New Zealand’s first university and ranked in the top 1% of universities in the world. Otago offers international students an unrivalled campus experience and a vibrant, social student culture. Our campus is in the heart of the city with over 150 student clubs and societies to get involved in; nature is also on your doorstep.
Otago prides itself on its warm and approachable style of teaching. Lecturers and supervisors are readily available and willing to help. We have genuine world-class teaching and research labs, performance spaces, lecture theatres, study areas, and sporting facilities.
Academic: GPA of 3 or above on their studies to date
English Language:
– IELTS: 6 (no band score less than 5,5)
– TOEFL iBT: 90 (writing scores minimum 20)
– Duolingo English Test: not accepted)
15 July 2024 – 09 November 2024
Applicants 2023
Regular Applicants : 73 students
GPA : 2.97-4.00
TOEFL iBT Score : 60-114
IELTS Score : 6-8
Duolingo English Test Score : –
Awardees 2023
Regular Awardees : 10 students
GPA : 3.29-3.95
TOEFL iBT Score : –
IELTS Score : 6-8
Duolingo English Test Score : –
Available Courses
“Current issues and solutions in agriculture, including social, commercial, and environmental aspects, and the role of science and technology for driving innovation.
This paper will focus on how science and innovation can provide solutions to our biggest challenge – how to sustainably feed a world population that is expected to grow to nearly 10 billion by 2050 – with no more land available for agriculture.
Coping with climate change and reducing the environmental impact of farming will require innovative solutions, new expertise and ways of thinking.
AGRI 101 will focus on the role of scientific innovation, but will also provide an understanding and appreciation for agriculture in a broader context including economic, social, cultural, and environmental aspects. Māori perspectives relating to agriculture and the importance of Māori throughout the primary sector will be woven into the fabric of the course, providing students with an ethical framework to consider environmental impacts.
An introductory study of the biological bases of behaviour and development, neuropsychology, perception, and learning.
Psychology provides answers to questions like “”Why do we do the things that we do?”” or “”Why do we think about the world this way?””
essential for students intending to pursue a career in psychology, and they also complement studies in wide range of areas (e.g. neuroscience, health sciences, education, law, social work, sociology, anthropology, management, marketing, history).
Students who successfully complete the paper will demonstrate understanding of the basic biological processes that underpin our behaviour and understanding of how scientific methods and research contribute to the study of psychology.
Introduction to the business environment of New Zealand, including important defining characteristics, social and environmental implications of business decisions, and an appreciation of bi- and multi-cultural frameworks as they affect business.
BSNS 111 – Business and Society will dive into the business environment of Aotearoa New Zealand and explore its defining characteristics. You’ll also learn about the social and environmental implications of business decisions and gain an appreciation for the bi- and multi-cultural frameworks that shape the way businesses operate.
Through engaging discussions and real-world case studies, you’ll develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will be essential for success in any professional field. Additionally, you will gain a deeper understanding of how businesses can function in a socially responsible and sustainable manner.
This paper aims to introduce students to the theory and practice of effective science communication, including the tools to be a creative and powerful communicator in the modern world. Students will gain an enhanced ability to communicate information, arguments and analyses effectively, through oral presentations, creative non-fiction writing, and through digital media. They will emerge with a diverse set of graduate attributes, including: global perspective; a strong interdisciplinary perspective; scholarship; knowledge of ethics in science communication; skills in critical thinking and information literacy; and the capability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team.
An introduction to the social scientific analysis of culture, society and identity, including issues of identity politics, socialisation, the self in everyday life, stigma, the politics of ethnicity and the social dynamics of power.
This paper introduces students to a range of key themes in the discipline of sociology. While it serves as a foundational paper for students who wish to major in sociology, many of the topics will complement the interests of students who are enrolled for degrees in Humanities, Law, Health Sciences, Commerce and Sciences. We will address the social processes of socialisation, social interaction and identity construction; core aspects of institutional life, such as the family, religion, education, politics and the economy; as well as drivers of social change, such as urbanisation, sustainability, globalisation and social movements.
Discover Earth’s past, explore its present, and help shape the future; learn about dynamic processes that shape our planet. Field trips around local Zealandia – Earth’s youngest, most active continent.
This paper introduces geological reasoning applied to current environmental and resource challenges such as climate change, sustainability, and natural hazards. To understand how Earth and humanity will respond to these challenges, we must look to past periods of global change captured by the geological record. Integrated field and laboratory investigations are used to inform understanding of the spatial and temporal scales of Earth processes, and the ways in which they shape Earth and our lives. This paper serves as an essential foundation for all natural and environmental sciences, and anyone wanting to make informed decisions about Earth and its resources.
Toggle ContentIntroduction to concepts central to understanding market economies, including allocation of scarce resources, consumer and business reactions to changing market conditions, and the application of economic principles to personal and business decision-making.
