HISTORY COURSES

EarthDiverse > HISTORY COURSES

2026 TERM 2 COURSES BEGIN MONDAY 27 APRIL 2026.

Remember: It’s never too late to start an EarthDiverse course. You can always catch up with the video recordings if a course has already begun.

2026 TERM 2 History Courses:

We currently have no history courses on offer in 2026 Term 2.
We are working however on making our back catalogue available as video only courses at a discount, so keep on the look out for these.
Drop us an email if you are interested in any of our back catalogs and we can work to make these available at a discounted rate.

Two evening sessions on Wed 3 Dec & Thu 4 Dec 2025, 7:30-9:00pm

Wednesdays 11:00am-1:00pm beginning 18 February 2026

Please note that previous courses will be offered again in future Terms. Additional courses are currently under development, so stay tuned for more courses as we re-offer previous courses and introduce new courses each Term.

History Courses:

• HIS101: “Lenses of History: The Methodologies that Help Us See the Past” with Michael Burton-Smith

“Lenses of History” is an introduction to eight methodologies for exploring our past, from a time before the last ice age through to the present day. Rather than a single course focusing on a specific era in time, this class travels to eight unique points and learns how historians unravel the secrets of the past using methods tailored to their particular field. We will explore how history has changed as a field in recent decades, and also the controversies which have arisen with these changes.

OFFERED: 2024 Term 3

• HIS108: “From Plague to Protest: A Social History of Disease” with Adam Nachowitz

This course offers an accessible overview of disease from both biological and social perspectives. We will begin with discovering how the body defends itself against invaders, and then pivot to examining the invaders themselves. Armed with this knowledge, we will be able to explore how diseases have played out in society, from the Middle Ages through to the present day. Along the way, we will examine some fascinating case studies and the individuals who have played pivotal roles in either furthering our understanding in the battle of organisms or in stymying public health efforts.

OFFERED: 2022 Term 2

• HIS203: “Understanding the Classical World and its Impact on Modern Life” with Peter Dornauf

This series of 4 talks, from our new Introductory World History series, explores and reveals the primal influences of classical Greece & Rome, and explains how these influences manifest today and get played out in the modern world. Knowing these things helps not only with our sense of indentity, but also provides us with a point of reference against which to measure our values and make critical judgments.

OFFERED: 2024 Term 4 (Oct-Dec), Wednesdays 11:00am-1:00pm beginning 23 Oct 2024 (New Zealand time).

• HIS205: “A History of Arts & Ideas” with Peter Dornauf

Art, literature, religion and philosophy have never been entirely discrete and separate entities. They have intersected down the ages, influencing and taking inspiration from one another.

This course will look at how that contextual relationship has evolved over the centuries.

OFFERED: 2022 Term 2, beginning Friday 13 May 2022

• HIS209: “Incas, Spaniards and Dictators: A Brief History of Argentina from Empire to Nationhood” with Grace Aislabie

Though often forgotten, the history of Latin America is rich and full of intrigue. Argentina is no exception. This course will trace Argentina’s history, beginning with the Incas, their origins, rise to power and then eventual fall at the hands of the Spanish. Then on to independence, which was not what it was cracked up to be, before looking at the beginning of what we know as the nation of Argentina today, with a sampling of military dictatorships, political turmoil, and economic woes. We end on a positive note with the rise of the feminist movement.

OFFERED: 2022 Term 1

To be offered again soon.

• HIS212: “Feathers on the Frontline: The Legacy of Birds in the First World War” with Michael Burton Smith

This course will take a fresh perspective on one of the largest and most wide-reaching conflicts of human history: the First World War. We will look at how birds and birdwatchers were shaped by this conflict, how human-bird relationships changed, and how the legacy of certain species lives on today. We’ll read letters from birders at Gallipoli and the Somme, explore the relationship between femininity and ornithology during the war, look at how our feathered friends helped shape the course of the war, and so much more!

OFFERED: 2022 Term 2, begins Tuesday 31 May 2022

• HIS214: “Tudor Women Who Moulded the Monarchy” with Flicky Cunliffe

In the wake of Her Late Majesty’s passing, this course reflects on the female leaders of the monarchy, exploring how their gender impacted their reign and legacy. Focusing on the Tudor period, we journey from the green sleeves of Anne Boleyn to the Catholic tyranny of Mary. This course explores the antithetical female leaders and their role in shaping British History at a time of significant change, the beginning of the birth of modern Europe.

