Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

at Western Sydney University - Bankstown Campus Australia

Cultural and Social Analysis is an interdisciplinary major developing knowledge, research skills and analytic capacities relevant to understanding and interpreting landscapes of cultural diversity and social difference in our contemporary world, both in terms of the broad contours, as well as specific micro-social environments.

This major provides grounding in contemporary debates and methodologies in cultural studies and social theory, and draws on various disciplines including history, sociology, communications, and linguistics. Topics include popular culture, everyday urban life, cultural and social impacts of scientific theories and new technologies, multiculturalism, and contemporary spirituality.

Study in this area is relevant for work involving commentary and analysis of contemporary social issues and cultural practices (e.g. journalism, teaching, activism) and fields concerned with designing, delivering and evaluating cultural and artistic productions, and education, communication, welfare or health services, in culturally diverse communities.

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.

Heritage and Tourism

In a highly mobile world (migration, tourism, media and communications, travel and transport) and in contemporary life where the preservation of historical and natural environments present as one of the major challenges facing all societies, heritage has become a touchstone for social and cultural identity, our understanding of modernity, peace and development, our senses of citizenship, custodianship and community. 

This major introduces contemporary heritage issues and provides an in-depth understanding of tourism as a social phenomenon.

It enables a critical examination of the relationship between heritage and tourism in number of settings within Australia (including Indigenous Australia) and internationally. 

Many future challenges exist at the nexus of environment, infrastructure and technology. Solutions to these will demand innovative engineering combined with applied science and business acumen. Engineers with a head for business will find many opportunities to leverage their highly developed analytical skills towards a host of technical and commercial challenges.

At Western Sydney University, we prepare our students to take on big challenges and succeed. The combined Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) / Bachelor of Business degree covers all major engineering and business domains. You can also experience many facets of engineering before deciding upon your major at the end of your first year.

Human Resource Management

The Human Resource Management Major is designed for people who seek careers in human resource management and industrial relations. Graduates’ careers focus on enhancing the value of human and social capital through supporting employee engagement for many different kinds of organisations, market-oriented and community-oriented organisations and many kinds of people. The teaching philosophy is based on knowledge in action, a fusion of the Australia Human Resource Institute’s capabilities for HR professionals and the Western Sydney University Graduate Attributes designed to secure success. An aim of the program is to instil those values and attitudes that can support leaders in judgements about balancing the pursuit of organisational objectives with creating opportunities for developing people’s capacities and careers. The perspectives are local and international, with an emphasis on the value of cultural and demographic diversity. Graduates have knowledge of how leadership and management of people can support organisational objectives and create organisational opportunities. This capacity comes from grounding in human resource management and industrial relations practice using contemporary law and research in applied projects. Students combine this with an education in the pressures organisations experience in inter-disciplinary subjects focused on money, markets and management. That is, graduates develop commercial acumen and appreciate the competing interests around work, aware of trends locally and internationally. Throughout the program, students are challenged to develop and demonstrate communication, cultural, and analytic skills required to be innovative and responsible team-members and leaders.

The Sport Management major is designed for people who seek careers in Australian and international Sport management. Specialist units provide students with a capacity to understand and function within the increasingly dedicated context in which sport is played, organised and managed. Students who complete this major will be equipped with the skills and knowledge to manage sport experiences pertaining to globalisation and emerging contemporary issues in sport. Graduates find career employment at all levels of government as well as within the private sector for both commercial and non-commercial organisations. Positions include project management of facilities and events, management and coordination of leisure, sport and civic event departments, sport marketing, player management and sport public relations, elite sport development, sport and leisure programming.

If you want to explore how the mind works, question why people behave the way they do and help others lead their best lives, this degree is the ideal choice. Western’s Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) will pave the way for a range of career options, including further study required to become a psychologist.

Psychology at Western combines evidence-based biological, cognitive, neurological, social, developmental, and personality theory with statistical expertise and practical experience.This program is strongly vocational, equipping you with the specialist psychological and research skills you will need to discover more about human behaviour and answer questions about things we don’t yet understand.

As part of your four-year degree, you will be taught by some of the most respected experts in the field and gain the opportunity to undertake local and international work placements.Additional study is needed to become a practising psychologist. This program gives you a thorough grounding in psychology and the academic degrees to take your ambition to the next level.

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.

Philosophy

Philosophy has always asked the ‘big questions’, for example, about the limits of our knowledge, the best way that humans can live together, how we understand the world around us, and what is ‘the good life’.

Our philosophy major enables you to develop particular skills and attributes – such as clear thinking, capacities to assess arguments and values, and sound understanding of important philosophical views – that have always been essential to university scholarship and which continue to be valuable for graduates in both public and private life.

Students must maintain a grade point average of 5 or above to remain in the program. Those who do not maintain this average will be transferred to the Bachelor of Arts.

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.

International English

International English examines English in its many varieties with a focus on the international development of the 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 degrees 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.

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.

English

The English major invites students to explore contemporary approaches to language, literary studies and writing, including literary criticism and theory, linguistic analysis, genre and textual study, and creative writing. The English major focuses on the imaginative workings of language, and students can study a wide selection of modern and classic literature, as well as the relationships between written texts and other media such as film and information technology.

Students also have the opportunity to produce their own creative writing and to edit and learn how to publish their work. Career prospects include publishing, editing, teaching, writing and advertising.

Students must maintain a grade point average of 5 or above to remain in the program. Those who do not maintain this average will be transferred to the Bachelor of Arts.

The Bachelor of Languages and Linguistics is designed to develop expertise in languages, linguistics and inter-lingual communication.

Language is fundamental to the human experience. Through study of how language works, you will make contact with fundamental philosophical, socio-cultural, and psychological questions about what it means to be human.

You will also gain the analytical tools of empirical science, which will prepare you for success in post-graduate studies and careers in research, analytics, business and law.

Linguistics will also equip you to use your language and linguistic skills in professional settings such as teaching, interpreting and translation, journalism, business or international relations.

Since the revival of humanist thought in the Renaissance, universities have placed studies in history and political thought at the centre of exploring what it is to be human.

At the heart of the History and Political Thought major are four compulsory units which introduce the student to the modern (since 1500) history of humanity. Although Europe is very prominent in the Major, the student will be invited to compare its history to the histories of Asia, Africa and the Americas.

The Major culminates in a capstone unit in students’ final semester discussing historical theories and methods. A wide range of elective units covers European, American, Australian and Asian history and political thought and includes thematic units which range widely over time and place.