About us

E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangaranga maha, e mihi ana ki a koutou katoa. To the leaders, the orators, the multitudes, greetings to you all.

Nau mai, haere mai—welcome to Te Wāhanga Aronui—the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Our Faculty is home to six schools and a number of research centres and institutes. We are mostly located on the Kelburn campus. We teach internationally recognised programmes in the humanities, social sciences, and creative arts. So, if you’re looking for undergraduate or postgraduate studies in areas such as Anthropology, Art History, Asian and Pasifika Languages, Classics, Communication, Criminology, Creative Writing, English Literature, European Languages, Film, Global Studies, History, International Relations, Language Sciences, Latin American Languages, Media, Music, New Zealand Sign Language, Politics, Religious Studies, Sociology, TESOL, and Theatre, you’re in the right place!

The Faculty is a great place to study with such a wide range of offerings. Our programmes encourage critical and evaluative thinking, communication skills, group and individual work skills, engagement with research and community, as well as developing and testing practical solutions to gnarly problems. These skills are important for employment and professional development. They are also important for a transformative educational experience. Humanities, social sciences, and creative arts connect our past, present, and future. Come and join us!

Professor Averil Coxhead, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences