SCHOOL OF ANTHROPOLOGY, ARCHAEOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY
Anthropology and Archaeology
Archaeology of human colonisation processes
The archaeological signatures and interpretations of human colonisation in the Asia/Pacific and European regions;The elucidation and reinterpretation of early human settlement and colonisation strategies in a variety of environments, including Indonesia, Northern Australia, the Australian Arid Zone, Torres Strait and Oceania.
Archaeology of art
The development of new techniques for direct dating of rock art and archaeometric study of rock art in Australia and overseas;The analysis of traditional paint pigments and other rock art production techniques in global context;
Meanings in the rock art of Oceania
Cross-cultural studies of knowledge systems
Medical systems and concepts of health and illness in South Asia and New Guinea;Cosmology and customary law in Australia;
Ritual and aesthetic traditions of South and Southeast Asia;
Knowledge systems and environmental issues in Asia and the Pacific.
Development issues in the tropics
Urban formations, global processes and the social and cultural production of poverty;The investigation of sustainable development and appropriate technology (agricultural systems in China, Thailand and Indonesia);
Health and health services in Aboriginal Australia and New Guinea;
Ethnicity, nationalism and racism in Asia and Australia;
Social impact of logging in Papua New Guinea.
Issues in Cultural Heritage
Investigations of concepts of heritage, custom, identity, place, and cultural landscape;The development of heritage legislation, land rights, Native Title and the impacts of development in the Australia/Pacific region;
The investigation of cultural heritage values in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and Marine Park.
Maritime societies and marine environments
The investigation of maritime sites and societies in Australia, Asia and the Pacific;The investigation of shipwreck survivor camps and related crisis behaviours (the Batavia, and the Bounty mutineer settlement of Pitcairn).
The recent past
Contact interfaces in northern Australia and the Pacific (missions, reserves, plantations etc);Identification and interpretation of historic cultural landscapes including industrial complexes and military installations.
Applied sociology
Community and work in rural areas;
Environmental sociology;
Health and social change in Aboriginal communities;
HIV/AIDS awareness in schools;
Juvenile justice;
Mental health;
Risk assessment;
Sociology of education;
Sociology of health;
Suicide and self-injury in indigenous populations;
Vigilantism and ethnic conflict;
Work in the tourism industry.
Change and identity
Asian societies;Cultural studies;
Cyberspace;
Deviance;
Feminist collective action;
Genealogy of social theory;
Human-animal relations;
Indigenous youth cultures;
Issues of identity;
Men and fashion;
Neo-populism in North Queensland;
Religion and contemporary culture;
Science, technology and social change;
Social change and social order;
Social movements.
Cairns campus
Gender and managementCommunity studies
Health and medicine
Religion
Fashion and consumerism
Rural sociology
Ageing
Working in tourism
Popular culture and mass media
Feminist theory
Aboriginal health
Qualitative research
Men and masculinity
Community organisations and well-being
Quantitative research
Sociological theory
Within both disciplines the study of the methodology used in applied settings, to study social processes and to assess the effect of interventions designed to change process and outcome has high priority.