OFFERED: 2023 Term 1, begins Tuesday 14 February 2023, 7:00-8:00pm (New Zealand time).

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• HIS215: “Humanity’s Mad Search for Utopia” with Peter Dornauf

From the Garden of Eden to 21^st century Jihad and back, this four-week course will take an historic look at the human capacity, frequent and frantic, to pursue the dream of perfection. It will take in the Greeks and their nostalgia for the “golden age”, the Roman vision of empire, the Christian one of paradise, Karl Marx and the socialist state, the darker dystopias of the 20^th century and our own troublesome Gloriavale.

OFFERED: 2023 Term 4, begins Wednesday 15 November 2023, 11:00am-1:00pm (New Zealand time).

• HIS216: “Size Matters: A History of Human Perception of the Universe” with Peter Dornauf

Once upon a time the universe was small, compact and user-friendly, merely a solar system wide with us in the middle, as befitted our cosmic importance. Mankind’s place, meaning and destiny was comfortably assured in this diminutive of settings. Today we find ourselves no longer the centre of attention, nor inside a pocket-sized cosmos specially made for us. We stare out at billions of galaxies, black holes and limitless voids of space. This series of 3 lectures will trace the history of these huge shifts in perspective and how they have impacted the lives of those who lived through these changes, especially those in the modern era.

OFFERED: 2024 Term 1, begins Wednesday 21 February 2024, 11:00am-1:00pm (New Zealand time).

• HIS217: “A History of Happiness” with Peter Dornauf

A plethora of books have hit the market in recent years on the hot topic of how to be happy. It’s become a controlling objective for many in the modern world: in fact, the goal of life. It wasn’t always so. In the ancient world, the goal was just to keep your head down. In the Christian world, happiness was postponed till the afterlife. It wasn’t till the post Enlightenment era that the “pursuit of happiness” became enshrined in the psyche, and, paradoxically, like Homer Simpson said of Duff beer, became the cause of and solution to, all our problems. This 3 lecture series will track the history of happiness and how it ultimately has coloured our view of life and how to live it.

OFFERED: 2024 Term 1, begins Wednesday 20 March 2024, 11:00am-1:00pm (New Zealand time).

• HIS218: “A History of Love” with Peter Dornauf, MA

Who would have thought that such a universal part of the human condition had a history, one that exhibits huge shifts and changes in patterns of conduct. This series of talks tracks that changeable history via art, artifact, literary record, music, social revolution and historical example. It traces the origins, development and final resting place of that ephemeral and eternal phenomenon we call Love.

OFFERED: 2024 Term 2, begins Wednesday 5 June 2024, 11:00am-1:00pm (New Zealand time).

• HIS220: “A History of Cults” with Peter Dornauf, MA

Cults are weird and wonderful things, and they are not just a phenomenon of the twentieth century. They straddle the whole history of civilization, beginning with the Egyptians. This series of 3 lectures will track the history of cult movements from ancient times right up to and including the 21st century.

OFFERED: 2025 Term 3, begins Wednesday 23 July 2025, 11:00am-1:00pm (New Zealand time).

• HIS221: “A History of Apocalypse” with Peter Dornauf, MA

We live in dramatic times globally. Things are getting to the point where future prospects for the planet are somewhat dire. We’re talking the End of the World!

Why have end of the world scenarios had such a profound hold on the human psyche? The answer is, history needs a conclusion to make it a satisfying tale with a nice dramatic arc. Apocalypse is the ultimate story. No ending makes it just a meaningless sequence of events.

This series of three lectures will trace the history of the end of the world stories/scenarios (apocalypses), from biblical times down to our own ecological disaster fears today.

OFFERED: 2025 Term 4, begins Wednesday 29 October 2025, 11:00 am-1:00 pm (New Zealand time).

• HIS222: “A Cultural History of Paradise” with Peter Dornauf, MA

Mankind has always dreamt of some beautiful place—Arcadia, Eden—that embodies the notion and lived experience of perfection.

