ʻATENISI INSTITUTE
An institute for critical education in the South Pacific
Meʻetuʻupaki (2009)
HUMANITIES
E.L. 205 – Writing Laboratory
Hands-on supervision of written expression in the English language, focusing on clarity, concision, coherence, organization, vocabulary, grammar, and – as the student advances – elegance and captivation.
HST 210 – Global History
Global history not only traces the development of ancient Mediterranean empires but ancient Middle Eastern, North African, sub-Saharan African, Indian, Chinese, and native American civilisation as well. Within the ancient world, the Sumerian and Semitic-speaking civilisations of the Tigris/Euphrates Rivers, the Nile River, and the Levant are contrasted with the Indo-European speaking civilisations of Persia, Greece, and Rome, with the tension between tyranny, oligarchy and populism examined in the latter two. Medieval Islamic and Indian cultures are credited with preserving classical interest in philosophy and mathematics, enabling the European Renaissance. The hegemony of Anglophone capital and liberalism in the late second millennium is detailed whilst the various challenges to liberalism – intermittently by Spain, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and Islamism – are also considered.
PHIL 100 – Introduction to Philosophy
A survey of key philosophers beginning from the Milesian Substantialists of ancient Greece (e.g., Thales, Anaximander) to the European existentialists of the 19th and 20th centuries. The Milesians are examined as the bridge from mythology to naturalism; Herakleitos as the pioneer of a dynamic paradigm of interactive instability; Socrates as the trailblazer of investigative inquiry; Plato and Aristotle as the opposing forerunners of idealist and empirical philosophy. The course next credits Descartes, Spinoza, and Hume with inaugurating rigourous analysis in the 17th and 18th centuries whilst the counterpoint of German idealism (e.g., Kant, Hegel) is studied as a critique of rationalism and empiricism. Finally, 19th and 20th century existentialism (e.g., Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus) is variously considered as an individualist riposte to institutional theology, empiricism, idealism, and social democracy.
SOCIAL SCIENCE
ANTHRO 105 – History of Anthropological Theory
A survey of early anthropological thought, including Franz Boas’ synthesis of archaeology, biology, linguistics, and culture; Bronislaw Malinowski’s participatory observation and functionalist theory; A.R. Radcliffe-Brown’s notion of co-adaptive social behaviour; Claude Levi-Strauss’ structuralist theory; and Ruth Fulton Benedict’s cultural relativism. The course concludes with a critical analysis of Marxian anthropology.
ECON 100 – Introduction to Economic Thought
The economic perspective of ancient Greece – via Aristotle, and medieval Islam – via Ibn Khaldun, frames the ensuing Western European debate between mercantilism, physiocracy, and the simple capitalism proposed by Adam Smith. The course next considers the abuses of industrial capitalism and the catalysis of the Marxian critique.
ECON 110 – Microeconomics
The course examines market interaction (e.g., demand, supply, labour, price, equilibrium, clearance) and types of government intervention within the market. It next considers elasticity and cross-elasticity of consumer demand, as well as consumer budgets and substitution, resulting in the categorisation of goods (e.g., normal, inferior, necessary, luxury). It lastly addresses the exigencies of production, including technology, scale, inventory, pricing, revenue, cash flow, costs, profit, opportunity, loans, and investment strategies
NATURAL SCIENCE
BIO 270 – History of Medicine
A survey of clinical technique from the shamanic herbalism of some primitive tribes to the organ transplants of contemporary surgical theatres. Early approaches to systemic medicine are located in the therapies of Imhotep in ancient Egypt, Hippocrates in ancient Greece, Galen in ancient Rome, and Avicenna in medieval Persia. Among other catalysts, modern medicine emerges from microbiology, immunisation, radiology, anaesthetics, and breakthroughs in pharmacology, including the discovery of antibiotics. The course concludes with an ethical assessment of medicine employing stem-cell and cloning techniques.
MATH 150 – Preparation for Physical Science
MATH 370 – Calculus
The course explores the ideas and methods of differentiation and integration in obtaining derivatives, optimisation, and related rates, as well as area and volume analysis. Specific attention is paid to how the language of sets and functions enables these calculations.
ARTS
ARCH 100 – Introduction to Architecture
A survey of the techniques of structural design, including materials (e.g., wood, stone, brick, concrete, iron, steel); devices (e.g., truss, dome, vault); and modality (e.g., building, plaza, mall). The course focuses on the synthesis of form, space, and arrangement once materials, devices, and modality have been decided.
MEDIA 290 – Screen Directing
Hands-on instruction covering the fundamentals of directing for video and film, including story analysis, script breakdown, dialogue evaluation, set management, scene blocking, shot design, production logistics, and informed editing.