School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences

1. The School

The Faculty of Arts is one of the largest in the university, in terms of student numbers, and was one of the foundation faculties of Monash University. It offers courses on the Berwick, Caulfield, Clayton and Gippsland campuses in Australia and at the Monash Malaysia and South Africa campuses. The faculty has an enrolment of over 7,400 students, of whom nearly 1,200 are postgraduate. There are 287 academic staff in the faculty. Most honours courses and graduate courses are offered on the Clayton campus.

The faculty is structured as eight academic schools, many of which have several departments. The schools are as follows: School of English, Communications and Performance Studies, School of Geography and Environmental Science, School of Historical studies, School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences, School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, School of Music-Conservatorium, School of Philosophy and Bioethics and School of Political and Social Inquiry.

Some schools incorporate interdisciplinary centres as follows: Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies, National Centre for Australian Studies, Centre for Biography and Life Writing, Centre for Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, Centre for European Studies, Centre for Human Bioethics, Centre for Japanese Language Education, Australian Centre for the Study of Jewish Civilisation,  Research Centre for New Media in Language Learning, Centre for Studies in Religion and Theology, Centre for Women's Studies and Gender Research and Centre for Research on Work and Society in the Global Era.

The School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences (www.arts.monash.edu.au/humcass/) is located on the Gippsland campus and offers a range of undergraduate courses in Australian Indigenous Studies, Australian Studies, Cognitive Science, Mass Communications, Community Studies, Gender Studies, History/Politics, Journalism, Public Relations, Social and Community Welfare, Sociology and Social Research, Psychological Studies, Understanding University Learning and Writing. Courses are taught at Gippsland, Berwick and Caulfield. These courses are offered via the seven sections - Cognitive Science, Communications and Writing, Journalism, Indonesian, History/Politics, Sociology and Social Research and Social Welfare - and five centres within the School –  Bionics and Cognitive Science Centre, Centre for Gippsland Studies, Centre for Rural Communities, Gippsland Research and Information Service and Research Unit in Work & Communication Futures.  The Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies also teaches on the Gippsland campus.

The School offers postgraduate studies in the areas of Asian studies, Australian studies, cognitive science, communications, community studies, gender research, history, language studies, politics, regional community development, social welfare, sociology and writing.

The School has a student load of 932.1 EFTSU, of which approximately 30 is postgraduate. There are 37.6 FTE teaching staff in the school.

On the Clayton campus, courses in writing are offered by the School of Literary, Visual and Performance Studies; in sociology, politics, women's studies, and communication by the School of Political and Social Inquiry, and in history by the School of Historical Studies.

Australian Studies : The National Centre for Australian Studies teaches first and second-level units in Australian Studies at Clayton.  An undergraduate unit Sport and Australian Society is offered at Peninsula and from 2007 at Gippsland  campus.  The Centre provides a Masters in Australian Studies at Caulfield campus, a Master of Communications and Media Studies at Caulfield campus, with classes held in the City and at Caulfield, a Masters of Tourism at Caulfield campus, a Masters in Publishing and Editing with classes held in the City.  Research strengths include Australian social, political and literary studies, Australians abroad, tourism, publishing, communications and the media and the interpretive role of cultural institutions.

Cognitive Science : The course is multidisciplinary and focuses on the study of thinking in people and machines.  Subjects include cognition and learning, research methods, pattern recognition and sensory processes, development of thought and action, cognitive neuroscience, linguistics and language processing, and bionics and prosthetics.

Communications and Writing : The section offers studies in mass communications, writing, media studies and public relations. It also contributes to the gender studies major. Research interests include media and politics, theories of mass communications media, Australian women writers of the 1930s, cultural and literary theory, reader/audience reception theory, cultural practice of photography, talkback radio, computer mediated communication, organisational communication, intercultural communication, intercultural pedagogy, gender theory, post-colonial theory, creative and other forms of writing, the Gothic, feminist theory and education, creative and electronic writing.

Journalism : Courses in this section have an international focus, with an emphasis on the Southeast Asian region. Research interests include radio journalism, television journalism and media studies. The section offers subjects on the Gippsland, Berwick and Caulfield campuses.

History/Politics : Subjects offered cover the history and politics of Europe, Australia, Asia and the major world powers. The section also contributes to the gender studies major. Research interests include slavery, American Civil War, African American history, environmental politics, international relations, public policy, Australian politics, medical history, Australian colonial military history, war by proxy, representations of China in popular literature of the interwar period.

Psychological Studies : The course combines aspects of psychology with elements of humanistic psychology.  The subject covers a wide range of human behaviours and applied psychology in the new areas of parapsychology, forensics, work and sport.   

Regional Community Development:  The Graduate Certificate is designed for regionally based workers with a responsibility to engage with community groups from all sectors.  Subjects include theory and practice of community development, collaborative engagement with communities and facilitating community development.

