Course details

Summary

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) is Otago's most flexible undergraduate degree programme, enabling students to study from a selection of more than 40 arts and social science subjects, as well as papers offered elsewhere in the University. Academic breadth is complemented by in-depth knowledge gained through majoring in one or two subjects with the option of minors in one or two others.

Students are taught by research-active scholars, are expected to undertake a diverse range of learning tasks and are challenged to develop their intellectual independence. Graduates of the programme are well-informed, versatile, independent thinkers with the information literacy, communication, research and interpersonal skills necessary for a career or further academic study. The completed BA is an entry qualification for the PGDipArts in the major subject of the degree.

Gender Studies

Gender is a complex element of social and cultural existence with far-reaching implications for the course of our lives. It shapes the work we do and how we spend our leisure time, our income, our family relationships and friendships, the value and meanings we attach to other people and activities, what we eat and how we dress, and even how we speak and move. In the last few decades, theoretical and everyday notions of gender have undergone dramatic changes, influenced both by changes in the organization of society and by a rapidly expanding field of critical inquiry.

This new field of inquiry concerns broad questions of difference - race, class and sexuality, for example, as well as gender. It is at the forefront of significant critical and theoretical developments in the Social Sciences and Humanities.

Our students currently combine their Gender Studies major with subjects such as English, History, Political Studies, Law, Anthropology, Art History, Education, and others. The staff work in an interactive way, and prefer informal teaching methods. Our Research Seminar series, bringing together research from across the University and from visiting speakers, is open to students.

Programme Requirements

100-level

• GEND 101 Gender in Everyday Life
• GEND 102 Bodies, Sexualities and Selves

200-level

• GEND 201 Introduction to Feminist Theory
• Two of GEND 205, GEND 206, GEND 207, GEND 208, GEND 209, GEND 210, one of which may be replaced with ANTH 205, ARTV 202, CHIN 241, CLTE 204, GEOG 210, HIST 215, HIST 234, MFCO 212, POLS 202, RELS 209, or SOCI 205

300-level

Four of GEND 305, GEND 306, GEND 307, GEND 308, GEND 309, GEND 310, GEND 311, GEND 334, one of which may be replaced with ANTH 316, ANTH 322, ANTH 327, ARTV 302, ARTV 305, ARTV 306, EDUC 318, MFCO 301, RELS 309, or SOCI 302 or SOCI 305

Plus

198 further points; must include 54 points at 200-level or above.

Up to 90 points may be taken from outside Arts

Entry criteria

The minimum requirement for students is the completion of a high school qualification plus satisfactory completion of one year's study at an approved tertiary institution or successful completion New Zealand Foundation Year programme.

We also accept the following International qualifications: International Baccalaureate: IB Diploma with a minimum of 26 points; GCE Advanced Levels: minimum grade of 8.

English Language Requirements:

IELTS score of 6.0 in the academic module (with no individual band below 6.0); Internet-based TOEFL Score of 80 (writing 20); Paper-based TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score of 550 (TWE 4.5); CIE Cambridge International Examinations Grade E or better in AS English; Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) - Overall score of 176 (with no individual band below 169); Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) - Overall score of 176 (with no individual band below 169); GCE 'A' Level or 'AS' Level English Language or English Literature - grade C or higher; GCE 'AS' Level General Paper (English) - grade C or higher; APIEL (Advanced Placement International English Language) Examination - grade 3 or higher; IB International Baccalaureate - English at Higher or Standard level in Language A: literature, Language A: language and literature, or at Higher level in Language B; Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic - Overall score of 58 with no communicative skills score below 50.