New Zealand schoolin'

To whom it may concern; I’m looking into studying abroad for my 3rd year of university, and the country that continues to attract my attention is New Zealand. I’m an English Literature/History student and I’m wondering if any NZers can suggest or warn me of any particular schools. I’m looking for a high level of education, as well as a good jumping off point for travel etc. Any input is appreciated. Thanks, RM

Rubberman, it depends what ‘other interests’ and goals you have as NZ is very different geographically North Island V South Island (AKA the Mainland). If you are into the outdoors, skiing, kayaking, tramping etc then the South is definitely the place to be and for an overall fun time with good teaching I would recommend Otago University in Dunedin. As far as the lit/history I think Victoria University in Wellington is the one that specialises in that area but all the varsities have pretty good programs. Again it really depends upon what else you want to do. Any more you questions let me know.

Yes, Victoria University (“Vic”) is the place for both English Literature and History. I’m an academic there (although not in either of those depts). However, I know that both departments are outstanding. We’ve got a writer’s center here of international standing, and some former students of a colleague of mine in History went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Wellington, the city where Vic is located, is the capital. It’s smack in the middle of the country, and so is a good jumping off point for travel. Wellington looks a lot like Seattle (where I used to live) or Vancouver, but it’s smaller (100,000 people) and it is compact–a great walking around town. I think last year the LA Times did a piece on Wellington and said it had all the charm of a nice US city without any of the drawbacks. I think that’s true (I used to live in the US).

Last point: you can live like royalty here on US dollars, or CDN dollars. You can contact me if you’d like more information about Vic. I’m happy to help sort things out for you at this end. There’s a wee bit of red tape I imagine :slight_smile:

goto dunedin…otago uni (where i go)…nearly 20k students including polytech
55% women.
nuff said
got all that prestige stuff too…
though i cant comment on the standard of the english/history departments as im a psyed/human nutrition student

You will regret going to New Zeland, even if your plane only has a stopover there the expenience is bad. There is nothing in NZ, thats why all the NZ’s come over here to Australia. They are second class citizens in Australia, but still 10 classes above the others back in NZ who complain about a cricket match between us years ago, they arent even good at rugby anymore. but if you love sheep NZ is the place to be, they have so many sheep they almost, just almost, dont know what to do with them, theyll even be willing to teach a american a few tricks. Their universities are over 50% female (sheep). Come to school here in Australia, we have better everything, girls, beer, strength coaches (Ian King), athletes, we even have better NZelenders than NZ does ( Russle Crow), just not good sheep. BAAA AAAA AA A A. Say hello to Jhona Lonu for me.

Australia would be a lot more attractive option, I think. If you’re travelling that type of distance, why not stop in the right part of the South Pacific? :wink:

RM–OK, clearly the moderator wouldn’t let me post my email address. So find Victoria University of Wellington on the web, and then find the psychology dept and then find the woman in the psyc dept who does human memory research.

Just don’t go to Waikato University-the people who run the place are a bunch of far-left loonies who spend their time revising history to make it politically correct.