Why study Indigenous Studies at Otago?

Whether you want to learn about and promote the interests of indigenous people locally, or around the world, a major in Indigenous Studies will help you achieve this.

Through this programme you will learn the value of indigenous knowledge through the critical reading and research of selected indigenous societes and cultures in both historical and contemporary contexts. You will also examine how such knowledge may help support the varied interests and needs of contemporary indigenous people and communities as they engage with and manage the issues of living in the present world in order to sustain their peoples, cultures and communities into the future.

Indigenous knowledge has its place in every aspect of society. Wherever your interests lie, Indigenous Studies complements many fields of study and work, including:

• environmental sustainability
• resource management
• policy development
• education
• historical and cultural studies
• language revitalisation
• primary healthcare and preventative medicine
• economic wellbeing
• social and community development
• social research

Indigenous Studies encourages you to explore the connectivity between these disciplines and how their methodologies and intellectual genealogies can further enable indigenous communities to determine their own futures.

Graduates develop a multi-disciplinary, culturally inflected understanding of indigenous concepts and issues, including the use of co-operation rather than competition, and the importance of relationality and respecting differences.

Career opportunities

Our students are equipped with an understanding of indigenous cultural philosophies that are relevant in a myriad of employment situations.

Graduates with a degree in Indigenous Studies have a broad interdisciplinary knowledge base, which can lead to careers in the  fields of:

• Education
• Social Work
• Business
• Law
• Policy and governance
• Waitangi Tribunal
• Foreign Affairs
• Health
• Community organisations
• Archeology