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School of Social Sciences

International Relations at La Trobe

International Relations at La Trobe comprises a wide and still expanding range of activities. The approach is inter-disciplinary. It connects politics, society, culture, law and economics. It combines the historical and the contemporary. It brings to the enterprise both theoretical and empirical inquiry, the insights of different intellectual and cultural traditions, and the creative interaction of scholars, policy-makers, international civil servants, and international non-governmental agencies and experts.

STUDY

At undergraduate level:

The international relations stream within the Politics Program comprises:

• two first year subjects (each currently with enrolments of between 250 and 300)
• some eleven upper year subjects, six of which are offered in alternate years
  (in 2004 three subjects have total enrolments in excess of 100, three subjects have enrolments of 80 or more, and one subject has over 50 enrolments)

The Bachelor of International Relations (BIR) degree is in its fourth year, with first year enrolments averaging between 30 and 40

• The BIR degree comprises 4 core subjects (all in Politics), two of which are offered only to BIR students and 67 electives - all of which have an explicit international relations focus - of which:
   
  • 27 are offered in Social Sciences
    (Politics: 17 Sociology/Anthropology: 7 Asian Studies: 3)
     
  • 20 are offered by other units in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (History, European Studies and Languages, Linguistics, Philosophy)
     
  • 20 are offered in the School of Law and Management (Business and Accounting, Finance and Economics, Law and Legal Studies, Tourism and Hospitality)
    
     
• Two important features of the BIR are (1) the Work Placement requirement in which students have to complete a four-month project that demonstrates research and/or professional competence, and (2) the provision (optional) for overseas study (1 or 2 semesters)

The Combined BIR/Law introduced in 2003

The Combined BIR/Health introduced in 2004


At postgraduate level:

• The Graduate Diploma in Asian and International Politics
   
• The Master in Strategic Studies (taught for four years to students of the Australian Defence College, Canberra) - no longer offered
   
• The Master of International Policy Studies introduced in 2003
   
• MA (Research) and PhD (13 currently enrolled within Politics, with many others enrolled in Sociology/Anthropology, Asian Studies, other schools in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Law and Management).

RESEARCH

It is not possible here to itemise the research input (e.g. grants) or output (e.g. publications) IR related research across the School, let alone the Faculty or the whole University.

What can be gleaned, however, from a cursory perusal of annual research reports is that a considerable number of research grants and publications are located in the area of international relations, whether broadly or narrowly defined.

Current ARC and other externally funded projects located within the School of Social Sciences include:

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Conferences and Symposia

Organised or contributed to several major international conferences over the last few years, including:

• The United Nations: Between Sovereignty and Global Governance (July 1995)
• Globalization: The Experiences and Perspectives of the Religious Traditions of Asia Pacific (July 1997)
• Religion and Culture in Asia Pacific: Violence or Healing? (October 2000)
• Regional Security and Co-operation in Asia Pacific: Chinese and Australian Perspectives (July 2004)

Dialogue Project

Promoting Inter-religious and Inter-cultural Dialogue in Victoria, a one-year pilot research/educational project, was funded by La Trobe University, the Reichstein Foundation and the Uniting Church of Australia (Victoria Synod).

The focus was on the prospects for Muslim-Christian relations in Victoria in the context of the disturbing international developments of the last few years (e.g. September 11, Bali bombings, the "war on terror", Iraq War). By examining in some depth the consequences of these on-going events for Australia, the project aimed at enhancing mutual capacities for conflict prevention and peacebuilding. The project was run by a research/educational team led by Professor J. A. Camilleri and Dr M. S. Michael and included the Uniting Church of Australia, Pax Christi, academics from La Trobe, RMIT and other Melbourne universities, the Islamic Council of Victoria and the Islamic Women's Welfare Council of Victoria.

The project conducted four all-day interactive workshops:

• Initial Consultation on Christian-Muslim Dialogue (5 July 2003)
• First (General) Islamic-Christian Dialogue Workshop (11 October 2003)
• Second (Middle Eastern) Christian-Muslim Dialogue Workshop (6 December 2003)
• East Timorese-Indonesian Dialogue Workshop (13 March 2004).
   

Publication of scholarly journal Global Change, Peace and Security

• Formerly Pacifica Review: Peace, Security and Global Change
• Now in its 16th year of publication
• The Editorial Committee is supported by two editors, a review editor and five regional editors
• The Editors welcome contributions from scholars and experts and suggestions from those interested to guest edit a special issue of the journal on a theme or topic in their area of expertise.

International Relations Discussion Series

• The series, now in its fourth year, gives staff and postgraduate students the opportunity to initiate a conversation in an area of particular interest to them, but in away that makes that is accessible to the non-specialist and makes for lively participation.
   
• About five such discussions are held per semester, normally on Thursdays at lunchtime
   

Lecture Series

The School of Social Sciences co-sponsors with Reader's Feast Bookstore (Cnr Bourke and Swanston Streets, Melbourne) a series of lectures and forums on a range of international issues.

2003

March 11: ALTERNATIVES TO WAR - A Public Forum

Assoc Prof Di Bretherton, Director, International Conflict Resolution Centre, Melbourne University
Prof Joseph Camilleri, Professor of International Relations, La Trobe University
Rev Dr Peter Matheson Principal, Uniting Church Theological Hall

April 9: VIRULENT VIRUSES: IS THE AIDS EPIDEMIC A GLOBAL SECURITY THREAT?

Prof Dennis Altman, School of Social Sciences, La Trobe University

April 23: THE NEW ANTI-INTERNATIONALISM: AUSTRALIA AND THE UN

Assoc Prof Spencer Zifcak, School of Law, La Trobe University

May 14: PROGRESSIVE ISLAM: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

Prof Faried Esack, Interreligious Studies, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH

2004

March 24: BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN ISLAM AND THE WEST

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Founder and President of the American Sufi Muslim
Association (ASMA) and Imam of Masjid al-Farah in New York City.

Newsletter

An irregular newsletter, widely distributed in Australia and internationally, covering important research projects, publications, conferences, colloquia, seminars, consultations, and other educational and scholarly initiatives at La Trobe

Data Bases

• A large mailing list of scholars, think tanks and other institutions in Australia and internationally is maintained and regularly updated
• Substantial data bases of print and electronic materials have also been compiled covering a wide range of subjects
• These data bases are available to staff and postgraduate students with related research interests

Proposed Centre of International Dialogue

A formal proposal is currently in preparation