About PSI
The School of Political and Social Inquiry comprises the discipline areas of Anthropology, Behavioural Studies, Criminology, Politics and Sociology as well as the Centre for Women's Studies & Gender Research, the Centre for Population and Urban Research (CPUR), the Global Terrorism Research Centre (GTRC), the Unesco Chair in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations – Asia Pacific and the Centre for Islam and the Modern World (CIMOW).
The School has a presence on three Melbourne campuses: Clayton, Caulfield and Berwick and is also represented in Malaysia and South Africa. It is one of the largest humanities/social science schools in Australia and one of the largest Schools within the Faculty of Arts at Monash University.
The School offers undergraduate and applied graduate courses, honours and higher degree supervision in all of the above disciplines and in interdisciplinary fields. It also offers graduate diplomas and coursework masters degrees in international relations, counter-terrorism studies, applied social research and criminology. The core teaching areas traverse social, cultural and political theory, addressing key contemporary issues such as globalisation, governance, terrorism, collective and individual identities, gender, sex and crime and social, political and demographic changes in Australia.
Teaching
The School of Political and Social Inquiry is dedicated to innovative teaching methods and interdisciplinary approaches that engage students with contemporary scholarship and debate. It aspires to the highest teaching standards and approaches through research and external peer and student review. The School is committed to providing a dynamic intellectual environment. It fosters critical, reflective and conceptual thinking in students and aims to enrich their education by adopting unique approaches to learning and actively promoting strong relationships between academic studies, career development and community engagement.
The School of Political and Social Inquiry integrates international perspectives into its teaching, engaging students from different cultures and enabling students from the university to live and work in diverse cultural settings.
Research
Research strengths across the School include: Australian Politics, Governance and Citizenship; Australian Studies; Crime and Law Enforcement; Gender and Sexuality; Global Change, International Relations and terrorism; Literary, Biographical and cultural Studies; Regional Studies; Religion, Culture and Belief; Social Issues, Families and Youth Studies and Work and Social Policy.
PSI research collaborations include:The School hosts a number of regular research seminars, including:
The School's academic staff contribute to standards of excellence through their teaching, research and publications. They serve as reviewers and editors of the research and scholarly work of colleagues and students and participate in defining policy and the direction of academic activity as members of local, national and international organizations.