Major study areas for Master of Arts

LINGUISTICS

Linguistics is the systematic study of the nature and the use of language. This involves examining the structures of languages, the uses of language, the ways in which languages differ and those properties that they have in common. Theories about language and its uses in society are studied and evaluated, and various applications of linguistics and linguistic knowledge are covered. Postgraduate linguistics at Monash focuses in particular upon sociolinguistics (language in society), discourse studies and the applications of linguistics to language issues (including the teaching and learning of languages, literacy, bilingualism, language policies and language planning etc). Some examples of research strengths include: bilingualism/language contact; second language acquisition; intercultural communication; sociolinguistics; contemporary English dialects; English in South East Asia; language variation and change; dialectology; semantics; pragmatics; discourse analysis; philosophy of linguistics; language and gender; figurative language; phonetics and phonology.

MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS

Students may choose to complete a postgraduate program in music that is musicology-oriented, ethnomusicology-oriented, composition-oriented, music education-oriented, performance-oriented, or a combination of these. Facilities are available for the supervision of PhD and research masters candidates in most of the main areas of music including: historical and systematic musicology and ethnomusicology, music education, music performance and music composition. The concentration is on European (Western), Asian and Australian music, 19th and 20th-century music, contemporary music, music education, music semiotics, composition and music technology, popular and folk music, organology, dance studies, music-dance relationships, and music of South, East and South East Asia and Africa.

PHILOSOPHY

Research strengths in: metaphysics, logic, philosophy of space and time, philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, cognitive science, epistemology, ancient philosophy, ethical theory, applied ethics, philosophy and the environment, moral psychology, feminist philosophy, aesthetics and philosophy of religion.

POLITICS

Politics is a field of study that focuses upon the way in which people live in association, addressing in particular the institutions, practices and cultural meanings of public and private expressions of power. It examines basic questions about the nature of politics and communities, and how they are organised. The politics discipline takes an analytical-critical rather than simply descriptive approach to the area attempting to explain why and how things happen politically. Areas of specialisation include global politics, social and political theory, and contemporary political cultures. See also international relations.

PUBLISHING AND EDITING

Research areas include: the book as a cultural and historical object; processes involved in the transition of text from manuscript to published format in print and electronically; role of the author, editor, text, designer, production manager and project leader. PhD and research masters programs are also available.

RELIGION AND THEOLOGY

The Centre for Studies in Religion and Theology was established in order to promote interdisciplinary teaching and research in the areas of religion and theology. The Centre is devoted to the critical study of a wide range of religious traditions, as interpreted both in the past and in the contemporary world. It is also concerned with thinking about the ways in which specific religious traditions (such as Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity) engage in intellectual reflection on a wide range of specific issues, such as the nature of God, ethics, social issues, gender, the environment and the meaning of life. The centre has research strengths in the area of the relationship between culture and belief, both in relation to contemporary society and to the past. There is supervisory expertise in the historical and literary analysis of religion in biblical, medieval and early modern periods, as well as in contemporary (post-modern) approaches to the study of religious questions, including religion in Australian society. There is also expertise in the history of Buddhism, contemporary hermeneutics, gender studies, environmental thought, and philosophical theology.

SLAVIC STUDIES

Research is conducted and supervised in two main areas: the literatures and cultures of Russia, Ukraine and Poland and the nations of the former Yugoslavia; and Slavic linguistics. This covers a wide spectrum of topics, both modern and historical, in Slavic and general linguistics and the morphology of contemporary Slavic languages. Areas of research specialisation include: the Russian post-avant garde (Sorokin, Tolstaya, Petrushevskaya and others); contemporary Ukrainian literature and culture and the culture of the Ukrainian diaspora, Polish film and theatre, post-Yugoslav film and fiction; the novels of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy in the context of phenomenology; Bakhtin's theory of genres, discourse and the act; Florensky's philosophy and Russian modernism, Gogol and minor literature, new Russian popular culture (detective fiction). The Slavic language staff specialise in the theory of formal grammar (Russian, Ukrainian), inflectional morphology (Russian and Ukrainian), and the history of Russian linguistics.

SOCIOLOGY

The focus of sociology is the study of industrial and post-industrial societies. It involves the investigation of human groups, communities, institutions and organisations, and the networks of meaning and association which link individuals and groups to the broader social structure of such societies. Research strengths include: social policy; applied social research; gender studies; religion; migration and urban affairs; homelessness; social theory; mass media; popular music; social psychology; deviance; family studies; ethnicity and minority relations; comparative sociology.

APPLIED SOCIAL RESEARCH

In today's information society, we are constantly exposed to 'research findings'. Each day when we read the newspapers or listen to the television news we are told "Research shows that..." It is essential to have a certain degree of 'research literacy' to be able to cope with the flood of facts we are exposed to on a daily basis. Postgraduate study in applied social research aims to provide an understanding of the particular strengths and weaknesses of each type of empirical study to enable a critical assessment of the facts that are presented to the public.

TOURISM

Tourism currently employs around 10 per cent of the workforce and is the fastest growing industry in the world and Australia. The key strength of the graduate tourism program lies in its multidisciplinary nature and its ability to critically evaluate the industry from various perspectives. The program encompasses the areas of Australian culture and society, marketing and international marketing, cross-cultural analysis, cultural tourism, museum and heritage studies, environmental tourism, development and planning issues, special events, communications and technology, and independent tourism. All courses within the graduate tourism program are designed for students who wish to work in the management sector of the industry.

VISUAL CULTURE

Visual culture is a multidisciplinary field which incorporates film, television, visual arts, advertising, the built environment and new digital and electronic forms of representation. Visual culture breaks down the historical boundaries between high and popular culture and encourages a broad range of disciplinary approaches including; feminist, Marxist, psychoanalytic, structuralist, post-structuralist, post-colonial and post-humanist analysis. Postgraduate programs in visual culture give students the possibility of specialisation in Australian art, film and television studies, galleries, museums and the cultural industry, photography and performance.

WOMEN'S STUDIES AND GENDER RESEARCH

Women's studies offers feminist perspectives on gender, sexuality and culture. It also operates from the premise that questions gender relations, power, sexual subjectivities, and embodiment. In this way, women's studies attempts to correct the absence of material on women and gender relations, which for a long time characterised more traditional areas of study. Women's studies also emphasises the diversity of women's experience. Beyond general considerations of the changing status of women and where dominant ideas and assumptions about gender and sexual difference come from, women's studies also covers: how different cultures shape gender identities and sexualities, shifting cultural and historical modes of femininity and masculinity, how questions of sex or gender relate to questions of class and race, how women are represented in film, literature and the media, the relationship between gender and technology, and the role of women and gender in important political, economic, sociological and philosophical debates.