Vice-chancellor Robertson gave his presentation — "What did the arts say to the future?" — at the inaugural School of Arts lecture yesterday.
It comes after the first proposed date was delayed due
to "security reasons" after a pro-Palestine protest saw a glass pane smashed in the clocktower.
In the lecture he said "we had a bit of a false start with this ... When we first attempted it in October last year".
"In the meantime, I have established a working group of staff and student representatives to investigate that stance and provide recommendations to me, the Senate and University Council on what our position should be in the future."
He then jumped into the topic at hand, which was looking towards the future for those people who hold, or will hold, a degree in humanities and arts.
"Arts and the humanities and the graduates that this school produces are the people who will be able to shine a light on the biggest issues of our time."
He said an arts degree taught essential soft skills, like how to critically think, how to read and write effectively, how to communicate with others, how to pick up new skills and become a change-maker.
"A world of artificial intelligence and machine learning, means that those with the soft skills are going to be those who have the edge.
"We understand what we do as humans and why — we understand the world around us — we hold the mirror up to say how we got here and where we are going."
He also said the government’s decision to cut the Marsden Fund for social sciences was a "huge step backwards".
"New Zealand needs people who will hold a mirror up to our society and challenge our assumptions, if we are to prosper as people and as a country," Mr Robertson said.
