Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) in Pacific and Indigenous Studies

Summary

Postgraduate certificate provides the opportunity for continuing professional development in the same area as an original degree.

Postgraduate certificates are available to graduates who wish to build on an earlier degree, and who have appropriate practical, professional or scholarly experience. Waikato University offers specialist postgraduate certificates as well as postgraduate certificates.

The Postgraduate Certificate comprises a minimum of 60 points at 500 level or above.

Pacific and Indigenous Studies

This subject explores the knowledge, language, culture, politics, methods and theory of Pacific and Indigenous Studies, while teaching students how to interpret new ways of understanding the world.

Students of Pacific and Indigenous Studies bring a wide range of background knowledge to their studies: from Pacific students who will find their own perspectives are valued and expanded through academic study in this area, all the way through to students who might have little knowledge about the region but bring a desire to learn about where we are.

All students of Pacific and Indigenous Studies learn a lot about the region and where we are, and also practice and develop skills of critical thinking, communication, and analysis of diverse perspectives.

Unlike other New Zealand or regional universities, Pacific Studies at Waikato is paired with Indigenous Studies – because this reflects our approach to the study of the region: Pacific-centred; and guided by the ideas about culture, politics, history, arts, migration and sustainability that underpin Pacific Studies and Indigenous Studies.

Students who major in Pacific and Indigenous Studies at Waikato explore key regional and local issues related to the Pacific through a series of core papers, and also have a chance to focus on areas of their own interest through papers offered by academics working in a wide range of disciplines.

Career opportunities

• Broadcasting and Journalism
• Educationalist
• Government Policy Analyst
• International Development Practitioner
• Research Consultant