Welcome to The University of Papua New Guinea’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The School has ten strands – Anthropology, Sociology and Archaeology Creative Arts (Music, Art and Design and Theatre Arts), Geography and Population Studies, History, Gender Studies, Philosophy, Information and Communication Science, Journalism and Public Relations, Linguistic and Modern Languages, Literature and English Communication, Political Science, Psychology, and Social Work.

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences is now responsible for the Geography and Population Studies Program. The School also has a research Centre – Melanesia and Pacific Studies (MAPS), and an Institute – Melanesian Institute of Arts and Communication (MIAC).

The core business of the School is to produce highly trained manpower in the fields of social sciences and humanities, create new knowledge and better understanding of changes in society through research and inquiry, and provide an advisory service to stakeholders in the public sector, government, private sector, civil society organizations, and communities
The School office and most of the academic staff are located in the Kuri Dom Building, some Psychology staff are located in the Arts 2 Building, the Journalism and Creative Arts Strands are located in the Ullie Beier Building, and part of the Creative Arts Strand is located on the South Campus.

The University offer a learning environment which allows students to think independently about issues and subjects. Assignments encourage students to read critically, to search for and select from available material, to organize their thoughts on topics, and to communicate their thoughts through the presentation of evidence that they have examined and evaluated. Your performance is evaluated by means of examinations, tests, assignments, fieldwork, field research, and research papers. Please study diligently and score high grades.

The Grade Point Average (GPA) determines a student’s progression from semester to semester, and from one year of study to the next. An automatic progression GPA from Semester 1 and Semester 2 in the first year is 1.75 and above. Any student with a GPA between 1.50 and 1.75 must submit a written case to the Executive Dean setting down reasons why he or she shouldn’t be excluded from studies, while a GPA of less than 1.50 means automatic exclusion.

From the second year onwards, students are required to achieve a GPA of 2.0 or greater, for automatic progression. Please familiarize yourself with key services, facilities, lecture rooms, the location of the School office, the staff of the School, and key officials of the University. Be responsible members of the University community who observe and abide by the rules of the University. Respect the properties of the University, your fellow students, and staff, and in return you will earn their respect.

University life is challenging, so demonstrate maturity and use your commonsense in managing your life as citizens of the University community and the community at large.

I hope that you are now mentally "switched on" and prepared for your studies through blended learning. Welcome to the "new normal" at The University of Papua New Guinea.

Professor Leo Marai
Executive Dean
School of Humanities and Social Sciences