About the School of Humanities
The School is a major sponsor of the Australian Policy & History http://www.aph.org.au/ which facilitates links between historians, policy-makers, the media and the Australian public. Hear Associate Professor Melanie Oppenheimer discuss this initiative on the ABC's 'Future Tense' program. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/futuretense/stories/2010/2860364.htm
In 2011 the School will offer the Graduate Certificate in History Curriculum. This fully on-line course is aimed at current primary teachers and secondary history teachers wishing to upgrade their professional qualifications and up-skill for the new curriculum.
Welcome to the School of Humanities
What we offer is an exciting, challenging and thought-provoking suite of disciplines and units.
The term ‘Humanities’ comes from the Latin word humanitas, which means in essence ‘human nature’ or ‘humanity’. So the Humanities involve the study of everything relating to humankind, its history, and its behaviour. In this School we will engage you in questions about belief systems, social organization, creative expression, historical realities and cultural norms — essentially, you will be studying what it means to be human. The Roman poet Terence, over 2,000 years ago, wrote: ‘there is nothing relating to mankind that does not concern me.’ Similarly many hundreds of years later the English poet Alexander Pope was to comment: ‘the proper study of mankind is man.’
The study of Humanities does not train you for a single career path — it does much more than this. Through the study of Humanities you will acquire the skills of critical thinking, communication and the ability to integrate information, ideas, and opinions from a variety of sources and perspectives, as well as the ability to engage in independent research. But more importantly, we will arouse your curiosity and foster your creativity, enabling you to acquire a lifelong cultural awareness and a passionate love of learning and investigation from your encounter with other civilizations and the world’s greatest thinkers and achievers.
All of our subject areas — Ancient History, Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology, Asian Studies, Classical Languages (Latin and Greek), History, Indigenous Studies, Islamic Studies, Local, Family and Applied History, Peace Studies, Philosophy, Political and International Studies, and Studies in Religion — are taught by internationally recognized scholars who possess strong and diverse teaching and research backgrounds.
From 2009, we are offering a new Postgraduate Degree - Master of History
Lynda Garland
Head of School