Have you ever stopped to wonder at how easy it is, given you have the cash or credit, to go out and buy almost anything you want? How is it that such a wide range of goods and services are produced in roughly the right amounts, often at surprisingly low cost, and then distributed to the people who want them?
This paper builds an understanding of how, and how well, our market-oriented economy gets this done. We use a variety of simple yet revealing graphical models to study the mechanics of markets and the market system and to evaluate market outcomes. We identify factors that can inhibit markets functioning and evaluate public policies used to counteract these inhibitors, both in individual markets and in the macro economy. In particular, we study issues around international trade, business strategy, competition policy, the environment, taxation, and cycles in exchange, interest, unemployment and growth rates.
Influence people and captivate colleagues: master the basics of speaking persuasively, listening actively, reading critically, and writing powerfully.
This paper prepares students for the crucial written and oral communication skills needed to succeed at university and in the workplace. Students learn essential elements of writing and speaking, including effective letter and email writing, persuasive presentations, active listening, and the basics of English grammar
Students who successfully complete this paper will:
Have an adequate understanding of English grammar
Have acquired skills to write clearly and concisely
Be able to read texts critically
Be able to write formal letters at a professional level
Have learned features of interpersonal communication
Have acquired techniques to speak confidently to an audience
We face significant challenges including population growth, uneven development, over/under consumption, climate change, poverty, racism, and food security. Human Geography helps us to understand these challenges and imagine sustainable futures.
Climate change, environmental degradation, pollution, violence, poverty, racism and food security are all pressing global and local issues that have implications for peoples’ everyday lives. Human geography explores these issues, identifying the root causes, and posing solutions. Geographers draw on a range of concepts based on peoples’ relationships with the environment or places they live, and how being in different places and contexts shapes the problems, how they are experienced and the solutions posed. We explore how change is possible even when some of these crises seem overwhelming.
Human geography is highly relevant to contemporary issues, and in this course, we will use a variety of case studies to help you develop your geographical knowledge, and your analytical and problem solving skills. These skills are of value to a range of professions, including (but not limited to) policy makers, planners, community developers, politicians, resource and environmental management consultants, local authority officers, and researchers.
Being human, and humane, in a world where worlds collide. An introduction to cultural studies of globalisation, multiculturalism, tourism, media.
This paper introduces students to the study of human life from the global and local perspectives of socio-cultural anthropology. Using New Zealand and international studies, we explore together the distinctive characteristics of our field with its focus on tolerance, its celebration of human difference, its attention to the necessity for decolonisation and defamilarisation of our taken for granted worlds, and our use of empirical fieldwork to create contemporary theories of power, values, identities, societies and cultures. We explore a human and humane response to the following questions: How do/how should we live with globalisation? What would a fully globalised world look like? How does one account for enduring cultural diversities? What are the relationships between, on the one hand, the mental/spiritual/cultural and, on the other, the physical/material/fiscal components of human realities?
Explores fundamental components of ICT and related issues. Examines the influences and impacts ICT has and may have in the future. Students will apply widely-used software applications to perform real-world business activities.
COMP111 aims to enhance the capacity of students to benefit from information and communication technologies, and various software applications now and in the future.
https://www.otago.ac.nz/info-science/study/papers/COMP111.pdf
An introductory study of the biological bases of behaviour and development, neuropsychology, perception, and learning.
Psychology provides answers to questions like “Why do we do the things that we do?” or “Why do we think about the world this way?”
essential for students intending to pursue a career in psychology, and they also complement studies in wide range of areas (e.g. neuroscience, health sciences, education, law, social work, sociology, anthropology, management, marketing, history).
Students who successfully complete the paper will demonstrate understanding of the basic biological processes that underpin our behaviour and understanding of how scientific methods and research contribute to the study of psychology.
Individual and group behaviour, communications, and the management of operations and human resources within organisations
Upon successful completion of this paper, students will be able to:
Demonstrate an understanding of key concepts introduced in the paper pertaining to the tasks of managing and organising within a range of contexts
Characterise a managerial context and offer an evaluation (defending opinions by making judgements about information, validity of ideas or quality of work based on a set of criteria) of what the organisation or management faces and how they might now act or respond
Synthesise key concepts introduced in the paper regarding organisations, the role of the manager and the act of leading and managing individuals in teams and groups within an organisation
Demonstrate research skills, including the systematic search for relevant information, selection of pertinent material to build an argument, the vetting of research quality and accepted practices for the use of research (e.g. referencing)
Demonstrate competency in scholarly verbal communication skills in the form of a formal team presentation
Demonstrate competency in scholarly written communication practices in the form of a formal business report
Demonstrate a deep understanding of ethical issues that relate to organising and managing
An introduction to the theory and practice of Māori culture and society in traditional and contemporary contexts.
