Course syllabus

SEMESTER 1, 2019

30 points

 Course Convenor: Professor Tracey McIntosh, t.mcintosh@auckland.ac.nz

 Teacher: Professor Tracey McIntosh

 Course delivery format:

Depending on the numbers of students involved it will be either a seminar based programme or a directed study based programme 

 Summary of Course Description:              

The course will explore issues of significance to Māori and Indigenous peoples. Students will gain an understanding of key concepts and contemporary developments in Indigenous societies and a critical perspective of the relationship between Māori and the state. This course blends seminars, wananga based programme and independent study. As a postgraduate course it does mean taking a real responsibility for your learning and sharing this with the collective.

Politics and policy impacts on our everyday life. For Māori and other Indigenous peoples in settler states it is likely to shape the lives across generations in significant ways. Who determines policy? How do changes in social welfare regimes, tax policy or justice policy shape our lives differentially? Who determines what is sustainable or what are good health outcomes? Can you have good policy that produces terrible outcomes? Can good politics lead to bad policy?

Students will critique a range of readings, make oral presentations based on critical evaluations of policy, and give a seminar based on close readings as well as write a research essay that will be novel, centre Indigenous perspectives and theories and have engaged well with the subject matter.

The final research essay should show the following:

• Conversant with some of the major theoretical orientations and bodies of research in the research area
• Can summarise the key debates which have taken place between protagonists of the different theories, discourses, or paradigms in the field
• An ability to evaluate critically the findings and discussion in the relevant literature
• Is independently able to locate and access relevant resources using the university library data bases and other relevant
• Evidence of independent thought
• Confident handling and analysis of primary source material, as well as secondary
• An ability to formulate and support with evidence a sustained argument
• Can write in a scholarly manner in terms of technique, substance and style, using an accepted method of referencing and documentation
• Mastery of the conventions of the discipline, including style and presentation

The purpose of this course is to be aware of positionality, recognise the power dynamics between Māori and the state and the way that this informs policy decision making. It will also allow close analysis of policy documents.

Policy Paper Presentation                             20%

Policy Brief                                                   20%

Seminar                                                         20%

Research Essay                                             40%