Faculty of Arts and Education
Deakin University
International Studies encompasses the core disciplines outlined below. Such disciplines can be studied at undergraduate level within the Bachelor of Arts and for those with a particular interest in internationalisation, by completing the Bachelor of Arts (International Studies) or the associated double degrees. These degrees offer students the opportunity to focus their interests in international studies through an offshore experience and a structured program.
For those students who wish to pursue their international studies interest into professional arenas, the School offers postgraduate programs in International Relations, International and Community Development, Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies.
Anthropology is the study of the lives of people in a range of societies. The major sequence investigates kinship and family; gender; economic and political anthropology; work and consumption; religion, ritual and witchcraft; person society and cosmos; death; the impact of problems caused by expanding European nations on the peoples of Africa and the Pacific; globalisation; processes of change in the Third World, international tourism; festivals; medical anthropology; communal conflict; ethnicity; international migration; and fieldwork.
This area of study is pursued at postgraduate level. The Graduate Certificate, Diploma and Master degrees provide an integrated approach for those working in government agencies, private corporations, community organisations and in private practice in a range of professions, who seek to develop a broader understanding of and specialist skills in the cultural heritage industry.
Our aim is to produce graduates who are able to demonstrate, in their professional life, high level skills across a broad range of heritage practice. These courses are designed to develop an extensive, cross disciplinary knowledge of heritage principles and practice and an awareness of community sensitivities.
Students explore the nature of the modern world: the forces and great events of, especially, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the ways historians have interpreted them. Amongst the themes given special attention are war and peace, modernisation and social change, colonisation, nationalism and internationalism, gender in history and the holocaust. In focusing on such themes, students can choose a sequence from units which cover American, African-American, Asian, Australian and European histories. All units aim to stimulate and challenge students to come to understand past human behavior and to acquire critical, analytical and research skills.
Poverty and contemporary development are subjects that concern a world that is increasingly globalised. They are areas of study that draw on skills unique to several disciplines in the liberal arts, including anthropology, history, economics, politics, geography, statistics and sociology. The International Development Studies major is structured so as to enable students to develop a deep and sophisticated understanding of the dimensions of world poverty, its causes, and the processes of development aimed at eliminating poverty by promoting human fulfillment and achievement.
The International Relations major sequence focuses on understanding conflict and cooperation and war and peace in contemporary international politics. Students examine the system of states before, during and after the Cold War, the nature of power and security, the nature and role of the United Nations, global issues such as poverty and global warming, human rights, and Australia's place in the world.
Language programs in Arabic, Chinese and Indonesian, and relevant in-country programs, offer students the skills to work in regions of central significance to Australia's economic future: the Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
The Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa form an area of critical global importance having broad strategic, economic, religious and cultural influence. The Middle East comprises the fourth largest trading block among Australia's overseas trading partners, with the total value of Australia's trade with the Middle East more than doubling in the last decade. The major sequence provides for the development of communication skills in Modern Standard Arabic, the language fluency is enhanced through contextual knowledge of Middle Eastern history, culture and society.
Standard Chinese, commonly known as Mandarin Chinese, is a major language of the world. It is the official language in the People's Republic of China, Taiwan and Singapore and widely used in community groups in Hong Kong, South-East Asia, North America and Australia. Chinese is also one of the five official languages of the United Nations. At present, China, including Hong Kong, is the second largest trade partner of Australia. It is predicted that China will replace Japan as Australia's premier business partner in the foreseeable future.
Students studying Chinese are encouraged to select complementary units in Asian Studies in order to gain a sound background knowledge of the cultural, geopolitical and historical issues relevant to the regions where Chinese is spoken.
Indonesia is Australia's nearest Asian neighbour and the fourth most populous country in the world. Indonesia is increasingly important to Australia economically, politically and culturally and knowledge of Indonesian language and culture is a desirable asset in many fields. Students who have completed university study of Indonesian typically find employment in business, government service, and a wide range of service industries including travel, tourism and communication. The Indonesian language program gives students a high level of spoken and written Bahasa Indonesia and also provides a thorough understanding of Indonesian culture and way of life.
Philosophy seeks to lift our thinking from the practicalities of everyday life and from the necessity of professional training in order to reflect on the eternal truths whereby we are urged to live. Individual units cover questions which deal with the nature of human existence; world religions; ethics in a global context; political philosophy; and the nature and value of science and of the arts. A distinctive feature of the major is its focus upon Asian philosophy, psychoanalysis, and philosophy as practiced in continental Europe.
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