This five-week study will explore the origins of that dream, track its evolution through time in history and on up to its present fading as a reality inside the public imagination in the West.

The ancient world. The Golden Age. Elysian Fields. Happy Isles. Garden of Eden.
The location of the Garden of Eden. Maps, cartography. Medieval and Renaissance preoccupation with the exact placement.
The question of time. When did the Land of Eden exist? Dates. Chronology. Working out the age of the Earth. Paradise Lost and the poets. Artists and others.
The development of scientific thinking and its impact on belief. Darwin, geology, evolution and the fossils. The theological responses: liberal and conservative. The development of the garden historically as one’s own little place of peace and Eden on Earth.
The contemporary idea of paradise. The fetishization of the primitive. Gauguin and Tahiti. The myth of the “noble savage”. Modern tourism and the appropriation of the word paradise. Modern politics.

OFFERED: 2026 Term 1, begins Wednesday 18 February 2026, 11:00am-1:00pm (New Zealand time).

NEW! • HIS223: A Grand Overview of the Visual Arts with Peter Dornauf, MA

The best artists often provide reflections upon the world, the times, places and life itself.

This series of 3-lectures will explore the lives, torments and art works of some of the most noteworthy practitioners, internationally, nationally and locally

WORLD FAMOUS ARTISTS. Monet, Cezanne, Seurat, Gauguin, van Gogh, Munch, Rousseau, Picasso, Matisse, Miro, Dali, Mondrian, Hopper, Pollock, Rothko, Warhol.
FAMOUS NEW ZEALAND ARTISTS. Hodges, Heaphy, van der Velden, Perkins, Hodgkins, Angus, Woollaston, McCahon, Walters, Clairmont, Harris, Killeen, Frizzell, Hammond, Robinson, Cotton.
‘FAMOUS’ WAIKATO ARTISTS. Fear, Davey, Lewer, Paul, Shepheard, Shirley, Ballinger, Braunias, Curtis, Elliott, Graham, King, Philips, Judd, Scott, Watson, Dornauf.

OFFERED NOW!: 2026 Term 2, begins Wednesday 3 June 2026, 11:00 am-1:00 pm (New Zealand time).

• HIS240: “A Cultural History of Christmas” with Dr Norman Franke, PhD

From the Roman Saturnalia to Celtic and Germanic folklore, from one of the most important Christian festivals to Santa enjoying a Coke in Hawai’i, and the gift-giving rituals of postmodernism, the global history of Christmas is diverse, complex and fascinating.

Over 2 consecutive evenings, we read some important literary texts about Christmas together (e.g. the Christmas story according to Luke, and excerpts from Charles Dickens and Thomas Mann), and listen to Christmas music from various origins. In addition, we explore visualisations of Christmas in art history and explore some Christmas culinary delights. In the last hour we will focus on Christmas traditions in the Southern Hemisphere.

Bring a friend and your favourite New Zealand Christmas poem or carol.

OFFERED: 2025 Term 4, two consecutive sessions on Wed 3 December and Thu 4 December 2025, 7:30-9:00pm (New Zealand time).

• HIS303: “A Cultural History of Death” with Peter Dornauf, MA

This series of 8 talks, from our Selected Topics in History series, explores, historically, the subject of death from the perspective of several different disciplines: religion (both traditional and contemporary), philosophy, art, literature, music and film.

OFFERED: 2022 Term 3, Fridays 11:00am-1:00pm beginning Friday 5 August 2022

• HIS310: “Dead Sea Scrolls” with Dr Dennis Green, PhD

Ever since their discovery in the 1940s the Dead Sea Scrolls have generated massive amounts of scholarly controversy. Even those outside the field of Biblical Studies tend to be vaguely aware of academic scandals, religiously motivated cover-ups and conspiracy theories. So what is it about the “most significant archaeological discovery of the 20th century” that has created so much controversy?

OFFERED: 2025 Term 4 beginning Monday 13 October 2025, 7:30-9:00pm.

• HIS320: “The Historical Jesus” with Dr Dennis Green, PhD

Typically one tends to get an understanding of Jesus presented from the standpoint of the Christian religious tradition. Within this particular framework he is understood as the founder of Christianity. What then will happen when he is approached by an expert in Jewish history rather than Christian history?

