Head: Professor Anne Edwards
The department offers programs at both the undergraduate and the graduate levels in three disciplinary areas: anthropology, sociology and comparative sociology. The department has a number of particular academic strengths: social theory; comparative and historical studies; the analysis of western societies and Australia in particular; research methods; Asia; social change and `development'; women, gender studies and feminism; social policy; cultural studies.
At the graduate level, the department provides supervision for research degrees at masters and PhD levels in a wide range of areas, drawing on the specialist interests and expertise of thirty staff across the campuses of Clayton, Caulfield and Peninsula; postgraduate supervision is also available on the Gippsland campus.
The department also has several masters programs by coursework or coursework and thesis. Students can either enrol in a general masters in anthropology and sociology and then choose between a variety of alternative `streams' or areas of study available within this program or enrol in a specialised masters in applied social research. Depending on the level of entry, the courses take one year or two years full-time (or the part-time equivalents).
Details of PhD, masters (research) and the coursework degree programs, the general MA first, followed by the MA applied social research, are given below.
Members of staff and their fields of special interest
Chris Atmore Feminist poststructuralist theories; lesbian and gay studies; media; sexual violence and representation.
Robert Birrell Immigration policy and the implications; Australian society from an historical and developmental perspective.
Gary Bouma Sociology of religion; sociology of the family; social psychology; sociology of occupations and professions.
Chris Chamberlain Class consciousness; the petty bourgeoisie; youth homelessness.
Bernard Daly Sociology of health and illness; sociology of nursing.
Elsa Demetriou Ethnicity, immigration and multiculturalism; ideology; sociology of knowledge; social theory; gender relations.
Anne Edwards Women and gender studies; social theory; social control; critical social policy; youth studies.
Barry Ellem Prison issues; technological change; environmental issues; the future of work; qualitative research techniques.
Joanne Finkelstein Cultural studies; sociology of fashion and consumer conduct; sociology of self; sociology of health and illness.
Joy Fisher Sociology of education; feminist theory; leisure in capitalist society.
William Foddy Privacy; obscenity; self processes; cluster housing; survey methodology.
Lucy Healey Women and work in Malaysia; gender and social transformation in Southeast Asia; contemporary feminist theory.
Peter Hiller Analysis of data on child abuse; methodology/philosophy of social science; ideology; class/social stratification; computers in sociology.
Neville Knight Young people and their groups, in leadership; sociology of religion.
Catherine Lewis Mass media; social history; education; gender, gender studies, family.
Chris Lloyd Gender and mental health; sexuality, gender and gender identity; feminist approaches to research; neighbourhood houses and alternative approaches to `community education'; feminist theory; marriage and gender.
Ian Marshall Mass media `imaging' of reality; organisational responses to technological change; employee participation and industrial democracy in Australian commerce and industry; the composition and evolution of `elite' groupings in Melbourne society.
Don Miller Religion and social inequality in India and Bali; social theory; socio-cultural construction of `disabilities,' sign language and deaf culture.
Andrew Milner Contemporary social theory; literary and cultural theory; sociology of literature; Milton, Orwell and political writing; literary radicalism in Australia.
Dawn Ryan Urban anthropology; Melanesian society; anthropology of religion; rural-urban interaction in Pacific societies; socio-religious movements in Melanesia, especially Papua New Guinea; theory and practice in ethnographic fieldwork.
George Silberbauer Community responses to disaster; disaster management; socio-ecology of Westernport catchment; application of systems theory to social analysis.
Michael Stevenson Comparative studies of social and cultural transformations; social movements and their political and cultural consequences; third world studies; political economy; the history of social theory.
Moni Storz Stress and mental health and illness; women's studies; Asia's business cultures; crosscultural research methodologies and intercultural communications skills; accelerated learning methodology.
Ulla Svensson Gender relations in the family; women, the welfare state and social policies; use of official statistics.
Jan van Bommel Feminist theory; sexual division of labour; women, female subjectivity and madness.
Bruce Wearne History of the social sciences; religion and theoretical thought; American sociological thought.
Naomi Rosh White Social construction of identity; sociology of children and childhood; testimony memory and social knowledge; Holocaust.
Robert Wolfgramm Charisma; multiculturalism; the `new physics'; tradition and tribalism in post-coup Fiji; postwar popular music.
Entry requirements
For entry to PhD, applicants should normally have an honours degree, first class or MA of equivalent level in sociology, anthropology, comparative sociology or other relevant discipline. Applications are judged on their academic merit and in relation to the capacity of the department to offer appropriate supervision.
For entry to MA by research (whether by thesis alone or by coursework and thesis), applicants should have an honours degree with a grade of H2A or better in the relevant discipline (or equivalent qualification).
For entry to MA by coursework at Part II level, applicants should have an honours degree with a grade of H2B or better in the relevant discipline (or equivalent qualification).
For entry to MA by coursework at Part I level applicants should have either an honours degree with a grade of at least H3 in the relevant discipline or a pass degree at credit level or above.
Doctor of Philosophy
This degree is by thesis alone. All students are allocated a primary supervisor in the department (and a second associate supervisor). The department encourages students to choose their own thesis topics and, given the range of areas covered by the teaching and research interests of existing staff, it is usually possible to provide a supervisor with expert knowledge of the chosen area. The thesis length is 100,000 words maximum.
Master of Arts by research in anthropology, sociology or comparative sociology
The research masters can take the form of masters by thesis only or by thesis and coursework. Students who are admitted to proceed by thesis only may be asked to attend one or more advanced seminar subjects where this appears desirable. All students will be allocated a supervisor who usually has particular knowledge and expertise in the topic area chosen by the student. The thesis length is 60,000 words maximum.
