PACIFIC 211

Polynesian Warriors: Sport and Pacific Cultures

Please note: this is archived course information from 2019 for PACIFIC 211.

Description

Sport has profoundly impacted Pacific peoples and cultures, playing critical roles in everything from colonialism and education in the past, to migration and commercialization in the present. Sport has changed and has been changed by Pacific people.

The course begins with a discussion of histories of sport in the Pacific, including traditional games and the impact of colonization on sporting activities and pathways.  We then examine contemporary youth sports, including the kinds of values and behaviours sports are thought to teach and the role of sport in developing male and female gender identities among young people. We continue with discussion of how sports has become a site for articulating different kinds of cultural, racial, ethnic, and gender identities across New Zealand and the Pacific.  In the last segments of the course we analyse media representations of Pacific people in sport, including the use of Polynesian cultural practices like haka, initiatives that use sport for development in the Pacific region, and sports injuries and mental health and wellbeing.

Availability 2019

Not taught in 2019

Lecturer(s)

Lecturer(s) Dr Lisa Uperesa

Points

PACIFIC 211: 15 points

Prerequisites

15 points from PACIFIC 100, 105, 110, or 15 points at Stage I in Education, or approval of the Academic Head or nominee, or 45 points in BGlobalSt courses

Restrictions

PACIFIC 311