A seminar on the political and legal history of New Zealand, focusing on issues of state-formation and sovereignty
Special Topic: Constituting New Zealand: legal and political history
This course, for Honours or Master’s students, provides in-depth discussion of critical issues in the constitution of New Zealand’s political and legal landscape. We examine historical debates on the Treaty of Waitangi and native title, on New Zealand within the British empire, and as an imperial project in the South Pacific, on Australasian federation, citizenship in the twentieth century and the making of independent foreign policy among other issues. The focus is on themes of state-formation and sovereignty.
This paper is 100% internally assessed.
| Paper title | Special Topic: Constituting New Zealand: Political and Legal History |
|---|---|
| Paper code | HIST431 |
| Subject | History |
| EFTS | 0.1667 |
| Points | 20 points |
| Teaching period | Not offered in 2023 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $1,206.91 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Pre or Corequisite
- 36 300-level HIST points
- Contact
Dr Miranda Johnson - miranda.johnson@otago.ac.nz
- More information link
- Teaching staff
Co-ordinator and Lecturer: Dr Miranda Johnson
- Textbooks
- Course materials will be made available electronically.
- Course outline
Available via Blackboard.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Interdisciplinary perspective, Lifelong learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical
thinking, Cultural understanding, Research, Self-motivation, Teamwork.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this paper will:
- Have a critical awareness of key debates about state-formation, constitutional history, and significant legal and political processes in New Zealand’s past and present
- Be able to contextualise New Zealand’s political past and present in reference to debates about state formation, colonial and imperial statehood, and concepts of sovereignty from other parts of the world
- Be able to historicise and/or draw on useful historical examples in order to understand present-day debates and developments, particularly concerning Māori sovereignty and New Zealand’s location in the Pacific region
- Have learned how to carry out primary and secondary research in libraries and archives
