Our research

Societies are directly influenced by gender – whether we can see it or not. We explore society and the ways in which gender is organised around it.

Navigating the complexities, opportunities, dangers and insecurities arising from an inequitably arrayed world. Exploring how states, societies and citizens can respond to security, political, social, and environmental challenges, and discovering new ways to enhance democratic resilience.

Criminology is the study of crime and deviance – seeking to understand the causes of crime, the extent and consequences of crime, as well as methods of crime prevention.

Understand Indigenous sovereignty, Indigenous human rights, self-determination and Indigenous futures so we can contribute to broader understandings of political and social policy within Australia; support Indigenous self-determination; and be part of the effort to redress the inequality that is the result of Australia’s colonial history, and present. 

Anthropology is concerned with fostering a better understanding of social and cultural difference. Development studies has emerged out of a concern to examine why some countries are less socially and economically developed than others or suffer from protracted periods of conflict and instability. Both question presumptions about cultural and development superiority and its pernicious consequences. 

Our world leading work in geography, environment and population explore issues of importance to all humans and our collective survival – climate change, global migration and environmental management from a wide variety of perspectives. This work is motivated by the belief that future generations should be able to experience the natural and human wonders of the world – and be equipped to contribute to sustainability.

None of our ambitious social sciences agenda can be effective if we don’t master communication about the problems we address, and our innovative approaches to solving them. An appreciation of communication differences across the world is also a study in human diversity, and how people think similarly – and very differently – from one another. In the School, we investigate the distinction between language structure and the functions of language, examine and analyse the linguistic features of languages, and critically consider how language is used.