School of International Studies

Don De Bats
Interim Dean of the School of International Studies

About the School of International Studies

The School of International Studies came into existence in January 2010 as a consequence of a review of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. It brings together a number of cognate disciplines and programs, some of them continuing to be recognised as the School’s formal departments.

At the undergraduate level, the School is responsible for the delivery of the Bachelor of International Studies. The School also makes significant contributions to the multi-Faculty Bachelor of Arts via major sequences in American Studies, Asian Studies, Development Studies, History, Indonesian language, and International Relations.

At the postgraduate coursework level, the graduate program in International Relations is positioned as a flagship University program via its offshore delivery in China in partnership with Nankai University. There is also a significant postgraduate coursework enrolment in International Development.

The research profile and track record of the School’s departments and staff includes well-recognised work in transnational history, international relations, American politics, Southeast Asian and especially Indonesian sociology, public policy, community and social welfare, politics and gender studies. The most recent Australian Research Council Discovery Grants awarded to School staff members have included studies of ‘migration, modernisation and racialisation in the making of the new Australia’, ‘maternalism and cross-cultural histories’ and ‘Australian immigrant mentalities’.