Learn how cultures and identities take shape
Study Cultures and Identities as a minor subject within your Bachelor of Global Studies. This subject examines how cultures and identities are made, remade, and contested. You’ll study how factors like gender, sexuality, ethnicity, Indigenous identity, nationality, and culture shape who we are and how we understand others.
The Cultures and Identities minor draws from fields like Pacific and Māori studies, Asian studies, music, and geography. It examines how monuments and memory shape national identity, how popular culture travels across the Pacific, and how Indigenous knowledge challenges conventional ways of thinking.
This flexible minor lets you choose courses according to your interests and the questions that matter to you.
Choose your study path
The Cultures and Identities minor is unique to the Bachelor of Global Studies (BGS). It’s one of eight BGS minors.
You’ll study subjects that range from anthropology to geography, art history, Māori studies, Asian Studies, and Pacific studies, and many more. This gives you flexibility to follow your interests while linking courses into a coherent body of knowledge.
You might learn:
- how gender, sexuality, and kinship are understood differently across cultures and historical periods
- how colonisation, migration, and global change have shaped cultural identities over time
- how national and international development affects, and is affected by, cultures and identities
- theories of ethnicity, culture, and the sense of self across a range of societies, including those impacted by colonisation, such as Aotearoa New Zealand.
See 'degree and subject requirements' for your course options.
Choose your second minor
You must take at least two minors in your BGS. The Cultures and Identities minor pairs naturally with:
- Human Rights, Justice, and Peace if you’re interested in displacement and justice
- Ethical Leadership and Intercultural Communication, if you’re focused how personal, group, and cultural identity overlaps with leadership style and communication
- Globalisation, Movement, and Change or Environment and Sustainability, if you’re interested in the relationship between political economy, global power, and environmental issues.
These are just suggestions—you are free to pair this minor with any of the others.
Degree support and advice
We can help you match your interests and career goals with the right course of study.
If you’re a new student, talk to a Future Student Adviser.
If you’re already studying with us, talk to Tītoko—Student Success.
Study options
Find out how you can study Cultures and Identities at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington.
The BGS is different from other degrees
For most degrees, you need to choose a major subject. But with the Bachelor of Global Studies, you’ll choose at least two minor subjects.
In the BGS, you complete:
- four interdisciplinary core courses
- a Māori Studies course
- a skills and concepts course
- three courses from a language offered by the University
- at least two of the eight available minor subjects.
You can also add a third BGS minor, a minor in your chosen language, or a minor from anywhere else in the University.
We help you design your BGS around your study goals and interests. This flexible degree also includes career development and direct professional experience.
Future careers
Your Bachelor of Global Studies gives you the interdisciplinary and intercultural abilities for careers in a range of industries and institutions, both in New Zealand and abroad.
Your study of Cultures and Identities helps you:
- analyse how culture, identity, and power intersect across different contexts
- examine how gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and Indigenous identity shape our lives
- interpret forms of cultural expression, from art and music to media and memory
- trace how cultural identities have been shaped by forces like colonisation, migration, and historical change.
More career information
Find out more about careers in Global Studies.
The government careers website, Tahatū, offers more information about jobs, salaries, and current opportunities.
Scholarships
You may be able to get a scholarship to help fund your studies.
We have first-year and school-leaver scholarships available, as well as specialised scholarships for different groups and subject areas.
We encourage you to apply—many scholarships don’t receive enough applications.
Scholarships for Humanities and Social Sciences
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This scholarship is for students undertaking or intending to undertake an Honours or Masters degree at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington in areas related to Peace Building or Peace Studies, Trust Building, Conflict Resolution, addressing Historical Injustice, Restorative Justice, Social Cohesion, Community building and promoting cross-cultural understanding, Change Making or Ethical Leadership.
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The Brian Murray Fox Scholarship in History offers an opportunity to students who are intending to undertake their second, third or Honours year of their degree at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington in the year following application.
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The Brian Murray Fox Scholarship in English Literature offers an opportunity to students who are intending to undertake their second, third or Honours year of their degree at Te Herenga Waka Victoria—University of Wellington in the year following application.
Scholarships for international students
We are currently offering a NZ$15,000 VUW Undergraduate International Scholarship to all eligible international students enrolling in a Bachelor’s degree.
Your scholarship will be processed automatically when your programme application is accepted, and the amount will be deducted from your tuition fees.
We also offer specialised scholarships for different groups and subject areas. We encourage you to apply—many scholarships don’t receive enough applications.
Scholarships for Humanities and Social Sciences
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This scholarship was established in 1980 by the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Rt. Hon. Sir John Marshall, GBE, CH, BA, LLM, Hon. LLD, to encourage the study of Political Science at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington. The Scholarship was extended to include International Relations.
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This scholarship was established to encourage students to complete a major in Language Sciences at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, and continue to further study or careers in this field.
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This scholarship is to assist students in the last year of their first Bachelors degree at Victoria University of Wellington. The scholarship fund will be awarded equally between male and female students.
Globally ranked
We're ranked within the top 150 universities in the world in the QS World University Rankings 2026 for key areas of Global Studies: Politics and International Relations, Development Studies, and Geography.
Our History, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Earth Sciences, Social Policy and Administration, and Sociology subjects all rank in the top 150 globally.
The QS World University Rankings is an annual global publication that gives overall rankings and subject rankings for more than 1,500 universities worldwide.
Postgraduate study
If you do well in your Bachelor’s degree, you could to on postgraduate study.
If you want to focus on communications, or intercultural communication in particular, we offer several postgraduate qualifications in these areas.
If you want to pursue international affairs more broadly, we offer postgraduate study paths in International Relations and Migration Studies.
We also offer Development Studies at postgraduate level.
We offer Global Studies at postgraduate level, including a Master's programme.
Get help to manage your finances
We can help you:
- budget your money
- manage your student loan or allowance
- work out your accommodation payment schedule.
If you're facing financial difficulties, we can help you apply for the Hardship Fund.
You may be eligible for government or community support, too.
Wellington Global Exchange
If you're a current student at Victoria University of Wellington, you can complete part of your degree overseas. Choose from our 140 partner universities worldwide.
Study Abroad and Exchange Programme
If you're an overseas student, you can spend a trimester or a year at Victoria University of Wellington. You'll earn credits at your home university while you study here.