Offered By	ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences and ANU College of Science
Academic Contact	Dr Robert Dyball, BA (Hons) ANU, PhD (ANU)

The Human Sciences program is founded on two beliefs-first, that the search for a relationship between humans and their global environment that will prove sustainable in perpetuity has become a matter of critical urgency, and second, that because of the systemic nature of the problem, information and discoveries provided by means of the reductionist analysis used by specialist disciplines must be balanced by an emphasis on whole systems. Only by using a holistic framework to integrate data and analyses from different academic disciplines and other sources can citizens and policymakers gain the insights and general understanding of local and global problems that they need and now actively seek.

The program has two closely related foci, the health and well being of the environment and the health and well being of people. Each of the core courses deals with specific aspects of these interdependent problem areas, draws theoretical ideas and factual information from several disciplines (exposing underlying assumptions) and integrates analyses and conclusions by means of case studies.

Human Sciences' integrative approach complements a wide variety of specialist disciplinary studies in the College of Arts and Social Science and in other Colleges. This approach, as well as the organisation of the undergraduate courses, gives considerable rein to the interests of individual students and assists the development of coherence across the range of disciplines within the degree as a whole.

The education provided by Human Sciences is an excellent preparation for a wide number of generalist positions in many fields of employment, including the Commonwealth and State public services, as well as providing a valuable complement to the specialist training of students intending to pursue professional practice.

Requirements

The major consists of a prescribed sequence of courses comprising no fewer than 42 units as set out below.

(a) No more than two courses (12 units) from the designated list of first year courses

(b) Compulsory course ENVS2011 Human ecology

(c) Three courses selected from the list of designated core courses

(d) At least one course selected from:

1. A fourth courses from the list of designated core courses, or
2. A course related to human ecology selected from List A, or
3. A course related to human well being selected from List B

The major may consist entirely of 2000 and 3000 level courses, but if so, it must include ENVS2011 Human Ecology and at least four Human Sciences core courses and the remaining courses must come from those listed under (d) above.

Other majors: Particular Human Sciences core courses can be counted towards several other majors, for example: Human Ecology, Geography, Development Studies, Environmental Studies, and Population Studies.

For information on Honours in Human Sciences click here.

The information published on the Study at ANU 2009 website applies to the 2009 academic year only. All information provided on this website replaces the information contained in the Study at ANU 2008 website.