HISTORY 262

Social Welfare in New Zealand, 1840-2000


Please note: this is archived course information from 2018 for HISTORY 262.

Description

The goal of this course is to enhance your understanding of New Zealand society and politics, past and present. The nature of the provision made for poorer and disadvantaged members of society reveals much about dominant social attitudes and prevailing ideologies. In this course we will investigate the changing nature of social welfare, both state and voluntary, and the reasons why certain social concerns were at the forefront of public attention at different times. We will examine the ongoing debates between community and individual responsibility for maintaining well-being. Current political and social policy debates will be viewed in their historical context.

The course will increase students’ ability to assess critically the different ways of writing history and different interpretations of the past. Various perspectives on the writing of medical history will be discussed and analysed.

 Skills

This course aims to build on students’ skills of historical understanding and communication. These include:

  • An awareness of historiographical debates, an ability to assess them critically in relation to the sources on which they are based
  • An ability to access information and use it constructively to formulate arguments in a logical way
  • Ability to engage in scholarly debate and communicate effectively on historical issues in small group discussions

This course (HISTORY 262) is taught concurrently with HISTORY 362. Students should be aware that the course requirements, assessment tasks and expectations of achievement for the two courses are different even though the lectures are common to both courses. If you are enrolled in HISTORY 262 be sure that you comply with the requirements at 200-level History.

View the course syllabus

Availability 2018

Semester 1

Lecturer(s)

Coordinator(s) Professor Linda Bryder

Points

HISTORY 262: 15 points

Prerequisites

15 points at Stage I in History and 30 points passed, or SOCSCIPH 200 and 30 points passed

Restrictions

HISTORY 362