Graduate Research in Interdisciplinary and Cross-Cultural Studies - Overview

ANU offers students a unique environment in which to undertake collaborative interdisciplinary, cross-cultural research. Graduate Research in Interdisciplinary and Cross-cultural Studies is designed to develop new modes of research as well as to use traditional scholarly methods to provide innovative insights into the different ways that cross-cultural relations and histories are constructed and represented.

It is led by internationally renowned scholars from the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research and the Humanities Research Centre and other departments within the University. It offers students expert supervision within and across a range of disciplinary boundaries, including anthropology, visual anthropology, history, art history, literature and the visual arts, and seeks to encourage students to adopt an interdisciplinary and comparative perspective in their research. In addition, expert advisers are available from a range of national cultural institutions located in Canberra, including the National Museum of Australia, the National Library of Australia, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

Students will be able to take advantage of intellectual and multimedia collaborations already instituted by the Centres and will have opportunities to be involved in the production of exhibitions, colloquia and multi-media projects, as well as to undertake short, practical internships. The program provides unique opportunities for research training in the context of collaborative team research, in partnership with cultural institutions and industries.

For a PhD or MPhil, candidates are required to submit a thesis of not more than 100,000 or 60,000 words respectively. However, it may be possible with prior approval for students in Graduate Research in Interdisciplinary and Cross-Cultural Studies to submit a combined body of work comprising a written thesis and one or more of the following: a multimedia or digital work, a film, an exhibition, creative art work or another product.

Because of the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of this field, students can choose to be located in the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research, the Humanities Research Centre or a number of other areas of the University, such as the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Asian Studies, Research School of Social Sciences and the Research School of Pacific & Asian Studies.

Canberra and ANU offer postgraduate students a very stimulating and rewarding cultural life. Canberra is the national capital of Australia and is set in a beautiful cityscape surrounded by bushland. The city is within two hours drive of the coast and has well established rail and air links to major cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. ANU is regarded as one of the world's great research institutions and offers an extremely attractive and well-resourced environment in which to conduct innovative research. For more information, browse the Discover ANU website.

Resources

Students have opportunities to work on some of the most extensive library and archival holdings in Australia and in some of the best cultural institutions in Australia. ANU has very extensive library holdings and is in close proximity to the National Library of Australia and specialist collections in the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, ScreenSound Australia, the National Museum of Australia, the Australian War Memorial and the National Archives of Australia.

Students are eligible for fieldwork support and scholarship holders receive an allowance for thesis preparation. All students have access to computers, either in their own areas or in the Library buildings. Microfilm/microfiche reader/printers and photocopiers are available. Specialist equipment, including access to editing suites, is also available in the area of visual anthropology. The Centre for Cross-Cultural Research and the Humanities Research Centre have very active Visiting Fellows and Conference programs, both of which attract significant numbers of international scholars annually.