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For the people who will harness the power of language

Utilise your imagination, resourcefulness and intellectual creativity to challenge the status quo.

Why study Arts?

Any voice, idea, issue or solution requires a way of communicating that stands out, has impact, can affect people and potentially bring change.


The arts provide practical skills for understanding humans and their worlds and conveying and expressing those insights in innovative and impactful ways. This is your opportunity to develop language, literacy and communication skills in areas such as modern languages, visual literacy, sound design, creative writing, musical and vocal expression or dramatic composition. In doing so, learn to exploit multiple traditional and digital delivery platforms.

Maria Mo

Explore a wide range of programmes

Our students can work alongside top-rated teachers and internationally respected scholars, across 10 majors:

Performing Arts

Creative Media, Design and Communication

Languages, Literature and Culture

Choose from a variety of degrees

Our majors can be taken in the 5 degree programmes in the School of Arts:


Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Social Sciences

Bachelor of Music

Bachelor of Communication

Bachelor of Design

Big Band Jazz Ensemble available at Waikato from 2023!

Do you play trumpet, trombone, saxophone, drums, bass, piano or guitar? Or maybe you have an interest in singing Jazz? Do you love to collaborate with other musicians? If so, sign up for our MUSIC122 or MUSIC227 paper and keep up your passion alongside your other studies.

Available for all University of Waikato students who play a suitable big band instrument.


Learn more about MUSIC122 - Musical Collaborations
Learn more about MUSIC227 - Performance Ensemble

New in Tauranga in 2023

100-Level and 200-Level MUSIC papers are available to be studied at the Tauranga campus. Please note that some travel to Hamilton may be required.


Bachelor of Arts in Music

Bachelor of Music

Explore our facilities

Why study with us?

Personalised career development support to help you take the next step.

Get extra support with our broad range of scholarships

Dr John Gallagher Concert Chamber

Specialist teaching facilities, including the acclaimed Dr John Gallagher Concert Chamber.

Group of students sitting at a desk

Adapt to the changing world

Looking to up-skill or need a change of direction?  Explore our wide range of study options.


Undergraduate options
Postgraduate options
Certificates & diplomas

Articles

Sargeson Prize winner praises prestigious award ahead of 2023 entries opening

Winning New Zealand’s richest short story competition, the Sargeson Prize, “stitched an egg of possibility” into Leeanne O'Brien that she might make it as a writer.

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Anthony Byrt appointed University of Waikato’s 2023 Writer In Residence

Art critic and writer Anthony Byrt will devote the next 12 months to three major projects after being named the Kaipukahu University of Waikato Writer in Residence for 2023.

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Grammar for everyone

Dr Calude, Senior Linguistics Lecturer at the University and convenor of its linguistics programme, teamed up with renowned author and linguist Emeritus Professor Laurie Bauer from Victoria University of Wellington to write a book that outlines problems (mysteries) and everyday aspects of grammar in a way that’s easily understood.

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Internationally renowned soprano named Chair in Opera at the University of Waikato

Opera singer Madeleine Pierard has been named the inaugural Dame Malvina Major Chair in Opera at the University of Waikato.

The new, philanthropically-funded position has been established as part of plans for growth in Music at the University, and to train singers and develop support as they begin their careers.

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Inaugural recipients selected for Te Pae Kōkako

Six promising opera students have been selected for the University of Waikato’s immersive Master of Music programme in Advanced Opera Studies in 2023.

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Feeling the burn: poetry for our times

Award-winning poet and University of Waikato senior lecturer Dr Tracey Slaughter has spent the last nine months reviewing more than 1000 poems for this year’s Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2023: After-burn.

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Kiwi soldier's letters discovers a war-time love story

A new book by Nathalie Philippe shows how New Zealand played a much more crucial role in the First World War's Battle of the Somme than previously thought.

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