The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) began on 1 July 2008, as a result of a merger between three earlier units: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; Faculty of Education; and the Institute of International Studies.
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences contributed its communication program, which, in the late 1970s, had been a pioneer in combining new directions in media and cultural studies with majors in a range of production media (film, television, radio, journalism and creative writing). By the mid 1980s the BA Communication degree was firmly established as a national and international leader in the field, imitated by other institutions across Australia.
The Faculty of Education had originated in two colleges. The Balmain Teachers' College eventually became part of the Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education, which then, in 1990, merged with UTS to become the School of Teacher Education in the Faculty of Education. The Faculty’s work in Adult Education had originated in the Sydney Teachers College and its Technical Teacher Annex in Ultimo which had first become part of the Sydney College of Advanced Education, and then merged with UTS to become the School of Adult Teacher Education in the Faculty of Education.
The Institute for International Studies was established in 1994 to assist in the internationalisation of teaching and research at UTS. It created a BA in International studies that articulated with other undergraduate degrees in a series of combined degrees. Today, each year some 250 students combine the BA in International Studies with approximately 29 undergraduate programs from across all UTS Faculties, choosing between specialisations on France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Canada, Mexico, Latino USA, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, China and Japan, and spending a year in the country of their specialisation.
In 2008 these highly successful courses continued as the new Faculty’s programs, but they were not reconstituted as Schools. Instead, the new Faculty created Academic Groups that combined staff from across the three merging units. Thus applied linguists from the former Faculty of Education and the former Institute of International Studies combined to form a Language Studies Group, Cultural Studies scholars from the former Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the former Institute of International Studies combined to form a Cultural Studies Group, and so on. In this way, new synergies and cross-disciplinary interests were encouraged which, in turn, could lead to innovation in the Faculty’s teaching and research programs.
In 2014, following a review, the Faculty reformed into the School of Communication, the School of Education and the School of International Studies.
In 2019, the Faculty underwent another restructure, resulting in the School of Communication and School of International Studies and Education that exist today.