Dr Maria Bargh (Te Arawa and Ngāti Awa), who teaches Māori culture and politics at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. Professor Lydia Wevers will introduce you to Pākehā, or European, New Zealand culture. Featuring guest appearances from other experts, this course will encourage you to think about landscape as an expression of culture, and allow you to transfer these ideas to the landscape you live in.

Antarctica Online

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This fully online course, offered by the Science in Society group and featuring lectures filmed onsite in Antarctica, examines contemporary Antarctic scientific research and places it in a wider scientific, historical, political, social and cultural context. Participants will learn to think critically about the value of Antarctic field research and to look at the different ways scientists, policymakers, journalists and artists engage with Antarctic science, and the Antarctic continent more broadly. The course consists of three two-week modules on Antarctic history, geology and culture.

Antarctica: Life on the Frozen Continent

5

Journey with us to Antarctica, as Veronika Meduna joins biologists studying wildlife, and Dr Rebecca Priestley introduces some of the researchers and artists working on the coldest, driest, windiest continent on Earth. Visit the southern-most colony of Adélie penguins at Cape Royds, where biologists have been monitoring the birds since the 1960s. Then, observe orca and Weddell seals, as well as lesser known, tiny creatures that have evolved different strategies to survive the harshest winter conditions in a freeze-dried state. Hear from natural scientists, social scientists and artists working on the frozen continent, and learn about the methods used to monitor human impact and what is being done to protect this fragile ecosystem. Through lectures filmed on location on Ross Island and in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, you’ll gain an intimate understanding of how both animals and humans adapt to life in one of the world’s harshest, and most breathtaking environments.