The Faculty Statement of Purpose
On this page:
Purpose
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is a unique and distinctive part of Victoria University committed to the advancement of knowledge and creative activity through the pursuit of teaching, learning and research. It is recognised nationally and internationally for its scholarly excellence and creativity.
Recognition of Strengths
Implementation of the Faculty's purpose through our teaching, learning and research is based on the Faculty's core strengths, which are: scholarship, creativity, social and cultural relevance, diversity and flexibility across our disciplines, in a multicultural context and with a strong connection to the capital city.
Goals
Scholarship
- ensure retention and development of highly committed and professional staff
- maintain and enhance the integrity of our disciplines
- increase the visibility of staff research in the university and wider community
- produce students who are internationally competitive in their field
- strengthen our postgraduate programmes
- encourage staff and students to take part in critical discourse based on their disciplinary strengths.
Creativity
- maintain and expand high levels of performance in creative disciplines
- encourage creative solutions to academic questions
- encourage creative interdisciplinary research and teaching.
Location
- explore new ways of capitalising on opportunities offered by our location in the political and cultural heart of Aotearoa New Zealand
- continue and improve working collaborations with business, legal, cultural, government and non-government institutions in Wellington.
Social and Cultural Relevance
- give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi
- foster connections between theory and application within and across disciplines
- actively seek to apply our scholarship and research to issues of concern to the wider community
- develop students with the capability to critically reflect on the issues which face New Zealand as a society through their ability to read, critically assess and interpret ideas from many sources and expressed in many cultural idioms.
Diversity and Flexibility
- support and enhance the Faculty's diversity, in order to encourage broad student experience and learning opportunities
- foster research and teaching connections between the Faculty's discipline areas and with disciplines in other Faculties
- produce a dynamic relationship between maintaining strong disciplines and maximising time for staff research
- offer students the opportunity to shape their academic pathways without undermining the core of our disciplines.