The ANU’s School of Politics and International Relations (SPIR) has announced new politics courses under the POLSXXXX course code to begin in 2015. The new courses confirm the marked institutional shift away from Marxism and critical theory towards comparative politics and institutional and analysis.

 

Head of School, Dr. Andrew Banfield, stated that “The School of Politics and International Relations is undergoing major generational change and renewal at the moment, with nine new appointments securing our long-term future.  I’m excited to be leading it into a new era.”

 

These courses have been announced with the arrival of new academics at  the School, and they are as follows: Dr Chungshik Moon, Dr Svitlana Chernykh, Dr Richard Frank, Dr Carolien van Ham, Dr Katrine Beauregard, Dr Dongwook Kim, Dr Matthew Kerby.

 

The 50+ Courses listed in the new SPIR Handbook, released on the 18th of August, are part of the School’s Three Year Plan. Banfield states that the Plan “will enable to students to plan their degrees with far greater certainty than in the past.”

 

[The School is also making changes to research and teaching arrangements to ensure greater predictability for students and staff.  Teaching and research staff are shifting from a 1:1 (per year) teaching load to a 1:2 teaching load inclusive of Honors and HDR coursework.  This is consistent to the teaching load at other Group of Eight universities; and means great certainty and choice for students.]

 

It should be noted that the School has reinstated “The Political Philosophy of Deception” (POLS2102).  This course was one of the eleven courses set to be “disestablished” in an email from Dr. Andrew Banfield, leaked to Woroni in February this year, to academics at the School.

 

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