Institute for Culture and Society

The Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) carries out research on the transformations in culture and society in the context of contemporary global change. It champions inter-disciplinary, engaged and collaborative scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences for a digital age.

The Institute builds on the proven track record of the Centre for Cultural Research (CCR) in the conduct of research that generates ‘cultural intelligence’ to address the social and cultural challenges and contradictions of the 21st century.

The world today is undergoing change at an unprecedented scale and speed. Major global trends include economic instability, geopolitical shifts, global civilisational tensions, technological transformation, environmental crisis, unprecedented transnational mobilities, demographic transitions, and rampant urbanisation. These trends pose massive challenges for culture and society. They affect our ways of life and require far-reaching cultural adaptation and change at local, national and transnational levels. They also pose major challenges for the governance of society.

The ICS research program speaks to these multidimensional problems and challenges. A key concern for the Institute is to address the increasingly problematic and uncertain status of knowledge in the contemporary world as a consequence of the increasing complexity of culture and society and the rise of digital technologies. Part of the Institute’s role is to facilitate genuine interdisciplinary collaboration by reflecting on the practical, empirical and theoretical problems commonly associated with its pursuit.

ICS members work in a broad range of fields including cultural studies, sociology, media and communication studies, human geography, anthropology, history, heritage studies, and urban studies. The Institute’s senior staff comprise a unique group of world-renowned scholars including Kay Anderson (Human Geography), Ien Ang (Cultural Studies), Tony Bennett (Social and Cultural Theory), Bob Hodge (New Humanities), Donald McNeill (Urban Geography) and David Rowe (Cultural Sociology). 

Located on the Parramatta campus of the University of Western Sydney, ICS operates a vigorous annual program of events, including a regular seminar series, workshops, and conferences. As part of the transition from the Centre for Cultural Research to the ICS, an inaugural international biennial conference (Knowledge, Culture and Social Change, November 2011) drew 200 delegates to its Parramatta campus, with keynote addresses from leading international scholars such as Bruno Latour (Sciences-Po, Paris), Nikolas Rose (LSE), Penny Harvey (Manchester), and Dipesh Chakrabarty (Chicago).

In the 2010 Excellence for Research in Australia (ERA) audit the University of Western Sydney, led by CCR researchers, was awarded a ‘5’ rating in the field of Cultural Studies, meaning ‘well above world standard’, placing it as one of the leading research nodes in Australia and internationally in this area.

Photographs above by Tim Winter.