Course syllabus

 

 

SEMESTER 1, 2020

15 points

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Teacher: Dr Simon Barber

Course delivery format:

2 hours of lectures and 1 hour of tutorial

(Timetable and room details can be viewed on Student Services Online)

Summary of Course Description:     

Students in this course will be asked to begin with themselves. This will involve situating themselves within the webs of relationships they inhabit, naming and engaging with injustices that they feel responsibility towards, and thinking about how their own study and practice might work towards addressing those injustices. Our inquiry is grounded in the concept of  ‘whakapapa’, which is the philosophical framework of tikanga and the heart of mātauranga Māori. We understand our present experiences by tracing their whakapapa through history, to understand the relationships and interrelation between various entities and processes over time. We first survey some contemporary thinkers that describe forms of injustice, and then attempt to imagine some of the contours of what social justice might look like and how it might be reached. We then develop a detailed whakapapa of colonisation, of which globalisation is a recent aspect. In this process we pay particular attention to the arrival and continuation of colonisation in Aotearoa. We conclude by attempting to imagine what a fulsome social justice would look like here, in Aotearoa, in light of the history of colonisation.

 Course outcomes:

A student who successfully completes this course will have the opportunity to:

• Think critically about colonial contexts from a range of perspectives. 
• Learn to situate themselves and the theory they encounter on the course in relation to the place of their thinking and learning. 
• Develop a detailed knowledge of the history and present of the colonisation of Aotearoa.
• Better understand existing struggles for social justice and how they might act effectively within them.

Assessment Summary:

5% in-class test in week 3

10% in-class test in week 6

35% 2000 word essay due week 10

50% 2 hour exam

Kaupapa

Whakapapa -  A conceptual orientation whereby we acknowledge the intergenerational interconnectedness of all things. 

Whanaungatanga - Flowing from our understanding of whakapapa we acknowledge the importance of building and maintaining relationships, care for each other, and working collectively. 

Mana - The combination of our power and ability to act as well as a measure of our social standing. Our actions should acknowledge and enhance the mana of ourselves and others. There are consequences for actions that fail to do so. 

Rangatiratanga - In full acknowledgement of our interconnectedness we also maintain our independence as learners and our responsibility to act as rangatira (leaders) of our learning process. Good leadership also takes account of the needs, abilities, and mana of the group.

It is the duty of everybody in the classroom to uphold the individual and collective mana of the group. Our actions, including speech, should acknowledge and enhance the mana of ourselves and others. There are consequences for actions that fail to do so. Actions that diminish the mana of others include any practice which aims at bullying, excluding, marginalizing, harassing, discriminating against, rendering insecure, exploiting, criminalizing, terrorizing, or harbouring exterminatory fantasies against an identity group of people imagined as sharing a common determining feature. Speech or actions that are, for example, knowingly racist, sexist, ableist, ageist, homophobic or transphobic are completely unacceptable in the classroom.     

While free speech is a fundamental right in a democracy and we encourage respectful debate and discussion of diverse ideas, an abstract idea of free speech in general cannot and must not be used as a cover for specific instances of hateful speech or discrimination. Students in the course are expected to respect all other students and staff. If you witness hate speech or discrimination you are encouraged to raise this with the lecturer, your tutor or the University Proctor.

Weekly Topics:

Introduction

Week one: Whakapapa

Social Justice

Week two: Decolonisation 

Week three: Commons/Undercommons, In-class test (20 mins)

Week four: Colonial Carceralism/Carceral Capitalism

Week five: Feminist and Queer studies of the settler colonial

Week six: In-class test (1 Hour)

Colonisation

Week seven: Commodification of the Whenua in Te Waipounamu

Week eight: Primitive accumulation

Week nine: Racial Capitalism

Week ten: Gendered Capitalism

Week eleven: Globalisation

Conclusion

Week twelve: Whakapapa and the social. Summary of the course. Exam preparation.

 

Workload and deadlines for submission of coursework:           

The University of Auckland's expectation is that students spend 10 hours per week on a 15-point course, including time in class and personal study. Students should manage their academic workload and other commitments accordingly. Deadlines for coursework are set by course convenors and will be advertised in course material. You should submit your work on time. In extreme circumstances, such as illness, you may seek an extension but you may be required to provide supporting information before the assignment is due. Late assignments without a pre-approved extension may be penalised by loss of marks – check course information for details.