Sociology and Social Research : Subjects offered cover a wide range of issues in sociology. The two units in social research cover statistical data and computing, and methodology. The section also contributes to the gender studies major. Research interests include career change and redundancy, sociology of religion, qualitative research methods, medical sociology, social research and feminism, family violence, community infrastructure and needs analysis, social movements, animal rights, youth employment, sociology of education, acquisition of numeracy, gender issues, psychological effects of unemployment, race and ethnic relations, social change, urban sociology, community studies, family and social networks, gender relations, history and sociology of religion.

Social and Community Welfare : The course provides academic and vocational education for students wishing to become welfare workers. Research interests include young women and homelessness, role of the university in social change, use of the photograph as a research method, development of integrated networks of social services, child protection work.

Centre for Gippsland Studies : This has a large archive of information specialising in the history, environment, literature, Aborigines and social sciences of Gippsland. The Centre is open to the wider community as a link between academic and community researchers. It offers teaching at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level, carries out research projects and consultancies, and has a publishing program. The collection contains books, journals, newspapers, reports, manuscripts, ephemera, unpublished materials, photographs and maps relating to Gippsland.

2. General policy statement

The Collection Development Policy covers printed books and journals, electronic resources, multimedia and any other formats acquired for the Library's collection.

The Policy is regularly monitored to ensure that the selection and acquisition of new resources supports the teaching and research needs of the faculties and their departments. While every effort is made to meet known information needs some gaps in the collection may develop which need attention, and suggestions to address them are welcome. This may be done through liaison with library staff or, for individual titles, using the recommendation form at lib.monash.edu.au/forms/acquisition-request.doc

To ensure that the library provides collection materials to support new courses and subjects, completion of a Library Impact Statement lib.monash.edu.au/forms/impact.doc is required. When establishing new research directions staff are encouraged to liaise with the library about the provision of supporting information resources.

All titles listed as prescribed or recommended reading for teaching subjects are acquired as high priority and in multiple copies depending on student enrolment numbers. This is particularly necessary for undergraduate students, who need access to adequate resources on their home campus. Electronic versions of these texts are also provided where possible, so that access is more readily available regardless of location and number of copies held. The inter-campus loan and photocopy services for undergraduates further support the needs of those students.

However, the library cannot acquire every item that could conceivably be needed by Monash staff or students. The reciprocal borrowing scheme enables Monash library users to borrow from other university libraries. Post-graduates and staff may also use the document delivery service to obtain books and articles from other libraries in Australia and overseas.

3. The Library's collection

a. Location

Material acquired for the School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences is located in the Gippsland Library, with smaller collections in the Berwick and Caulfield libraries to support teaching in journalism.

The Matheson Library on the Clayton campus has significant collections supporting communications, writing, history, politics, sociology, and women's studies. The Caulfield Library has a significant collection to support teaching and research in social work, with some older material located in the Matheson Library, and communications and psychology. There is also significant material located in the Rare Books collection and the microform collection in the Matheson Library. The Berwick Library has collections in public relations and communications.  Hargrave-Andrew Library has significant collections supporting the cognitive sciences and psychology. 

b. Language

Material is acquired for the School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences mainly in the English language.

c. Classification used

Material acquired for the School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences is classified using the Dewey Decimal Classification. On the Clayton campus, all literature by a particular writer is classified at a single call number representing that writer and his works; however on the other campuses, literature is classified by the form i.e. drama, poetry, fiction, rather than by author.

d. Formats.

No format is excluded, although in practice the majority of the collection is monographs or serials, both print and electronic. There is a large collection of videorecordings, sound cassettes and CD-ROMS.

e. Size of the collection.

Number of print serial titles received : approximately 130 titles are received.

f. Significant electronic resources

The Library is purchasing increased numbers of resources in electronic format, including networked or internet databases, fulltext resources, including suites of electronic journals, and CD-ROM databases that are only accessible within a particular Branch library. As a result, an increasing proportion of the budget for library material for the Faculty of Arts is spent on these resources.

These include Indexing and abstracting services :

• Arts & Humanities Citation Index
• BHI : British Humanities Index
• Current Contents
• MLA
• PAIS
• APAIS
• BAS (Bibliography of Asian Studies)
• Historical Abstracts
• MIHILIST (Australian military history)
• Studies on Women and Gender Abstracts
• HERA (Australian heritage information)
• Social Services Abstracts
• Sociological Abstracts, Family

Fulltext databases / electronic journal suites :

• Academic Research Library
• APA Full Text
• Blackwell Synergy
• Cambridge Journals Online
• Communication Studies (Sage)
• Expanded Academic ASAP Factiva
• IBSS
• JSTOR
• PCI full text Political Science (Sage)
• Psychology (Sage & OVID)
• Project MUSE 
• Sociology   

20% of the library materials budget for the Faculty of Arts is spent on serials and more than 15% on electronic resources
Subject gateways : Library Arts faculty team homepage (www.lib.monash.edu.au/subjects/arts.html)

g. Coverage of the collection

The library resources acquired for the School cover in general those areas of the Dewey Decimal Classification emphasising journalism, 070s, psychology, 150s, media, 302s, broadcasting, 384s, sociology, 301-307, politics, 320s, history, 900s, and literature, 800s.

