This course begins with a brief exploration of early Christian missionary contact with Māori in Aotearoa and the translation of Te Paipera Tapu. It will examine the role that the Bible (and Christian missionaries) played in the creation and translation of Te Tiriti of Waitangi, particularly in relation to the notion of kawenata/covenant. It will explore the way in which the Bible was used to support British colonial expansion in Aotearoa and the way in which Māori subsequently employed biblical texts to denounce the injustices that accompanied the numerous instances where the treaty was breached. Finally, in light of this history, we will explore the obligation of contemporary Christians in Aotearoa to commit themselves to the process of healing and restoration in relation to bicultural partnership in this land.

This course will survey the landscape of theological studies to give students an overall understanding of the field, and its development over the years; to introduce students to basic beliefs of the Christian tradition, and to enable them to do critical theological thinking and reflection on public and contextual issues.

This course examines and explores the world through a distinctively Māori/Moana lens, where Māori /Moana language and tikanga take precedence. Students will examine the impacts of European contact on Māori/Moana societies, highlighting specifically the role of Church Missionary Societies in colonisation. Students will apply critical analysis to the Māori prophetic movements of the nineteenth century as social and political mediums of protest against colonial oppression.

This talanoa provides a place and space for inspiring the imagination in exploring and celebrating the richness, diversity and complexity of our Pasifika cultures and how Indigeneity informs (or challengers) the notion of belongings and inspires subversions. We invite proposals that explore and interrogate how the theme and subthemes intersect (or not) to inform, disrupt, shape, influence (or hinder) engagement with the world and/or subversions through the creation of new knowledge, thinking and praxis.