The School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences is located on
the Gippsland campus. The school offers a range of undergraduate courses,
enabling students to choose a program which suits their specific interests,
needs and career goals. The academic programs offered range from the broad,
generalist Bachelor of Arts to the more specifically vocational programs such
as the Bachelor of Social Welfare and Bachelor of Arts (Journalism).The school
also conducts an extensive off-campus distributed learning program via the
Centre for Learning and Teaching Support.
Within the school are six sections: mass communications/writing, journalism,
history --politics, Indonesian, sociology and social research, and social
welfare. In addition to the sections, the school has two centres: the Centre
for Gippsland Studies and the Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies. The
Centre for Gippsland Studies has a large archive of information on Gippsland,
which is accessible to anyone researching issues related to Gippsland. The
Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies serves to promote increased
participation in tertiary education by members of the Indigenous Australian
community through its Diploma of Australian Indigenous Studies. It also has
involvement in research in areas related to Australian Indigenous studies and
the Indigenous Australian community in general.
Australian studies is an interdisciplinary minor available within the School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences. The minor includes units from a range of disciplines within the school, enabling students to develop a broad understanding of Australian cultures, lifestyles and societies.
This is a minor sequence of interdisciplinary units introducing students to community issues in post-modern contexts. These units aim to expose students to current debates about the meaning, nature and outlook of communities.
Scholarship
concerning gender as a social construct has become an established field of
study over the last 20 years. The analysis and critique of culturally shaped
attributes and behaviours have been successfully developed and expanded into
the humanities, communications and social sciences curriculum largely through
the work of feminist scholars, in courses developed from a woman-centred
perspective. The multidisciplinary major and a minor sequence in gender studies
evolved from this scholarship to offer a developing critique and understanding
of both masculinities and femininities. Drawing on feminist, mainstream and
post-structuralist theorising of gender, the units offered investigate gender
relations as a collective social issue.
Particular attention will be paid to gender and power in social, historical,
political and representational frameworks as they are understood through
differences in class, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
Units
in history and politics are designed to build up, in a systematic way,
significant bodies of knowledge on the history and politics of Europe,
Australia, Asia and the major world powers. Students are provided with a
systematic development of learning skills -- including skills in reading,
information retrieval, oral and written communications, and methodological
approaches and research techniques.
The application of knowledge of political systems and structures is developed
in public and social policy studies for students in the Bachelor of Arts and in
other courses. The history --politics major provides a stimulating course,
which will give students a high level of academic competence in the study of
continuity and change in human society and a deeper understanding of the nature
of the past and the modern world.
COMPULSORY FOR MAJOR.
The
study of Indonesian is both the study of a culture through its language, and
the development of more generalist skills used in the acquisition of a new
language. The sequence aims at developing a tolerance for difference and an
interest in alternative ways of expressing the world while providing a language
framework from which students can communicate with the people of the world's
fourth-most-populous nation. From bargaining and negotiating appointments in
the early levels to producing a student magazine and radio program in the
specialist sequence, the emphasis is on practical language skills while
understanding that even the simplest of tasks can provide something which is
both culturally and linguistically challenging.
Students at all levels are encouraged to be involved with community activities
and events related to Indonesia and Southeast Asia. In doing so, students will
have the opportunity to integrate these experiences into assignments and
activities during their study. In-country study is also encouraged through
accredited courses at Indonesian universities, and this study is supported
through language and general study abroad scholarships.
There are two streams in Indonesian language: (a) beginners stream, for those
who have no previous knowledge of Indonesian; (b) post-VCE stream, for those
who have completed VCE Indonesian or equivalent.
OFFERED BY OFF-CAMPUS DISTRIBUTED LEARNING.
The
journalism major will equip students with a range of journalism skills and
knowledge appropriate for flexible application in a variety of employment
settings.
The skills and knowledge developed are those required by journalists (or those
using journalism skills) for the future. Graduates will possess well-developed
literacy skills to work in a variety of media. They will be able to contribute
knowledgeably and in socially responsible and ethical ways to the particular
communities they find themselves in, drawing on an informed intercultural
awareness and an understanding of the professional and ethical codes and
responsibilities of journalism. Graduates will also be equipped to adapt
themselves to accommodate the rapid developments in mass communications
technologies and their social consequences.
