Introduction
The School of Humanities and Social Sciences formalised its links with the Faculty of Arts in 1993 as a part of the on-going amalgamation between Monash University and the former Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education. As a result of this process the school now operates under the umbrella of the Faculty of Arts, reporting to faculty board, but still maintaining autonomy over courses and student matters.
The term `School of Humanities and Social Sciences,' like `Faculty of Arts,' is used most frequently to include all students enrolled in its courses and all staff, both academic and general, employed to assist in the delivery of these academic programs. The school is located on the Gippsland campus, which is in the township of Churchill, approximately 168 kilometres east of the Clayton campus.
The school is located in two wings of the campus: the 2W and 1E buildings. The school office is room 2W283, and staff there can direct inquiries to the appropriate areas within the school if necessary.
The School of Humanities and Social Sciences employs a staff of approximately sixty, including full-time, part-time and sessional staff. In 1994 approximately 1090 students were enrolled in undergraduate programs taught by the school, with a further 140 undertaking graduate study. Of these students, around 400 are enrolled on-campus, with in excess of 700 students studying part-time by distance education from a variety of locations within Australia and overseas.
Within the school there are five sections: English-Mass Communications, History-Politics, Social Research, Sociology and Social Welfare. Each section has a head of section who is responsible for administrative and academic issues relating to the one or more disciplines they teach.
In addition to the sections, the school also has two centres: the Gippsland Centre for Koorie Studies; and the Centre for Gippsland Studies. The Gippsland Centre for Koorie Studies, headed by a director, offers an undergraduate program in Koorie studies and also has involvement in research in this area. The Centre for Gippsland Studies has a large archive of information on Gippsland, maintained by the executive officer, which is accessible to anyone researching issues related to Gippsland.
The main business of running the school is the responsibility of the school board, which meets at least seven times throughout the year and reports to the faculty board where necessary. The school board comprises most academic and general staff within the school, a representative of another school and two student representatives.
Students wishing to bring matters to the attention of the school board should feel free to discuss them with the student representatives, who may be contacted via the student union.
The organisation of teaching and research in particular disciplines rests with the relevant head of section, while the school board is concerned with issues affecting more than one section, including new developments within the school. The school board has certain committees which have the power to act on behalf of the school board on particular issues as specified in their terms of reference. These committees include:
* the Undergraduate Committee, which advises the board on all matters relating to undergraduate students as they arise, including questions of student workload and matters concerned with assessment; acts for the board in cases involving use of discretionary powers conferred on the school by the degree regulations and considers proposals for the introduction of new subjects;
* the Honours Committee, which advises the board on all matters relating to the fourth year honours program, including the admission of students, the consideration of proposals for the introduction of new subjects, and the awarding of the honours degree;
* the Postgraduate Committee, which advises the school on all matters relating to the admission of candidates for higher degrees and graduate courses and the awarding of higher degrees and graduate awards;
* the Unsatisfactory Progress Committee, which acts as a subcommittee of the Undergraduate Committee to consider cases of students who become liable to be excluded for unsatisfactory progress;
* the Research Committee, which advises the board on all matters relating to the conduct of research within the school, including policies, grants and ethics.
The requirements for the various courses are set out as simply as possible, but if there are remaining doubts as to their meaning, students should contact the school's administrative officers.
Members of staff and their fields of special interest
Communication studies
Stewart Marshall Cross-cultural communication; electronically mediated communication.
English/Mass communications
Bryan Coleborne Jonathan Swift and his Irish context; Anglo-Irish literature, especially 1675-1825 and contemporary Irish fiction; eighteenth-century literature.
Neil Courtney Myth, legend and folktale; film.
Cathy Greenfield Relations between media, culture, power with particular attention to forms of democracy and populism and to intercultural relations.
Mike Griffiths Creative writing; contemporary writing; postcolonial studies; media, cultural and critical studies; travel writing.
Oonah Mary Griffiths `Postcolonial' theory and literature; women's writing; the politics of representation in the media.
Neil Hanley Media studies, mass communications; computer-mediated learning.
Patrick Morgan Australian literature and Australian studies; Gippsland studies; political literature.
History-Politics
Peter Farago Social change; cultural theory; community development; eastern Europe.
Malcolm Kennedy Australian economic and foreign policy developments; resource and military rivalry, and maritime security in the Asia-Pacific Basin; the globalist-nation state debate; epistemology and theories of war and peace.
Beth Russell Environmental politics; international relations; public policy; citizenship and governance.
David Schmitt Medical history; Australian colonial military history; Australian health policy.
Keith Wilson American Civil War; African American culture; US civil rights; industrial revolution: Britain; Australian prisoners of war.
Koorie studies
Lynnette Dent Aboriginal languages.
Marlene Drysdale Koorie education.
Isabel Ellender Koorie archaeology.
Doris Paton Local Koorie history.
Social welfare
Sue Arnall Counselling; groupwork, family support services outcomes.
Karen Crinall Homelessness specifically young women; feminist research methodology, art therapy; art; photography, painting, sculpture; youth work; youth suicide; education; curriculum theory.
Gordon Dawber Grief and loss, crisis intervention in general, interviewing, curriculum development (especially distance education); family-centred case work, groupwork.
Marg Lynn Rural social work; rural information networks; community development; feminist social work practice.
Helen McAdam Feminist practice; selection of students for social welfare course; evaluation of teaching practice and process.
Debra Manning Public welfare; overseas community development.
Sociology
Peter Harry Ballis Sociology of work, including issues of occupational health and safety, trade unionism, career change and redundancy; Sociology of religion; qualitative research methods.
Marion Collis Women's health; mental illness/psychiatric services; women and social control.
Brian Furze Ecologically sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific; integrated conservation and local development in the Asia-Pacific through protected area information, use and management.
Ian Hamilton Family; ethnic relations; ethnic intermarriage.
Lyle Munro Social movements; animal rights; youth employment; social control and deviance; sociology of education, school to work transition.
Daryl Nation Distance education; educational technology; open learning.
Marianne Robinson Children; gender relations; education.
Parimal Roy Race, migration and ethnicity; family and kinship; social and community networks; social change; rural and urban studies; south and south-east Asia.