Getting started

Humanities knowledge is about finding answers to the questions:

What does it mean to be human?

What does it mean to be an informed and active citizen in a twenty-first century democratic society?

What are “the humanities” in Aotearoa New Zealand?

The humanities are a society’s inherited knowledge and the methods of enquiry and critical reflection which explore that knowledge to understand better what it means to be human. They connect new generations to their cultural foundations and sustain creative cultural adaptation in times of social and environmental change.

In the Western tradition, the humanities have been identified with literacy and with value-laden knowledge, the core requirements for establishing and maintaining a civil society. They connect religion, philosophy, literature, law, ethics, economics, history, science, technology, the arts and architecture.

In the more holistic Maori world view te kete aronui (the basket of secular or profane knowledge), one of nga kete wananga (the three baskets of knowledge), may encompass theoretical and practical knowledge about the sciences as well as the humanities.

The partnership between Maori and Pakeha knowledge traditions, cultures and languages, and their interaction with other traditions, languages and cultures of peoples resident in Aotearoa New Zealand, provide the basis for the further development of this distinctive body of cultural knowledge, which can be identified as “the humanities-aronui”.

Cultural knowledge refers to a nation’s whole stock of knowledge (including science and technology), as that knowledge is shaped by values, beliefs and traditions, as well as the knowledge created by artists and by people in the ordinary processes of social living. Cultural knowledge and cultural identity are the outcome of geography, history, and a society's accumulated resources of knowledge, expressed in language and other media.

At the core of the humanities-aronui are the collections of stories, objects, documents, texts and taonga which constitute the materials for the creation of cultural knowledge. New knowledge is not necessarily better than old knowledge. The texts of the past are always available to be read, viewed or heard again by anyone in the present and have power to modify the future.

Educating in the humanities-aronui aims at creating literate citizens capable of playing a full part in the shaping of their society. Effective action both for an individual and a nation in a world economy depends upon: the recognition of cultural diversity; a firm grounding in a birth culture and language, and the ability to acquire other languages; high levels of literacy; and an understanding of the role of new information and communications technology in the changing ways we think and interact with one another.

Who can enter?
Guidelines for your entry
Judging criteria
Copyright statement
NCEA mapping

2008 Humanities Award Application Form (download PDF)
2008 Humanities Award Information Sheet (download PDF)

2007 Winning Entries

Back to Humanities Award