Faculty of Arts Social Theory

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Faculty of Arts

Table of Contents

1. Time commitment to study
2. Prerequisites
3. Diploma in Arts (Social Theory)
4. Requirements for a major
    4.1. Social Theory major
    4.2. Philosophy and Social Theory major
5. Combined honours entry
6. Combined honours requirements
7. For more information
Subject Lists
    Second/third-year subjects
    Fourth-year subjects

Convener: Dr John Rundell

The Ashworth Program in Social Theory is housed in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science and draws on high-level expertise and a wide range of related disciplines across the Faculty of Arts. The program provides a context where the theoretical and substantive issues raised in other disciplines may be critically examined and further explored. This makes social theory an appropriate choice for students with an interest in any of the social or human sciences.

The Ashworth Program is home to a vibrant research community and hosts conferences, colloquia and seminar programs on a regular basis. It attracts eminent scholars to the University of Melbourne as visiting research fellows and boasts a distinguished list of international associates. A variety of career pathways is available to students of social theory, drawing on analytical and research knowledge gained in this area of study. Students interested in expanding their interests and knowledge in social theory are provided with an articulated structure of higher degree options at the University of Melbourne.

Social theory is an interdepartmental program that investigates the everyday assumptions that shape our lives and reflects in a systematic and critical manner on the ways in which social life is organised and, sometimes, transformed. Principal themes addressed in the program include contemporary social and critical theories, psychoanalytic theory and the nature of identity and themes that critique modernity and postmodernity, forms of agency and rationality.

1. Time commitment to study

As well as scheduled contact hours for lectures, tutorial and seminars a considerable additional time committment is needed to complete the academic requirements of each subect.

A subject-specific time commitment to study will be provided by your lecturer or tutor at the beginning of semester to help you schedule your workload and successfully manage your time during the semester. In addition, general estimates of the total time commitment required to study a 12.5-point single semester subject in the Faculty of Arts can be found on Time commitment to study.

2. Prerequisites

The social theory program commences at second year. The general prerequisite for entry is the completion of 50 points of first year in any area of study within the Faculty of Arts.

3. Diploma in Arts (Social Theory)

The Diploma in Arts (Social Theory) is only available to students who are currently enrolled in a degree course at the University of Melbourne. It consists of a three-year sequence of study, and adds one year to the duration of your degree.

Students must complete 25 points of first-year arts subjects and 75 points of second/third-year subjects selected from the lists below, including at least three core subjects. Alternatively, students who have completed appropriate background studies at first year may complete 100 points of second/third-year subjects from the list below, including at least three core subjects.

4. Requirements for a major

4.1. Social Theory major

A major in social theory consists of nine 12.5-point subjects, totalling 112.5 points. It comprises:

• two first-year subjects in any area of study (25 points); and

• seven second/third-year subjects in social theory (totalling 87.5 points), which must include three of the following five core subjects, and a minimum of three subjects from the list of elective subjects below.

For details on completing a major in philosophy and social theory see Requirements for a major.

4.2. Philosophy and Social Theory major

The major in Philosophy and Social Theory combines subjects taught by the Department of Philosophy and the Ashworth Program in Social Theory. This major offers students the opportunity to specialise in the study of those traditions of social analysis and critique that draw together both philosophical and social-theoretical expertise. Exemplary figures would include Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, Weber, de Beauvoir, Habermas, Foucault, Haraway, Latour, Derrida, Lacan, Kristeva, Butler, Spivak and Castoriadis. Students who undertake a major in Philosophy and Social Theory will pursue a course of study, beginning in first year, that introduces them to a variety of philosophical and social-theoretical perspectives and approaches that converge around a focus on critical social analysis.

BA students who complete a major in Philosophy and Social Theory are not thereby eligible to apply for entry to combined honours in Philosophy and Social Theory. Students wishing to undertake pure or combined honours in Philosophy or combined honours in Social Theory should consult with the relevant honours coordinator for advice on how to design their course to meet departmental entry requirements for honours entry. For full details of the list of subjects which may be taken as part of this major, see Philosophy and social theory major.

5. Combined honours entry

There is no pure honours program in Social Theory. This means that students must combine fourth-year honours in Social Theory with another area of study, such as English, history or political science.

The prerequisites for entry to combined honours in Social Theory are:

• completion of all the requirements for the BA; and

• completion of a major in social theory; and

• an average grade of H2A or higher over second/third-year subjects within the major; and

• admission to honours in another area of study within the Faculty of Arts.

For information on how to apply see Applying for Honours.

6. Combined honours requirements

Students undertaking combined honours in Social Theory and another area of study must complete:

• 136-508 Social Theory Thesis (37.5 points); and

• two honours subjects in Social Theory from the list of core honours subjects below (totalling 25 points); and

• three honours subjects in the combined area of study (totalling 37.5 points).

or

• honours thesis in the combined area of study (37.5 points); and

• two honours subjects in the combined area of study (totalling 25 points); and

• two honours subjects from the list of core honours subjects below (totalling 25 points); and

• a third honours subject from the lists of core or optional honours subjects below (12.5 points).

7. For more information

Ashworth Program in Social Theory
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Ground Floor, Rooms 147 and 146B
Old Arts Building
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Tel. +61 3 8344 6556
Fax. +61 3 8344 7959
Email: johnfr@unimelb.edu.au
Web: http://www.hps.unimelb.edu.au

Second/third-year subjects

166-034 An/Other China:Theorising Everyday Life
136-073 Critical Theories
136-074 Society: Revolutions to Social Movements
136-075 Identities in Conflict
136-076 Social Theory and Political Analysis
136-077 Psychoanalysis and Social Theory
136-078 The Critical Imagination

Fourth-year subjects

136-508 Social Theory Thesis
136-532 Reading Texts in Social Theory
136-533 Theories of Modernity
136-534 Imagined Societies

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