A basic understanding of Māori cultural concepts and the historical context within which Māori society has developed to its contemporary position is critical to New Zealand’s development. A student who completes this paper will be equipped with the knowledge and cultural awareness to participate more fully in New Zealand society. The student will also develop a broader indigenous perspective that can be applied globally.
On completion of this paper, students will be able to:
Demonstrate knowledge of the Māori worldview and an understanding of the development of Māori society
Apply an understanding of concepts prevalent in a Māori worldview in assessing actions and events in New Zealand’s history
Critically discuss the impact of the colonisation on the development of Māori society
Demonstrate knowledge of Māori society from an indigenous perspective as it exists in a contemporary context
An introduction to physical, chemical and biological processes and their co-dependencies in the global ocean system.
A varied and exciting introduction to the diversity of disciplines that constitute marine science. In this paper we investigate a series of important biological processes and how they interact with each other. We focus first on how the oceans came to be. We then delve into marine biodiversity and ecology, with fascinating lectures on plankton, invertebrates, marine birds and mammals. We then discuss how these groups detect and respond to changes in their environment. Lastly, we examine the enormously valuable resources extracted from the ocean, such as fisheries and aquaculture, and, consequently, how human activities are threatening the marine environment. The lectures are complemented by hands-on practicals and field-trips utilising the University’s research vessels.
An introduction to the marketing environment, customer types, buyer behaviour, market segmentation and product, pricing, distribution and promotion issues in the context of domestic and international product and service markets.
Taking a firm centric perspective, this paper considers how marketing management creates value for an organisation through the integration of market and customer information.
Students who successfully complete this paper will:
Have a sound managerial perspective on contemporary marketing practice
Understand theoretical and practical marketing problems and decisions
Appreciate the internal and external forces that influence decisions
Understand the marketing mix and how to manage the constituent parts
Understand industrial, consumer, product and service markets
Understand the marketing planning process
Be able to produce a one-year marketing plan
The study of institutions and processes of the New Zealand political system. Particularly the formal structure of government, political parties and interest groups, the citizen and political participation.
POLS102 is designed to educate you about New Zealand politics and get you thinking more about some of the major debates it involves. The paper will teach you about the way things work (like the voting system), about the major institutions are and what they do (like Parliam
Students who successfully complete this paper will:
Know what government is and how it works.
Develop an awareness of the wider social and economic context.
Engage with theoretical perspectives that explain why governments do what they do.
Learn about New Zealand’s political past), about how the political processes work (like policy development), and about New Zealand political history. It will also encourage you to think critically about why New Zealand’s parties, systems, processes, institutions and economy are the way they are.
An introduction to the science of epidemiology, the study of the distribution and determinants of health and disease in human populations, and to different ways of understanding health.
By the end of the paper students will be able to:
Understand how health and disease in Aotearoa New Zealand and other countries are described
Understand how the major influences on the health of populations and individuals are determined
Understand and apply epidemiological methods to assess the quality of health information in scientific literature and mass media
Appreciate the complexity of health and well-being
Basic understanding of key nutritional concepts and the importance of evidence-based nutrition for individual and population health.
Are you interested in learning the science behind food and nutrition? Do you want to understand how the food we eat affects our body and overall health? HUNT 141 examines the role that food and nutrition plays in the health and wellbeing of individuals and populations. This paper has a strong practical component that allows the student to explore and assess their own dietary and nutrient requirements. This paper provides an overview of several areas of nutrition and will be relevant to those studying and working in nutrition and dietetics, medicine, dentistry, physiotherapy, pharmacy, public health, food science, and sports and exercise nutrition.
Discuss the physiological, social and cultural factors that impact on food choices and dietary behaviour
Identify key functions, food sources and requirements of specified nutrients
Use evidence-based nutrition guidelines and knowledge of the New Zealand food supply to recommend appropriate food choices for general health
Apply simple nutritional assessment skills to an individual’s dietary intake and produce a clear and complete written report
Integrate nutrition knowledge with practical application
The major issues in world tourism as it is differentiated on a global regional basis; integrated illustrative case studies.
Tourism is a global industry and phenomenon; one that is integrated into social, political, cultural, environmental, and economic global and local contexts. ‘Global Tourism’ is designed to examine this reality and to assess how current events and historical trends at global, regional, and local levels shape and can be shaped by tourism as an industry and social phenomenon. This is grounded in a knowledge of the scale of tourism in the regions of the world and its potential for growth.
Upon successful completion of this paper, students should be able to identify:
Major international issues as they relate to tourism – across Asia, the Pacific, the Americas, and Europe in particular
The influence of social, economic, political, and environmental conditions at the global, regional, and local scales on tourism
The interrelation between economic, social, and environmental state policies and conditions and global tourism patterns
The impact of processes of social and economic globalisation on world tourism
The position of tourism, nationally, regionally, and globally within the global sustainable development debate