The main areas of collecting for Australian Studies are detailed below

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the subjects offered in Australian Studies, a lot of purchasing is done by many disciplines in various faculties.

The main areas of collecting for Cognitive Science are detailed below

Cognitive Science is a relatively new subject for Gippsland and the material available reflects this.  Because the subject is multidisciplinary, relevant resources are also to be found in psychology, philosophy, computer science, linguistics and biomedical engineering.  In total, there are approximately 4000 books in the collection.  However, the collection needs to be enlarged in the areas of bionics and prosthetics.

The main areas of collecting for Communications and Writing are detailed below

Gippsland Library has a good collection of world literature with a current emphasis on post-colonial literature, women's writing, contemporary fiction and authorship, and a good collection of children's literature. There is a particularly comprehensive and rapidly growing collection of motion picture videorecordings which illustrate the history of the cinema and the various genres. The collection supporting Communications and Writing is estimated at 10,000 volumes.

The main areas of collecting for History/Politics are detailed below

Gippsland's collection in history/politics is solid in the areas relating to subjects which are taught. Australian history is especially strong. The total collection is estimated at 10,000 volumes.

The main areas of collecting for Journalism are detailed below

Journalism is a relative newcomer to the university curriculum and the material available reflects this. The size of the Gippsland collection is estimated at 1,000 items, however, the collections at both Gippsland and Berwick are growing rapidly.

The main areas of collecting for Psychological Studies are detailed below

Gippsland's collection of parapsychology, forensics, and sport psychology materials is small and needs enlarging.  Sport psychology materials are also collected by Sport and Outdoor Education. However, the collection is adequate in psychology (which in the past was supported by Applied Science and at present by Medicine (Psychology).  There are approximately 10,000 volumes in the collection. 

The main areas of collecting for Regional Community Development are detailed below

Gippsland's collection of regional community development is small and needs enlarging.  Materials on communities is collected by Sociology and Social Research and Social and Community Welfare.    There are approximately 350 volumes in the collection. 

The main areas of collecting for Social and Community Welfare are detailed below

Resources in social welfare are well represented overall, and the department is aware of the need to continue to acquire up to date material. The collection in this area is estimated at 9,000 volumes. Relevant resources are also to be found in psychology and health sciences areas of the Gippsland collection.

The areas of collecting for Sociology and Social Research are detailed below

The main areas of collecting for Gippsland Studies are detailed below. All items relating to Gippsland in any subject area are collected comprehensively.

The material acquired on behalf of the Centre for Gippsland Studies is located in the Centre, rather than the Gippsland Library. The collection is extensive, and contains reports, newspapers, photographs and manuscripts, as well as monographs and serials.   

4. Other significant Monash collections or resources

Microform collection : Monash University Library is part of a consortium of libraries which acquires two major research collections, the Eighteenth Century (2870 reels) and the Nineteenth Century.
The Eighteenth Century provides a microfilm collection of every notable item printed in any language in Great Britain and its colonies and printed in English anywhere in the world between 1701 and 1800. Monash University Library is fortunate enough to be the repository for this collection.
The Nineteenth Century republishes English-language books and pamphlets published in all parts of the world except North America between 1801 and 1900. The General Collection is housed at Deakin University and Monash University Library holds the specialist collection "Publishing, the Book Trade and diffusion of knowledge." (1506 fiche)

• Aborigines General (newspaper clippings) 81 fiche
• Indonesian Nationalist Movement (290 fiche)
• Social and political status of women in Britain, 1870-1928 (17 reels)
• Cornell University collection of women's rights pamphlets, 1814-1912 (118 fiche)
• Archives of British Publishers on Microfilm (489 reels and 55 fiche)
• The Nineteenth Century microform collection republishes English-language books and pamphlets published in all parts of the world except North America between 1801 and 1900. The General Collection is housed at Deakin University and Monash University Library holds the specialist collection "Publishing, the Book Trade and diffusion of knowledge." (1506 fiche)

Rare books collection: There is a growing number of 19^th and 20th century Australian pamphlets, including large numbers of radical pamphlets, nineteenth century German Australiana, nineteenth century accounts by visitors to Australia and material on Australian urban history. Rare books collects in such areas as the Australian book trade, accounts by European travellers, Australian popular culture, nineteenth century accounts by visitors to Australia and Australian urban history. The Rare Books collection also houses a collection of political pamphlets with a particular focus on the Australian Communist Party.

Centre for Gippsland Studies : This is located within the School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences, and has a large archive of information specialising in the history, environment, literature, Aborigines and social sciences of Gippsland. The Centre is open to the wider community as a link between academic and community researchers. It offers teaching at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level, carries out research projects and consultancies, and has a publishing program. The collection contains books, journals, newspapers, reports, manuscripts, ephemera, unpublished materials, photographs and maps relating to Gippsland.

Collections Table

(T = teaching level, R = research level)

Amendment history

First issued: December 2000
Amended:  2006

Need help? Library frequently asked questions and online enquiries: current students/staff | public users, online chat, or phone +61 3 9905 5054
Something to say? Use our online enquiry service to send us your feedback and suggestions: current students/staff | public users