This course contextualises Jesus within the historical, cultural, religious and political framework of the late Second Temple period, e.g. from the standpoint of Jewish history. Thus we are attempting to understand an historical figure within a particular historical context using an historical, rather than a theological, methodology.

The late Second Temple period was an era of rapid religious change and uncertainty, massive cultural clashes as well as unending political turmoil. But, as a result, it was also an era of religious creativity and diversity. It is within this context that Jesus will be evaluated.

OFFERED: This 5 week course begins on Wednesday 27 April 2022, 7:00-9:00pm

To be offered again soon.

• HIS321: “Christianity in the Late Medieval Europe, ~1417-1517 CE” with Dr Adam Duker, PhD, Mondays 7:00-8:30pm beginning 9 February 2026.

In this course we examine the basic structures, practices, changes, and crises in the Western Church in the fifteenth century. We will learn about the beliefs and practices both of ordinary laity and often illiterate clergy, as well as those of learned scholars, Popes, Cardinals.

Our chronological starting point will be the crisis of the “Great Schism” in which the Roman Catholic Church faced the crisis of two—and later three (!)—competing popes. We will then learn about Christian Humanism and Catholic Reform movements in the Renaissance. We will conclude with the debate between Desiderius Erasmus and a young Catholic Friar named Martin Luther on the Eve of the Reformation.

Throughout this course, we will scrutinize competing narratives of whether the late medieval church was rigorous or corrupt. Was its spirituality emotionally manipulative and abusive or meaningful and comforting to peasants? Did the Reformation that followed spring from a groundswell of popular demand for change, or from the top-down imposition of a new religion against the will (and to the detriment of) faithful believers.

This 8-week course begins again on Monday 9 February 2026, 7:00-8:30pm. Registration available now! Click the link in the course title above.

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• HIS322: Reformations: A History of Christianity in Early Modern Europe, 1517-1535 with Dr Adam Duker, PhD, Thursdays 7:00-8:30pm beginning 24 July 2025.

A History of Martin Luther, Religious Change and Theological Challenges, Social Upheaval, Revolting Peasants, Holy War, Roman Catholic Responses to Early Protestantism, Drawn Swords and Spilt Blood, Polygamy, Beheadings, Religious Compromise, and the Apocalyptic End of Days . . . all in eight exciting weeks!

OFFERED: This 8-week course begins on Thursday 24 July 2025, 7:00-8:30pm.

HIS325: An Introduction to the Religious, Cultural and Political Background of the ‘Inter-Testamental’ and ‘New Testamental’ Periods, aka the ‘Second Temple Period’ with Dr Dennis Green, PhD, Wednesdays 7:00-8:30pm beginning 23 Oct 2024.

This 6-week course examines the religio-cultural matrix spanning Ancient Israel, Greek & Roman rule, through the destruction of the Second Temple. This period produced Judaism, Jesus and the earliest Jesus movement. It was an era of rapid religious change and uncertainty, massive cultural clashes and unending political turmoil, yet it was also an era of great religious creativity and diversity.

OFFERED: This 6-week course begins on Wednesday 23 October 2024, 7:00-8:30pm. Registration available now! Click the link in the course title above.

Wednesdays beginning 23 October 2024, 7:00-8:30pm (NZ time)

• HIS330: “Putin’s Wars: Background to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine” with Dr Alexander Maxwell, PhD, Victoria University of Wellington

The Russian invasion of Ukraine may have happened suddenly and without provocation, but it is part of a larger history of Russian intervention in neighboring countries. This course seeks to provide background on the current war by examining Russian foreign policy in the context of competing nationalisms and territorial disputes in the former Soviet space. Lectures cover the collapse of the Soviet Union, the humiliation of post-soviet Russia, nationalist conflicts in Chechnya and Georgia, and Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan revolution. A final lecture will discuss the situation in Ukraine at the time of the lecture.

OFFERED: This 6-session topical course is offered on Monday evenings from 7:00-8:30pm, beginning on 11 April with the last session on Monday 16 May 2022.

