Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Social Science in Cultural and Social Analysis (Dual Degree)

at Western Sydney University - Bankstown Campus Australia

The Peace and Development Studies major is concerned with methods for promoting peace, human rights and sustainability. It involves a critical analysis of inequalities of power and opportunity that lead to international and local conflict, social dislocation and environmental degradation. Students will examine the structural causes of racist and gendered violence, environmental crises, forced migration, poverty, resource conflict, and inter-generational inequity.

The inter-related network of solutions includes empowerment and self-determination, sustainable living, constructive development, peacemaking and peace building.

These require understanding of the theories and method for identifying, measuring and resolving conflict and environmental degradation. The assumptions and failings of traditional development practice are critically assessed. Students will engage social theory within an interdisciplinary and applied framework, at local, national and international levels.

The Bachelor of Arts (Dean’s Scholars) degree is designed to develop your communication and personal skills, creativity, capacity for independent thought, adaptability to new situations, and problem-solving abilities.

Psychological Studies

The Psychological Studies major comprises units in the discipline of psychology that focus on the field of inquiry, using scientific techniques and methods to understand and explain behaviour and experience.

Units in the program are drawn from the following core areas of psychology: brain and behaviour, learning, motivation and emotion, social psychology, lifespan development, perception, and cognitive processes.

This program examines the relationship of nations, cultures, languages and systems of government within the international system

International Studies provides you with the diverse skills and knowledge needed to meet the changes in societies, governments and businesses.

It develops your capacity to analyse the historical development of relations among nation states and contemporary political, social and cultural issues, such as globalisation, transnationalism and migration.

You will be able to combine studies from a range of discipline areas, including Asian and Islamic Studies, cultural and social analysis, history, politics and philosophy, and modern languages (Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian or Arabic). The program provides for one semester study abroad during three years of full-time.

The major in International Relations and Asian Studies has been designed to meet the needs of Australian government, business and society to engage the states and peoples of Asia at all levels in pursuit of national interests and as part of the globalisation process. It will provide you with the opportunity to study contemporary Asia, as well as the rich and diverse histories, politics, cultures and languages of Asian countries. You will also understand the international issues affecting Australia’s interests and role in the region and in the world at large.

If you’re a fourth-year Psychology graduate, the Master of Professional Psychology gives you a fifth year of training under the 'five plus one' model, as recommended by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) and Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA).

You’ll be trained in the key areas of ethics, psychological assessment and therapeutic interventions. Emerge with an APAC-accredited degree and 50 per cent of the requirements towards registration as a general psychologist. To obtain full registration, you will need to organise additional supervised placement hours.

To meet the need for forensically oriented psychologists in the field, this degree also addresses psychological practice within the forensic psychology domain

This is a broadly based, inter-disciplinary four-year double degree offering flexibility and choice within a wide range of offerings in the social sciences, as well as studies of International Relations and Asian Studies and an Asian language.

This degree seeks to equip you with all the interdisciplinary and specialist skills and knowledge that you will need on entering the workforce or on proceeding to advanced study.

International Studies

This major has been designed to meet the needs of Australian government, business and society to engage the states and peoples of Asia at all levels in pursuit of national interests and as part of the globalisation process.

It provides students with the opportunity to study contemporary Asia, as well as the rich and diverse histories, politics, cultures and languages of Asian countries and the international issues affecting Australia’s interests and role in the region and in the world at large.

The major area also includes a range of units concerned with the United States and Europe as well as with Asia itself, and units in international relations covering other parts of the world. 

This double degree program is designed for students whose interests span the Arts and Social Sciences.

It will give you the skills and versatility to work across a range of academic and professional disciplines, including the opportunity to develop global perspectives and communication skills.

You need to include a Social Science Major, so you can design your own academic program within the Bachelor of Social Science program structure.

Indigenous Australian Studies

What does it mean to live in Indigenous Australia? The Indigenous Australian Studies major offers you the exciting opportunity to acquire key cultural competencies that will enable you to understand and work more effectively with Indigenous Australians in professions such as the arts, communications, media, education, government and non-government, policy, health, sciences, and community services.

The Indigenous Australian Studies major addresses the cultural, historical, social and economic issues affecting Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and relationships.

International English examines English in its many varieties with a focus on the international development of this language, extending far beyond native English speakers, and identifying features of the language essential to academic and professional performance.

The major provides a basis for international students who may intend to teach English in different countries, or enter other language-centred professions, or for local students intending to pursue post-graduate qualifications in education or wanting to improve English skills.

The major provides studies in the varieties and structures of English, informed by specific studies in linguistics, English teaching and bilingualism and language acquisition.

This double degree program is designed for students whose interests span the Arts and Social Sciences.

It will give you the skills and versatility to work across a range of academic and professional disciplines, including the opportunity to develop global perspectives and communication skills.

You need to include a Social Science Major, so you can design your own academic program within the Bachelor of Social Science program structure.

Language majors will enable you to develop an appropriate level of proficiency in a second language, which may be used for professional purposes such as teaching, interpreting and translation, business or international relations.

If you are undertaking a language major in Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian or Japanese you will be able to use the language in question according to its grammatical and pragmatic principles, communicate with native speakers appropriately in the spoken as well as the written mode, and demonstrate an understanding of the cultures and societies associated with the language.

Language majors will enable you to develop an appropriate level of proficiency in a second language, which may be used for professional purposes such as teaching, interpreting and translation, business or international relations.

If you are undertaking a language major in Japanese, you will be able to use the language in question according to its grammatical and pragmatic principles, communicate with native speakers appropriately in the spoken as well as the written mode, and demonstrate an understanding of the cultures and societies associated with the language.

The Bachelor of Arts (Dean’s Scholars) degree is designed to develop your communication and personal skills, creativity, capacity for independent thought, adaptability to new situations, and problem-solving abilities.

Islamic studies

In this major you will engage in interdisciplinary study essential to an understanding of Islam, past and present. The area of study balances historical and modern Islamic studies and research methods. One of the keys to Islamic Studies is ‘relevance’ to contemporary Australian society, but relevance can only come from a sound comprehension of past traditions in Islamic scholarship and their socio-historical contexts.

Preparation for graduate study is also a key objective of this program, with its focus on developing critical and interdisciplinary research skills through a combination of approaches.