Cultural anthropology studies cultural diversity in a wide range of local and global settings. It explores the role of culture in shaping all areas of our lives, such as our families and gender norms, our economic and political structures, our rituals and modes of creative expression, and our social conflicts and systems of reconciliation. Cultural anthropology also explores how individuals and groups become the makers of history and social change, examining how our systems of meaning and beliefs are contested and transform over time. Anthropology literally means 'the study of human beings', while cultures are patterns of human behaviour and knowledge that every human learns as a member of a society. Cultural Anthropology focuses on how these cultural patterns shape our experiences. Anthropologists carry out research using the unique method of participant observation; they often live with the people they study for over a year, learn their language, and adopt their daily habits, gaining in-depth and firsthand insights into their way of life. This leads them to produce ethnographies: richly detailed texts describing the life and experiences of a cultural group. Students majoring in Cultural Anthropology towards a Bachelor of Arts (BA), will explore how culture is expressed in areas such as ritual, symbolism, language, personality, religion, inequality, gender, family, art and politics. We compare life in New Zealand to the way people live in a range of diverse locations around the world. Understanding how other societies organise their lives and give meaning to their existence also increases our understanding of our own cultural worlds.

Community work Consumer research and advertising Cross-cultural relations consultancy Cultural heritage management Documentary filmmaking English language teaching abroad Immigration and refugee services International development International marketing Local and international journalism Museum curating NGO and humanitarian work Public health Public relations Public sector research and policy analysis Travel and tourism work Urban planning.