Postgraduate Diploma in Environment and Society

at The University of Waikato - Hamilton Campus New Zealand

The world of public relations is fast-growing and exciting. Get the public relations skills you need to help an organisation build trusted relationships with its key stakeholders and enhance its public reputation.

If you enjoy writing and talking to different people, and love framing ideas in imaginative and engaging ways, then a career in Public Relations may be right for you.

Public relations practitioners plan and implement communication campaigns to influence people’s attitudes and behaviour. They are effective networkers who work closely with journalists to manage media publicity, and act as a crucial link between an organisation and its publics, such as the community, customers and corporate shareholders.

Public Relations professionals are also involved with crisis and issues management, government relations, lobbying, events, sponsorship and fundraising, and employee relations.

Literature encompasses the total human experience and comes forth in stories, songs, laments and praise. It draws out the nuances of human nature and imagination and compliments the other arts.

English at Waikato stays relevant by constantly evolving and adapting to newer art forms including film, graphic novel and creative non-fiction.

You'll be immersed in fiction, plays and poetry and explore their potential to shape our world. You'll also have the choice to specialise in creative writing and learn from award-winning writers as well as have the opportunity to publish in Mayhem, our online literary journal. Your writing will gain clarity and subtlety as you develop your unique voice.

Studying Design means you will apply theory and practice to research in areas related to how designers think, how they practice and what they produce. Design at Waikato is unique in New Zealand as a specialist design qualification that offers an integration of design and computer science.

You’ll become a designer who can code – making you highly desirable. Waikato also trains design students to problem-solve, and to apply an aesthetic edge, while seeing the full range of creative design possibilities.

Environmental engineers work to protect water, air, soil and built environments. They evaluate and assess options, design equipment and systems, and develop regulations and controls, seek to solve issues of water quality, water supply, waste reduction and disposal, soil and air quality management, and noise.

As the world’s demand for materials, food and energy grows, so does the need for environmental engineers. Environmental Engineering graduates with strong technical and communication skills are in demand, in New Zealand and around the world.

During your degree you will learn how to identify, monitor and solve important problems associated with the environment, resource allocation and use, and sustainability. Our program is multi-disciplinary, combining the fundamentals of engineering, science, mathematics, and computing, with the study of water resources and quality, earth and ocean environments, environmental planning, modelling and sustainability, process energy and management.

An important part of the Environmental Engineering program at the University of Waikato is supported work placements into relevant industries. This gives you the opportunity for paid work experience while exploring first-hand the field of Environmental Engineering you could choose for your career.

Behaviour Analysis is a scientific approach to understanding why people and animals do what they do. Studying behaviour analysis will teach you how both animal and human behaviour is affected by events in the social and physical environment and what you can do to produce behaviour change to help improve lives. Knowledge of this science of behaviour and its behaviour-change technology will assist you in a variety of careers.

As a student of Behaviour Analysis, you will learn how behaviour can be understood and changed. This includes an introduction to behaviourism, which is the philosophical underpinning of the science of behaviour and the experimental analysis of behaviour (EAB), which is the domain of basic research.

Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is concerned with the application of these foundations, in the development of a technology to improve socially important behaviours. You will learn many skills, including how to define and measure behaviour, create behaviour change programs and evaluate their effectiveness in courses that combine theoretical and practical learning to produce marketable skills.

You'll explore connections to previous generations, how they influence today, and if they were really all that different. History isn't just what happened before, but is also an investigation into, and use of, reliable research methods. We'll challenge you to ask questions, use critical enquiry into historical evidence and consider new ways of looking at the past in light of that new evidence.

When you study History, it isn't just for the classroom either. New Zealanders are keen to gain new perspectives on the "hidden history" of the pre-Waitangi Tribunal. People are also fascinated to learn their family's story and the circumstances that surround their ancestor's immigration to New Zealand.

In studying Ecology and Biodiversity you’ll learn about the distribution, abundance, and biology of organisms and their role in New Zealand’s most important ecosystems.

You’ll gain knowledge of ecological and biological theory, and the practical skills for field identification, surveying, and experimentation with plants, animals and microbes across a broad range of ecosystems. You’ll gain understanding of the principles of biological classification and be able to name and classify common organisms found in New Zealand ecosystems.

Your skills will be gained through a combination of hands on laboratory experience, practical field courses, and teaching from leading ecologists and biologists.

Study Disability and Inclusion Studies at Waikato and engage in developing your knowledge and skills of this specialised field by drawing on national and international contemporary theory, policy and practice. The lived experiences of people with a disability underpin the teaching and learning in this subject.

Each of the three qualifications available in this subject, the Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma and Master of Disability and Inclusion Studies, draw on a social interactional model of disability that critically engages with questions of identity, ableism and rights through tackling key questions of inclusion in research, policy and practice.

Students interested in shaping social change in disability and inclusion, through inclusive research and innovative co-developed policy and practice, will gain skills and knowledge accessing leading national and international thinkers and practitioners. Pathways into further research, academic careers in teaching and research, policy leadership and advocacy are created through this course.

As a graduate, you will demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of concepts, issues and debates in the area of disability studies, particularly in your own research. Thinking critically and creatively, you will evaluate current issues, research and advanced scholarship in the field of disability studies and work proactively to develop professional relationships with others in the field.

If you're interested in working alongside farmers and businesses focused on agriculture, then Agribusiness at Waikato will help you build the foundations for a dynamic global career.

Gain an all-round understanding of the agricultural sector, including farm management, soil and nutrient management, rural financial management and banking, and value chain management.

You'll learn about international marketing and sales, technological innovations in agribusiness, the impact of free-trade agreements, and how sustainable farming practices can be used to reduce costs and gain a competitive advantage.

During your studies, you'll also develop broad knowledge and skills in general management, which can be applied to various other sectors.

The Sport Development and Coaching major is based on an innovative combination of pedagogical and sociological studies of sport and active recreation.

Students in this major will have the opportunity to develop skills and understandings that will support them to enhance sport, recreation, and physical activities for diverse groups and individuals in the community. The transferable knowledge and skills developed through this major will ensure graduates have the capability to lead across any sector that involves people moving.

Students will benefit from the industry partnerships that we have, both locally and nationally, with organisations such as: Sport New Zealand, The International Olympic Committee, Sport Waikato, the Avantidrome, the Waikato Institute of Sport and Leisure Studies, Brian Perry Charitable Trust, The Lowie Foundation, and sports clubs/franchises in the greater Waikato and Bay of Plenty region. A Sport Development and Coaching major prepares you for a range of possible careers which involve policy leadership, sport governance, teaching, coaching, leading, organising, facilitating or managing sport and active recreation.