This year marks the 150th anniversary of the running of the University of Canterbury (UC). UC is the second oldest universities in New Zealand. However, the campus is relatively new and modern as the old campus in the city centre was simply not big enough to accommodate all the students and various subjects. Nonetheless the old uni campus is still part of the university, and you may still have classes there if you are doing music or some anthropology related studies.
I have attached a picture of an area on the old campus below and then two pictures of the main campus which is very modern but still very green with lots of blooming cherry blossoms at the moment!
My walk to campus looks like this, and on a clear sunny day you can see the hills in the distance.
The modules that I have chosen to study this semester are Issues in Policing and Prosecution, Nature, Resources and the Law, Company Law, and Media Law. However, before I got to those final four it felt like a never-ending process. When I arrived for my in-person enrolment, I was told that one of the options I had chosen (Law of the sea) was not running this year which was fine as I replaced it with a module on New Zealand financial markets. This was all well and good until the night before the semester started, when, I received an email that unfortunately NZ Financial Markets has had to be cancelled for this semester. My advice is to choose your modules but have back-ups in mind and try not to get too excited until you have your timetable confirmed! I finally settled on Relationship Property and Family finance; however, my module journey did not end there. After attending the first lecture of family finance I decided it was not for me at all and for the last time I made the change to Company Law.
You can change your modules for the first 2 weeks of the semester however after this there are extra requirements, and it is much harder, and you may even be charged a fee. I think it was really good that they allow you to go to the lectures for 2 weeks and see for yourself as that’s the best way to know if something is right for you and I highly recommend to go to all the modules you are interested in, even if you are not enrolled in them in that first week so you can definitely be sure you are doing the right one for you. As well as this, the enrolment team are incredibly accommodating and helpful so do not be afraid to email them even if it is about 100 times like I did!
The way that modules are taught here is slightly different to the U.K. Although the lecturer teaching style is very similar with most lecturers using both PowerPoint slides and lecture handouts, lectures are in 2-hour blocks, per module, per week for 300-level courses. Therefore, I have three, 2-hour lecture blocks per subject per week except for company law, which is 3 hours a week with one, 1-hour lecture as well as a 2-hour one. I would recommend when choosing your modules to use the provisional timetable tool on the website so that you can see what your week would look like with the modules you want to take. For example, I have no lectures on Fridays and I am really grateful for this as a three-day weekend is perfect for doing some travelling!
From what I know, all the 300-level law courses are taught only by lectures, although for some of the modules depending on their popularity, the class sizes may feel small. My Nature and Resources class made up of the people who actually turn up in person is around 20 people and on the first day we managed to go around and introduce ourselves. There are no tutorials for 300-level courses although if you do have tutorials at UC you are in charge of your own timetable and you are given the list of days and times for each tutorial group and then you choose which group works best for you and enrol that way. This flexibility is really good and again gives you the freedom to customise your timetable.
Another thing that I would look at when choosing your modules is how they are assessed. This is the main thing that I found to be very different to UoN. The range of assessment styles varies greatly here. I have had an assignment which was a video recording of yourself giving a presentation, multiple choice quizzes, written coursework and LOTS of groupwork. One thing that I have noticed is that the lecturers really enjoy setting up group work assignments. All these various things will be worth from 20-50% of your grade with a final in-person exam accounting for 50-60% of your grade. Yes, in-person!! Having studied law for 3 years now these will be my first in-person exams of my degree. Most of my end of semester exams are open book however I do have one closed book so these are all things you should also take into account when choosing your modules.
All of my classes are on the main campus. Meremere, the law building, is relatively new and I have two classes in there a Company Law lecture and Nature, Resources and the Law. The law building has five floors (I think) and the views from the fifth floor are incredible. The main library on campus is Puaka James-Hight and is 11 floors high however it can get very busy and its sometimes difficult to find a space. My favourite library is the Engineering and Physical Science library on campus which may be because I’m missing George Green! I’m still constantly discovering new places to study around campus with Rehua being another one of my favourite spots. However, you can always study in your flat kitchen, or the common room is another good place to go!
The first picture below is the law building, and a picture of the law reception inside and the third picture is the view from the fifth floor. Don’t worry if you’re running late though, there is a lovely, new lift that you can take to avoid running up all those stairs!
Below is the main library and on the ground floor of/under the library is the Undercroft where you will find the uni pharmacy and post office as well as various other food places and services.
There are many good food places around campus as well, so you won’t go hungry! Everyone will tell you to try a sushi ball although I have still held off from trying one myself. A nice place for a coffee and a catch up is Cafe 1898. For a good brunch, I will head to Therapy Café and for a good lunch or early dinner (especially if you don’t feel like cooking in the flat!) I really love Ancestral.
(A big thank you to Sabrina for always taking amazing pictures of our food!)
See you next time for more year abroad adventures in New Zealand!
uonstudyabroad.com 
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