Dean's welcome

Our School seeks to redefine what it means to study the Humanities and Social Sciences in Australia. We offer a future-focused, employability-driven education; an environment where students gain the skills, confidence and insight to build meaningful careers and to lives of passion and purpose. We teach students how to be curious, creative and critical thinkers, preparing them to adapt and to thrive in our rapidly changing world.

We are a dynamic community of scholars who research and teach about the human condition from its earliest beginnings to the latest developments in society, politics and culture, in Australia and globally.

AI and digital are central to our educational strategy. We empower students to use emerging technologies in responsible, ethical and innovative ways. From politics and media to history and health, our disciplines prepare students to shape policy, inform public understanding and ensure technology serves communities and the public good.

The School produces high quality research that breaks new ground in our fields and is valued by the communities we serve here in Australia and internationally.

We are committed to public engagement, bringing our expertise to bear on the pressing issues of the day and continuing La Trobe’s long tradition of advancing knowledge to serve the public good. From prize winning scholarship to advocacy that changes government policy, from public lectures to podcasts, the knowledge our scholars create and uncover has significant and lasting impact.

Since the establishment of La Trobe, Humanities and Social Science scholars have sought to democratise our disciplines, push back the boundaries of conventional approaches to scholarship and to embrace diversity in all its forms.

In particular, we have a commitment to embedding Indigenous knowledges and perspectives into our curriculum, to ensuring that our research has positive outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities and to ensuring the targets set out in La Trobe’s Indigenous Strategy regarding parity for the retention, success, participation and progression of Aboriginal staff and students are met.

Professor Matt McGuire
Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences