Special Subject: Guns, Germs and Mai Tais: Culture and Imperialism in the Pacific (V1383)

15 credits, Level 6

Autumn teaching

On this module, you’ll explore how culture – from ‘high’ to ‘low,’ metropolitan and ‘peripheral’ – developed historically, alongside the ‘guns, germs and steel’ of European and American Pacific empires. You’ll study how they emerged as a powerful tool of control, but also resistance.

We’ll look at 19th and 20th century case studies from the Malay and Oceanian archipelagos of the Pacific that bring together imperial culture. This includes Paul Gauguin’s Tahitian tableaus, to a Mai Tai ornamented by a cocktail umbrella in a tiki bar. You’ll explore the cultures of anti-colonialism in their multitude of forms.

You’ll examine the cultural lives of ‘salty subalterns’ through the complex and contested histories of race, religion, imperialism and indigeneity, including:

the cargo cults of Papua New Guinea (the ‘Land of a Thousand Cultures’)
Indonesian Nazi goreng
Maori Rastafari in Aotearoa (New Zealand)
the anti-nuclear movement in the South Seas
the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s
‘hidden transcripts’ of overseas Filipino workers.

Teaching

31%: Lecture
69%: Seminar

Assessment

100%: Coursework (Essay)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 44 hours of contact time and about 256 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses: