30 Years of Collecting in …

Evolution of Politics and International Studies (PaIS) at Murdoch University:

1975 -- Politics has been taught as a discipline at Murdoch University since its inception. It initially emphasised the study of peace and conflict and was located in the School of Social Inquiry under the programme of Social & Political Theory.
1987 -- The Programme was renamed Politics, Philosophy & Sociology
1991 -- Politics became a Programme in its own right.
1996 -- The Programme became Politics and International Studies (PaIS).
1998 -- Politics & International Studies became a school and joined the then Division of Business, Information Technology & Law.
2003 -- The Division of Business, Information Technology and Law merged with the Division of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education to form the Division of Arts. PaIS remained a School in the new division.
2004 -- The School of Politics and International Studies merged with several other disciplines to form the School of Social Sciences & Humanities within the Division of Arts.

Murdoch was the first university in Perth to combine Politics and International Studies in one degree program. Most of the PaIS academic staff are also actively involved in research with the Asia Research Centre, which was established in 1988 and has become an international leader in the study of East and Southeast Asia.

This display attempts to reflect the evolution of the studies of Politics as a discipline at Murdoch University. Examples of the units offered in the 1970s in the Programme of Social & Political Theory were:

Socialism, Marxism and Modern Societies
Models of Social and Political Conflict
Dynamics of a Peaceful World
Social Order and Political Freedom

In the 1980s, the units offered showed an interest not only in social and political theory but also regional issues:

Third World Transformation and the International Order
Australia in Global Politics since 1945
Anarchism and Socialism in Europe
Politics and Society in Southeast Asia

In the early to mid-1990s, the Programme, which broadened its scope to political economy, the environment and international security, offered units under the three headings:

Australian Politics
Comparative and International Politics
Theory and Methodology

Since the late 1990s, Politics and International Studies has included the following:

Following the rise in the threat of transnational terrorism after September 2001, the units offered include those that reflect issues of global security and terrorism, such as:

International Security Studies
Perspectives on Security and Terrorism
Terrorism in a Globalised World