Understanding the world through a social science lens

Social Sciences Week.

by Dr Nira Rahman and Dr Nesam McMillan

Social sciences invite us to understand more deeply the worlds in which we live and how we can change them for the better. They help us understand the history, politics and social and cultural dynamics of the places, practices and institutions that shape our daily lives.

They are people-centred and foreground lived experiences, including those of the people and communities who are not often heard. Ideally, they involve working with communities to identify needs, highlight injustices and inequities and develop the innovations needed to address them. These range from reforms and new policies to wholesale changes to the way ‘we’ do things.

Importantly, social sciences also provide robust methods and approaches for understanding and questioning the worlds we share with others. They give us a toolbox for identifying problems, investigating them properly and developing new ways of being together.

These tools are themselves analysed and challenged and continue to improve throughout time. There is now better acknowledgement of the importance of working with communities to design the projects and methods that reflect their needs and values.

Universities across Australia are celebrating Social Sciences Week from 4-10 September. This special week provides the opportunity to start important conversations about the great social and environmental challenges of our time. The events the University of Melbourne is hosting in collaboration with external organisations and students show how social science ideas and methods extend beyond the University and shape the work of research and policy officers, community organisations, advocacy bodies, government policymakers and institutions, and private analysts.

Social science training is embodied in the work of contemporary leaders who have the great knowledge, vision and understanding to engage in advocacy and activism. Universities play a crucial role in supporting the emergence of such leaders. We do this best when we go beyond traditional academic teaching content and practices. This is why at the University of Melbourne we are changing how we work with students and others to facilitate and actively engage in shared debates around policy and political processes better.

This involves stepping beyond traditional ways of generating (and communicating) neutral, impartial, and detached knowledge, and moving towards a focus on influencing policy and practice through action research, engaged scholarship, transition management, and transdisciplinary process-oriented research.  By actively bringing practitioners and their work into the classroom and facilitating discussions around advocacy and activism in classroom teaching, academics shape how students see and act in the world. It is crucial for young graduates to be global citizens while also thinking locally.

Within universities, we also need to listen to our students and incorporate their ideas and voices into our teaching practices. We need to actively work with and listen to the wider communities in which we live and work, ensuring their perspectives and priorities are integrated in our teaching content. In this way, the social sciences can help to create connection and foster conversations within and beyond communities and can demonstrate and explore the narrative of the time. In today’s fast changing and complex world, understanding and acknowledging the importance of social science studies seems more important than ever.

This article was co-authored by Dr Nira Rahman, expert in educational design and student engagement in Arts Teaching Innovation, and Dr Nesam McMillan, Deputy Head of School (Partnerships) in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Find out more on the Faculty of Arts' Social Sciences Week page.

More Information

Susanna Ling

susanna.ling@unimelb.edu.au