What is the Indonesian program about?
Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation on Earth, the world’s largest Muslim country, and third largest democracy. Its economy is one of the fastest growing and stable in the last decade and is heading to be the 16th largest in terms of GDP by 2020.
Among other Asian countries, Indonesia can arguably be considered the most important country for Australia. Many of Australia's key national interests, from security and borders to agriculture and trade, are dependent on Indonesia.
Job and research opportunities abound for Australians who know the country and language well. The Indonesian program will help you to develop a deep understanding of not only the language, but the society and culture behind it.
As for learning the language, you can start as a beginner or at a higher level if you have studied before.
"We often forget that, being our closest neighbour, matters in Indonesia often have a direct impacts on us. Look at the recent cases of the drug and human trafficking as well as terrorism. Don’t you think we need a better understanding of Indonesia?"
Indonesia Language & Culture Program
"The whole immersion aspect was fantastic; in particular making a visit to Sasak Village Sade near Kuta Lombok and meeting the locals. Some of these people we had learned about in class; returned guest workers in a community adapting to rapid social change. It gave a human face to the lessons."
Why study Indonesian with us?
Enjoy opportunities to study in Indonesia with leading Indonesian institutions in Lombok, Kupang, Yogyakarta and others cities. Choose a program from three to six weeks (during your Summer and Winter breaks) or up to a semester-long. Receive credit toward your units at home and many scholarships are available.
Undertake four units in Indonesian fully online by distance, on-campus in Hobart, or a combination of both. Our Indonesian language program is one of a few offered fully online at a tertiary level.
Develop your ability in all four essential Indonesian language skill sets – reading, writing, speaking and listening – whether you are new to the language or have prior knowledge or experience.
Interact with students who have joined us from our partner institutions in Indonesia. Our buddy-system lets you improve each other's language skills and cultural understanding significantly, with regular opportunities to chat.
Taught in English, our Indonesian Studies units give you specialist knowledge of society, culture, politics, and economics in Indonesia and other parts of Asia.
What careers relate to Indonesian?
Graduates from our Indonesian program have gone on to a wide range of interesting careers in fields such as diplomacy, trade, journalism, education and the arts. Some have even found rewarding opportunities in Indonesian institutions or companies. With demonstrable language skills in Indonesian, you can enhance any career and open doors for employment overseas.
Become an effective global citizen with a better understanding of the fundamental changes taking place in this dynamic region of the world. Demonstrate you have developed skills in intercultural understanding, communication and team work, independent research and leadership – all skills sought after by employers anywhere.
- Advocacy and counselling
- Arts and heritage
- Communications and public relations
- Education
- Linguistics
- Finance
- Foreign relations and international aid
- Healthcare and healthcare ethics
- Historian
- Interpreter or translator
- Journalism and publishing
- Law
- Manager in private and public enterprises
- Marketing and advertising
- Politics and public policy-making
- Psychology
- Public health and welfare
- Researcher
- Trade and foreign exchange
- Tourism and travel operator
- Writer
How can I learn Indonesian?
Many people who undertake Indonesian studies do so to master the language itself, or as a valuable adjunct to other study in their undergraduate degree. Indonesian is also a popular choice as the Arts major in combined degrees with Business, Health, Fine Arts and Education.
Core and elective units in Indonesian can be identified with HMN in the unit code. The program provides you with a structured pathway through Indonesian language learning (written and spoken), as well as units on society, culture, politics, and economics, in Indonesia and other parts of Asia.
Interested in studying with us? Explore our course and research opportunities below.
Each course and unit is linked to its own page with more detailed information and entry requirements on the Courses & Units website.
Your learning experience in Indonesian goes beyond the lecture and tutorials.
You will be taught by experts, and gain perspective from guest lecturers and forums; gain a competitive advantage with real-world experience prior to graduation; study abroad for a fortnight, a month, a semester or a year, as part of your degree; have options to complete your studies your way, whether on-campus, online, part-time or full-time; pursue your passion or specialisation with a range of scholarships, bursaries and financial assistance programs, or meet your career goals with our pathway options.
Take your passion for ideas further than you ever imagined.
We offer a collegial, supportive environment, with experienced supervision, regular seminar series, research skills training, and many opportunities to work with peers and academics on your areas of interest. We supervise across a range of methodologies and conceptual/theoretical approaches, and encourage scholarship that draws on ideas from across diverse fields.
Choose a research topic that reflects your interests and identify a supervisor with the expertise to guide you in your research. Search for a discipline staff member via our staff profiles, or by an area or expertise.
The School of Humanities welcomes qualified applicants to undertake a research degree with us in any of our areas of research strengths and interests.
Masters by Research
Doctorates (PhD)
To find out about application procedures, entry requirements, and scholarships, refer to College of Arts, Law and Education Research Degrees.
Our research in Asia
As an interdisciplinary program, the research strengths of the Global Cultures and Languages staff and associates are both geographical (China, Burma/Myanmar, Japan, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Singapore) and thematic. Our small, passionate team of academics share common interests in politics, traditional and popular culture, language, art, literature and film in the countries we research.
The disciplinary background of our staff is broad, incorporating Political Science, History, Area Studies and Literature. Our research strengths include the following areas:
- Asian cities and urbanism
- Ethnicity and diasporic communities
- Gender and sexuality in Asia
- Literary and translation studies
- Asia-Australian relations
- National and regional politics
- Nationalism and identity in Asia
- Second and foreign language acquisition
- Contemporary culture and cultural studies
- Asian art, film and literature
- Volunteer tourism
- Media, internet and youth culture in Asia
- Language and language teaching
We welcome proposals from qualified applicants to undertake research degrees at both the Masters and PhD levels, and are pleased to discuss proposals that cross disciplinary boundaries.
Asia Institute of Tasmania
Established in a partnership with the State Government of Tasmania, the Asia Institute Tasmania is an organisation that fosters engagement with the Asian region by the University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian community. The Institute aims to build professional and institutional relationships with Asia, develop expertise and understanding of Asia, and promote new research activities.
Featured Researcher | Dr Taufiq Tanasaldy
Taufiq is a Lecturer and the Coordinator of Indonesian in Global Cultures & Languages. Taufiq's research interests are on ethnicity, particularly in identity politics, conflicts, minority and marginalisation and Chinese diaspora. Although Indonesia and Southeast Asia remains his main focus, he has a strong research interest in undertaking comparative studies involving other countries in the Asia Pacific region.
View Taufiq's full researcher profile Browse our academic staff profiles