ON-CAMPUS SEQUENCE.
OFF-CAMPUS DISTRIBUTED LEARNING SEQUENCE.
Koorie studies offers a range of units that are designed to introduce students to the historical, social and political aspects of Koorie society. Koorie studies will provide an understanding of the relationships between Indigenous Australians and the dominant society as well as developing students with a sound knowledge and sensitivity to work within Aboriginal communities.
Mass communications offers a range of units designed to equip students with specialised but flexible skills in describing and analysing the organisation, processes, diverse uses and effects of 'traditional' and 'new' mass communications technologies (print, electronic, film and digital) as these are integral components of modern societies. The emphasis is on how media are a part of the way the social relations between individuals and between groups are organised and pursued, rather than on media as picturing these relations and related issues. The major will provide an understanding of the practical operation of mass communication media as well as their social and cultural dimensions, considering the audiences, producers and policy-makers involved. Students will be equipped with skills in utilising language, and media delivery systems to communicate effectively.
A focus on mass communications in marketing can be chosen by taking complementary units from the Faculty of Business and Economics.
The
course is designed to provide academic and vocational education for students
wishing to become welfare workers. It will qualify and equip them for
employment in government and non-government welfare agencies and community
development organisations. It combines a sound intellectual and experiential
grounding in social welfare with practical experience of field situations.
Students in the Bachelor of Arts may enrol in first-year units GSC1306
(Understanding human behaviour) and GSC1307 (Human behaviour across the
lifespan).
Sociology
is the study of people and the relationships they enter into as members of
various social institutions. Sociologists study a range of social issues that
are important in contemporary Australian society. The sociology major offers
units which draw upon various areas of sociological endeavour.
In addition to standing as a major area of study in the Bachelor of Arts,
sociology is an important supporting discipline in other courses. Sociology
units form an integral part of the welfare and nursing courses and may be taken
as an appropriate component in the preparation of both primary and secondary
teachers in the School of Education. Sociology units may also be taken by
students enrolled in courses in the schools of Applied Science, Business and
Visual Arts.
The two introductory units in sociology (GSC1201 and GSC1202) are taken as a
first-level humanities and social science sequence.
Two
units are offered in social research -- one dealing with basic statistics and
computing for social sciences and the other with methods of social research
(GSC1601 and GSC1602).
The first unit introduces students to published data. The unit explores how the
data is collected, the calculation of basic statistics and what the formulae
mean, and the use of computers to analyse real data.
The second unit presents an overview of the methodologies available to social
researchers and calls on students to apply these techniques in a selected
project, working within a small team. Students who intend to undertake studies
in psychology are advised to take GSC1602 rather than GSC1601 as their research
methods core unit, as GSC1601 and PSY2051 are a prohibited combination.
COMPULSORY FOR MAJOR.
One
unit is currently offered in this area -- GSC1611 (Understanding university
learning). The unit offers an introduction to the scholarly techniques required
in humanities, communications and social sciences. It introduces students to
the skills, knowledge and qualities included in the school's general
objectives.
This unit may be undertaken in the following degrees: Bachelor of Arts,
Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and Humanities), Bachelor of Arts (Journalism),
Bachelor of Arts (Communication). It may also be undertaken in a number of
double-degree programs.
The writing major provides a sequence of units that will enable students to gain an understanding of a range of contemporary writing practices in the context of mass communications, cultural and media studies, materialist and feminist frameworks, and analyses of literary and other media forms. Students will become familiar with different kinds of contemporary writing, especially prose forms (eg prose fiction, feature articles, travel writing, autobiography, biography and the essay), and acquire detailed knowledge of a range of techniques associated with contemporary cultural production. At second level and, more fully, at third level, students will be able to reflect critically upon their own practices while developing and applying skills and techniques through individual and collaborative projects.
Previous page | Next page | Section contents | Title and contents