Research

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences undertakes outstanding, internationally recognised research in diverse fields, with expertise in political and ethical theory; contemporary histories; museum studies; human ecology; religious and social change; criminal justice reform; cybercrime; humanitarian and disaster relief; community development; state, national and regional politics and policy issues; international relations; and democracy and democratisation.

Find your research calling at Deakin's School of Humanities and Social Sciences, choose from the following interest areas:

To help our PhD and master's by research students develop their research skills and advance their theses, we run a number of informative of programs.

Regular HDR seminars are designed to give candidates insight into their colleagues' approaches to research.

Our professional research development seminar series focus on different aspects of the research process and are delivered by senior staff members.

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences is closely aligned with the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation (ADI). The Alfred Deakin Institute is a leading humanities and social sciences research institute whose researchers aim to understand the complex meanings of citizenship, social inclusion and globalisation, and investigate the implications of these forces in our lives and communities.

The Institute also hosts the UNESCO Chair, Cultural Diversity and Social Justice and is structured around four research streams:

• Mobilities, Diversity and Multiculturalism
• Governance, Development and Peace
• People, Place, Heritage
• Culture, Environment and Science.

The Deakin Asia-Pacific Research Network (DARPN) is the central point for Asia-Pacific expertise at Deakin University. The network brings together leading experts from across disciplines to develop collaborative cross-disciplinary research that addresses contemporary issues in the Asia-Pacific.

Here's a sample of some of the groundbreaking and internationally significant projects currently being undertaken by our researchers.

• The Parliamentary Careers project – developing new training and support programs to improve the experience of serving in parliament and leaving parliament.
• Border security – addressing border security as a way of understanding the co-emergence of offshore detention and onshore enclaves.
• Urban heritage in times of rapid transformation – considering the various economic, social and political roles that heritage plays in times of rapid change.
• Online interactions with the dead – exploring increasingly common practices of online memorialisation and commemoration of the dead.
• The culture of war: private life and sentiment in Australia – examining the lived experience and agency of civilians in making war between 1914 and 1918.
• Understanding and addressing racism in Australia – improving conceptual understandings of racism and anti-racism and investigating empirical data on the health and social effects of racism.
• Surviving the aftermath – investigating violence against women in disaster responses.
• Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers – exploring narratives of identity.