• HIS331: “A Brief History of the Ukraine” with Dr Alexander Maxwell, PhD, Victoria University of Wellington

The war in Ukraine has changed the global political landscape of Europe, directing attention at a part of the world whose history and culture is not always known. This course introduces students to modern Ukrainian history. It covers the Russian Revolution, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR, the period of “indigenization,” the collectivization of agriculture and the Ukrainian famine, the Second World War, the Brezhnev era, Ukrainian independence, the Revolution of Dignity, and the confrontation with Russia. There will be six zoom sessions, and time for question and discussion after each session.

OFFERED: This 6-session topical course is offered on Friday afternoons from 3:00-4:30pm (New Zealand time), beginning on 13 January with the last session on Friday 17 February 2023.

To be offered again soon.

• HIS340: “A Political History of (Modern) Fiji: From Before the Cross to After the Coups” with Dr Tom White, PhD, University of Otago

This course introduces and debates Fiji’s most significant political events, its national leaders and its most divisive constitutional questions from the mid-19^th Century. Beginning with the imperial ambitions of the mighty warlord and chief Ratu Seru Cakobau, the course examines how Fiji’s history of missionary contact, British indirect rule, Indian indenture, independence and repeat ethno-nationalist coups culminated in the 2006 take-over by the military strongman and moderniser Voreqe Bainimarama, as well as his subsequent 2022 electoral defeat to his old nemesis, Sitiveni Rabuka, and very recent imprisonment.

OFFERED: This 6-session topical course is offered on Thursday evenings from 7:00-9:00pm (New Zealand time), beginning on 8 August 2024 with the last session on Thursday 12 September 2024.

General Information:

For more detailed information on each series or course, when offered, class times and locations, and course fees and registration) click on the appropriate links above.

If the course you are interested in is not currently being taught, rest assured that it will be again in the future as we continuously rotate the courses on offer. We also plan to add additional courses and locations in the future. Please contact us if you are interested in having us teach in your area or through your local group, association or organisation.

SOME NOTES ON OUR HISTORY COURSE OFFERINGS:

All classes are taught from an objective point of view. These are classes about Aotearoa New Zealand and general World History courses, designed for participants to get a greater understanding of the depth and scope of the diversity that exists within the world’s various cultural, ethnic, faith and belief traditions.
Detailed Syllabi are available at the start of each Term.
Any Term can be taken independently of the others, and there are no prerequisites for any of the Term courses.
All classes encourage questions and group discussion. There are no assignments, required readings, quizzes, tests or exams.
PDF copies of each class presentation are emailed to all participants the next day so that you are free to focus on class content rather than taking notes. You are most welcome to come, sit back, relax, take part in and enjoy the discussions!
Course fees include a short tea/coffee/snack break in the middle of each session.
There are no refunds for missed classes.
Guests of registered participants are welcome to attend a single class at no charge.
Certificates of Completion for any particular Term Course or Series are available for Professional Development purposes upon request at the end of each Term or Series.

2026 TERM DATES:

Term 1: Sunday 8 Feb through Friday 3 Apr 2026
Term 2: Sunday 26 Apr through Friday 19 Jun 2026
Term 3: Sunday 26 Jul through Friday 18 Sep 2026
Term 4: Sunday 18 Oct through Friday 11 Dec 2026

LOCATION: All in-person classes are held at the EarthDiverse Centre located in Hamilton, New Zealand.

TERM COST PER COURSE:

HAMILTON & DISTANCE-LEARNING COURSES (8-week Terms):

Waged: NZ$225 per person per term (includes online registration fee)
Unwaged/Student/Senior: NZ$200 per person per term (includes online registration fee)

DISTANCE-LEARNING:

In addition to our regular in-person classes offered in Hamilton, we offer ‘Distance Learning’ options for all of our courses. These on-line live-streaming distance-learning options are offered via free Zoom software. Distance-learning options have been added for those living outside the Waikato or for those unable to attend our in-person classes in Hamilton. If you are a Distance-Learner you have the option of joining our regular live classroom sessions via Zoom at the regularly scheduled class time, or you can watch a video-recording of the Zoom classroom session at your leisure and study at your own pace.

Your instructor will send you instructions once you have registered for your course.

TO REGISTER:

Select the appropriate course link above, which will take you to the page for that particular course. Read the details for that course, and if you’d like to register, click on the blue “Register” button which will take you to Registration and Payment pages where you can securely enter in your payment details. A receipt will automatically be generated for you.