Attendance at a fortnightly departmental research seminar is required of all postgraduate research students. Alternatively, students may choose to take the masters by thesis and coursework. Details are given below.
Master of Arts in anthropology and sociology by coursework or coursework and thesis
This course provides students who already have a first degree in these or other cognate disciplines with the opportunity to further their studies in a number of areas and achieve a more advanced level of knowledge and understanding. Students may choose such a course for various reasons, including the desire to pursue their own intellectual interests, to gain more specialised and detailed understanding of a particular area, to acquire technical and applied skills and knowledge or to prepare themselves for a PhD and a career in research and teaching. Those students who take the option of combining coursework with a thesis also have the experience of carrying out under supervision a research project on a topic of their choice and writing a thesis.
The masters is divided into two parts. Students may apply for entry into Part I or II, depending on their qualifications. Part I consists of four coursework subjects. Part II takes the form of either four coursework subjects or two coursework subjects and a thesis of 24-30,000 words. Each part is one year full-time or two years part-time.
Within this masters there are four `streams' or areas of study, each with a range of one-semester seminar subjects, from which students make their choice. Students may also select subjects from across the `streams'. Students are advised to discuss their choice of subjects with the coordinators of the various streams or other academic staff in the department. The four `streams' are:
* Anthropology
* Gender and feminism
* Social theory and comparative sociology
* Sociology and public policy
Course of studies
Anthropology
Coordinator: Associate Professor Don Miller
MA Part I
All students will complete four subjects
* ASM4400 Ethics, theory and method in anthropological research
* ASM4430 The third world
* ASM4440 Asia and the West
* ASM4630 Feminism cross-culturally
* ASM4800 Special ASM subject (other approved fourth-year level subjects)
MA Part II
Students will either complete four 12-point subjects or two 8-point subjects and a thesis of 24,000-30,000 words (66%)
* ASM5010 On culture and inequality: theorising cultural difference
* ASM5060 Application of computer techniques
* ASM5080 The theory and practice of research
* ASM5300 Theorising culture
* ASM5800 Special ASM subject (other approved fifth-year level subjects)
Gender and feminism
Coordinator: Professor Anne Edwards
MA Part I
All students will complete four subjects
* ASM4070 Bodily representations
* ASM4300 Alternatives to straight research
* ASM4330 Sociology of the family
* ASM4370 Women, gender and society
* ASM4380 Women, psychiatry and madness
* ASM4390 Women and social control
* ASM4630 Feminism cross-culturally
* *ASM4651 The unconscious in social life: psychoanalytic and feminist perspectives
* ASM4710 Sexed media, media-ted sex
MA Part II
Students will either complete four 12-point subjects or two 8-point subjects and a thesis of 24,000-30,000 words (66%)
* ASM5110 Sexual/social theory and feminist research: critical exchanges A
* ASM5120 Sexual/social theory and feminist *research: critical exchanges B
* ASM5620 Power, policy, patriarchy and the state
* WSM5010 Feminist theory
* WSM5020 Feminist research
Social theory and comparative sociology
Coordinator: Associate Professor Don Miller
MA Part I
All students will complete four subjects
* ASM4070 Bodily representations
* ASM4110 Cultural studies: the consumer society
* ASM4200 Rethinking human studies: after postmodernity
* *ASM4430 The third world
* ASM4440 Asia and the West
* ASM4640 Structuralisms and poststructuralisms
* ASM4651 The unconscious in social life: psychoanalytic and feminist perspectives
* ASM4800 Special ASM subject (other approved fourth-year level subjects)
* PLM4140 Grand theories of politics
MA Part II
All students will either complete four 12-point subjects or two 8-point subjects and a thesis of 24,000-30,000 words (66%)
* ASM5010 On culture and inequality: theorising cultural difference
* ASM5030 The modern self
* ASM5070 The development of American social theory
* ASM5080 The theory and practice of research
* ASM5250 Marxist critical theory
* ASM5300 Theorising culture
* ASM5800 Special ASM subject (other approved fifth-year level subjects)
Sociology and public policy
Coordinator: Professor Anne Edwards
MA Part I
All students will complete four subjects and it is recommended that all students enrol in ASM4620 (Power, policy, patriarchy and the state).
* ASM4010 Qualitative research strategies
* ASM4030 Survey research
* ASM4040 Theoretical and methodological issues in applied social research
* ASM4310 Population and migration
* ASM4320 The research process
* ASM4330 Sociology of the family
* ASM4340 Sociology of religion
* ASM4390 Women and social control
* ASM4500 The social construction of disabilities
* ASM4620 Power, policy, patriarchy and the state
* ASM4800 Special ASM subject (other approved fourth-year level subjects)
MA Part II
All students will either complete four 12-point subjects or two 8-point subjects and a thesis of 24,000-30,000 words (66%). All students are recommended to take ASM5130 (Issues in public policy).
* ASM5020 Secondary analysis in social research
* ASM5050 Applied statistics
* ASM5060 Application of computer techniques
* ASM5130 Issues in public policy
* ASM5800 Special ASM subject (other approved fifth-year level subjects)
Master of Arts in applied social research
Coordinator: Dr William Foddy
This course, which has been running successfully for a number of years, aims to provide students with a broad range of research skills and to equip them for careers in applied social research. The course takes two years full-time or four years part-time, whatever the degree qualifications of entrants. All students take six coursework subjects and do a group research project.
Course of studies
MA Part I
Students must complete all four subjects
* SYM4010 Qualitative research strategies
* SYM4020 Secondary analysis in social research
* SYM4030 Survey research
* SYM4040 Theoretical and methodological issues in applied social research
MA Part II
Students must complete both subjects and the research project (12,000-15,000 words)
* SYM5050 Applied statistics
* SYM5060 Application of computer techniques
* SYM5070 MA in applied social research project