humcass.info@arts.monash.edu.au
http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/schools/hcss/
Room 283, building 2W, Gippsland campus
(03) 9902 6339
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 and Community 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 seven disciplines: cognitive science and behavioural
studies, communications and writing, journalism, history- politics, Indonesian,
sociology and social research, and social community welfare.
The school incorporates the Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies, which
serves to promote increased participation in tertiary education by members of
the Indigenous Australian community (for full details, see the entry for the
Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies earlier in this section). It also has
involvement in research in areas related to Australian Indigenous studies and
the Indigenous Australian community in general.
In addition, the school has the following research units: the Centre for
Gippsland Studies, the Gippsland Research and Information Service (GRIS), the
Research Unit on Work and Communication Futures, and the Bionics and Cognitive
Science Centre.
Australian Indigenous studies offers a range of units that are designed to introduce students to the historical, social and political aspects of Koorie society. Australian Indigenous 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 (for full details see entry for the Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies earlier in this section).
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. Students wishing to undertake a minor must complete COM1010 and AIS1010 and any two of SCY2802, SCY2804/SCY3804, HPL2501, HPL2510/HPL3510 and AIS2806/AIS3806.
The major in behavioural studies provides an alternative psychology sequence from a humanistic perspective. It is available in the Bachelor of Behavioural Science, the Bachelor of Arts (including tagged BA degrees), the Bachelor of Social and Community Welfare, and the Education degrees that include arts majors and minors. The major is offered on-campus at Clayton, Caulfield and Gippsland, and off-campus to students nationally and internationally.
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 wishing to complete major must complete COM1010, COM1020, COM2411/COM3411, COM2407/COM3407, COM2423/COM3423, COM2409/COM3409, COM2413/COM3413 and one of COM2408/COM3408, COM2417/COM3417 or PRL2003.
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. Students wishing to complete a minor must complete HPL2511 and any three of AIS1010, SCY2809/SCY3809, SCW2311, SCW2304 and HPL2506/HPL3506.
The Bachelor of Cognitive Science includes sequences in cognitive psychology, information technology and philosophy. It is offered on-campus at Gippsland and by off-campus learning.
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.
Students wishing to undertake a major in history-politics must include the
compulsory unit HPL3504 (Theories and research in history-politics).
The study of Indonesian is the study of a culture in the context of its language. It also develops the generalist skills used in the process of acquiring a new language.
The sequence aims at developing a tolerance for difference and an interest
in alternative ways of perceiving and expressing the world. From negotiating
travel arrangements and appointments in the early levels to producing a student
magazine and radio program in the specialist sequence, the emphasis is on
practical communication skills.
Students at all levels are encouraged to be involved with community activities
and events related to Indonesia and Southeast Asia. These experiences can also
be incorporated into discussions of the assignments during the study program.
In-country study is also encouraged through accredited courses at Indonesian
universities, and students may apply for study abroad scholarships to assist
them with funding their study in these programs.
There are three streams in Indonesian language: INM1115/INM1125 (beginners) for
those who have no previous knowledge of Indonesian; INM2215/INM2225 (post-VCE)
for those who have completed VCE Indonesian or its equivalent; and
INM3315/INM3325 for those who are native speakers of Malay or Indonesian.
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, and those using journalism skills for the future. Graduates will possess well-developed literacy skills to work in print, radio, television, online and multimedia. They will be able to contribute knowledgeably and in socially responsible and ethical ways to the particular communities they find themselves in, drawing on awareness of various cultures 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. Students wishing to complete a minor in journalism must complete JRN1902 and JRN1903 and any two of JRN2903/JRN3903, JRN2905, JRN2906, JRN2907, JRN2909/JRN3909, JRN2910/JRN3910 and JRNC3901. Note that prerequisites will apply with some units.
Public relations is about building and maintaining relationships for the mutual benefit of those involved in the relationship. Essentially, it is concerned with relationships between organisations and people who are somehow mutually involved with these organisations. This course will not only equip students with the techniques and tactics to work in an area that has become a major branch of organisational functioning, but will also provide them with the analytical tools to reflect on the functions and roles of public relations in modern day organisations and the society as a whole.
Today, every worthwhile organisation understands the value of public relations and the critical role it plays in organisational survival. In this course, students will be introduced to the challenging and rewarding calling of building organisation-public relationships in an era of instantaneous global communication. It will provide students with the necessary tools to work in any position where the concern is with building a meaningful relationship between an organisation and the people it depends on for survival.
The Bachelor of Social and Community Welfare provides academic and vocational education for graduates seeking employment in a wide variety of social welfare and community situations. The course teaches and develops values and skills appropriate to working with individuals, families and communities. The course establishes a sound academic base for postgraduate study, and also prepares students for management in the social and community services field.
Sociology is the study of people and the relationships they enter into as members of various social institutions and groups. Sociologists study a range of social issues that are important in contemporary Australian society. The sociology major offers units which draw upon various contemporary social issues including health and illness, children, human reproduction, deviance and crime, globalisation, the environment, work and technology, social movements, race and ethnic relations, the family, social justice, women's issues and rural issues and sustainability.
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.
Students completing a sociology major must include SCY1801, SCY1802, one
research methods unit SCY2815 or SCY2816, and two theory units SCY3815 and
SCY3816.
One unit is currently offered in this area - DFS1611 (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.
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. Students wishing to undertake a major in writing must complete COM1010, COM1020, COM2407/COM3407, COM2409/COM3409, WRT3421, WRT3422 and two of WRT2405/WRT3405, WRT2406/WRT3406, HPL2506/HPL3506, COM2408/COM3408,
For details of the following courses, see `Outline of undergraduate studies' earlier in this section:
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