Author: Finley
I am a student studying law and arts, majoring in politics and Chinese. The broadness my degree offers has allowed me flexibility to explore my interests in international relations, climate change and Māori issues.
My interest in international relations stems from my time in China, where I lived, worked and travelled and saw China's growing presence in the world. I am interested in how New Zealander's perceive this influence and how this may affect diplomatic relations and our race relations in New Zealand.
Climate change is another divisive issue facing our country. The inability of states to address this issue and the knowledge gap surrounding it are of particular interest to me. I would like to research the reasons behind this knowledge gap, and the politicisation of climate change information away from facts creating social divisions and a lack of political accountability.
In Te Ao Māori, I am interested in the Crown's commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and precisely how the mass imprisonment of Māori fails in this. In researching this area, I am interested in asking how we got here and how can we use indigenous solutions to solve these problems and help to fulfil the Crown's commitments.
Across my areas of interests, there is a common motivation to analyse the relationships between individuals, states and institutions. It is the study of these interactions that I believe can help to solve these problems for society, and this is why I want to explore this further.