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.

History

History moves like tectonic plates: mostly imperceptibly, but sometimes with astonishing ruptures. What kinds of historical shifts lie behind a Brexit, a Trump, or a Treaty of Waitangi for that matter? What counts as historical truth in a world of ‘alternative facts’? Studying history provides students with a deep feeling for the ways time has shaped today’s complex world, and the intellectual tools to tackle an enticingly wide range of professional and career challenges.

Programme Requirements

100-level

• Two 100-level HIST papers
• Any 100-level ARTV paper may be substituted for one 100-level HIST paper.

200-level

• Three 200-level HIST papers
• Any 200-level ARTV paper, CHIN 244 Writing China: Texts, Ideas and History, CHTH 206, The Reformation, ENVI 211 Environmental History of New Zealand, ENGL 215 The Anglo-Saxons: An Interdisciplinary Approach, or MAOR 207 Ngā Kōrero Nehe - Tribal Histories, may be substituted for one 200-level HIST paper.

300-level

• Four 300-level HIST papers
• Any 300-level ARTV paper, CHIN 344 Writing China: Texts, Ideas and History, or MAOR 307 Te Tūtakitanga o Ngā Ao e Rua, may be substituted for one 300-level HIST paper.

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.