ʻATENISI INSTITUTE
An institute for critical education in the South Pacific
.jpg)
Lakalaka (2005)
HUMANITIES
HST 303 – Modern European History (1500-1985)
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 comprehensively detailed whilst the challenges of Spain, France and Germany – and later Russia, Italy and Japan – are as well analysed, with particular attention paid to Luther, Calvin, the Inquisition, the French Revolution, National Socialism, Leninism, and Islamism. The course concludes with a survey of rising economic power in China and India.
LING 300 – Linguistics
The course reviews key areas of linguistics: production and function of sounds (phonetics and phonology); word structure and formation (morphology); principles of grammar via study of sentence structure (syntax); and the various aspects of meaning (semantics).
PHIL. 350 – Ethics
A systematic study of valid social behaviour comprising meta-ethics (i.e., ethical theory), normative ethics (i.e., methods for determining moral action), and applied ethics (i.e., ethics appropriate for specific theatres or domains). The course will initially review the often opposing ethical thought of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Bentham, Mill, Nietzsche, Sartre, and Camus, before focusing on political, scientific, and media ethics.
E.L. 324 – U.K. Fiction Great Expectations
Arguably Dickens’ most zealous novel, Great Expectations negotiates, among other topics, class oppression, the vagaries of fortune, expatriate opportunity, and romantic perseverance. The class is invited to assess the novel’s unique language as well as identify the manifestations of its themes in contemporary society.
T.A. 357 – Shakespeare’s “King Lear”
A study of one of Shakespeare’s gems: the tragic betrayal of England’s King Lear by two scheming daughters … followed by revenge taken on the monarch’s behalf by the King of France, married to Lear’s third daughter. The class examines the play from the perspective of ambition, justice, alleged divine intervention, and what contemporary law terms “elder abuse”.
SOCIAL SCIENCE
PAC STUD 322 – Survey of the South Pacific
A survey of the politics and sociology of the Anglophone Pacific and enduring colonialism of the Francophone Pacific. Within the Francophone sector, Kanak and Tahitian insurgency in New Caledonia and French Polynesia is measured against support for ongoing French sponsorship. Within the Anglophone sector, the chequered paths to democracy of Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga are comparatively analysed.
POL ST 330 – International Relations: Theory and Practice
The study of international relations attempts to answer the question, "Why do states behave the way they do in the international system?" To address the question, the course will follow the guideline proposed by Prof Stephen Walt in Foreign Policy in 1998, i.e., “The study of international affairs is best understood as a protracted competition between the realist, liberal, and radical traditions.” Students will assess these main traditions, testing theory against evidence of various state practice.
POL STUD 355 — Strategic Negotiation
The methodology of strategic negotiation is dispassionate and logical; it attempts to disarm conflict and discover the authentic requirements of each contender. From this perspective, the course analyses techniques of mediation and dispute resolution in the context of ethics, culture and economics. Particular attention is paid to resolution mapping, including holistic communication and problem-solving.
PSYCH/SOC 310 – Social Psychology
An interdisciplinary examination of the psychology of social groups. The course initially traces the history of psychology from ancient Greece (e.g., Plato’s tripartite psyche) to medieval Islam (e.g., al-Tibari, ibn Zakarīya Rāzi) to the psychiatric pioneers of the French Revolution (e.g., Pinel, Esquirol), leading to the more recent psychology of Freud and Jung. The birth of social psychology is attributed to Triplett and LeBon, whilst the Allport brothers and Lewin are primarily credited with its further development in the 1930s. The discipline generally studies concepts of the self within groups, as well as social perception and attitudes; these components are then presumed to interactively shape social conformity, affiliation, cohesion, and cooperation, as well as rebellion, alienation, aggression, and conflict. The course concludes by examining these building blocks of social psychology in the arenas of politics, the media, sports, law, business, and health.
SOC/MUS 393 – Sociology of the Classical Oeuvre
The celebrated examples of European classical music from the 18th and 19th centuries are more than works of art – they reflect the aspirations of their times. Tchaikovsky’s Symphony Pathétique, Beethoven’s Eroica, Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, and Wagner’s Die Walküre, among others, are studied from a cultural and political perspective.
CREATIVE ARTS
T.C. 100 – Tongan Faiva
An online tutorial introducing the student to Tonga’s traditional music and dance forms. Movement component focuses on simplicity of expression, fundamentals of performance, and recruitment of audience participation.
NATURAL SCIENCE
PHYS 150 – Introduction to Astronomy
The course launches with a history of the discipline. It next considers observational, spherical, and planetary astronomy, including supernovae, neutron stars, and black holes. Physical topics include gravitation, forces, optics, and radiation.