This plan is only available to students commencing 2009 onwards

Sociology and Anthropology are disciplines for students with a special interest in the interaction of the individual, society and culture; and the mutiplicity of interactive cooperation, conflict and communication which constitutes any society. Both Sociology and Anthropology explore the social and cultural realities of human life. Societies and cultures have become so linked, through migration, communications, mass consumerism and capital flows, that the borders of social and cultural life have been radically changed.

Aims of the Minor
• An understanding of key concepts and theoretical approaches that have developed and are developing within and between Sociology and Anthropology.
• An understanding of the nature and extent of diversity and commonality as seen from a variety of perspectives, for example, social, cultural, biological, ecological.
• An understanding of the value of analyses that consider relations between different times, different places and different cultures.
• An understanding of the social nature of the relationship between individuals, groups and social institutions.
• An understanding of the nature and appropriate use of research strategies and methods in gaining sociological knowledge
• An appreciation of the relationship between local, social and global forms, and global processes and broader temporal developments, with particular reference to Australia’s place in the world.
• An appreciation of the complexity of human experience, social situations and events, and an ability to assess the merits of competing explanations.
• An ability to question cultural assumptions, and think critically, imaginatively and creatively.
• An ability to undertake independent study.
• An ability to identify the ethical issues in social research.
• An ability to undertake and present scholarly work that values reasoned and open-minded discussion and debate.
• An ability to examine the relevance of sociological and anthropological work to issues in the community.

A student who wishes to gain a Minor in Sociology and Anthropology must complete 36 units of credit including 12 uoc at Level 1, at least 12 uoc at Level 2 and at least 12 uoc at Level 3.

Level 2 offers electives across both Sociology and Anthropology covering aspects of contemporary social life, the embodied self, human desire, local and global understandings of human rights, visual cultures, cinema and identity and urban life.

Level 3 courses cover some of the key issues and debates in Sociology and Anthropology, including; human development, migration and multiculturalism, health, risk and trust, forensic sociology, tourism, Oceanic societies and quality of life in Australia.