Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

at Western Sydney University - Bankstown Campus Australia

Philosophy has always asked the 'big questions' about our lives. These are 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.

A philosophy major will enable students to develop particular skills and attributes - such as clear thinking, capacities to assess arguments and values, 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.

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.

 Indonesian

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.

The Musicology major provides students from outside the Music program with an introduction to the history of Western classical music, and popular and classical musics in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

It offers perspectives on modernism, postmodernism and post-postmodernism, and incorporates social, political and philosophical critiques of music.

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.

At the same time heritage places have become significant tourist destinations and so in a world of flows and networks, the heritage-tourism relationship is a critical one. In the 21st century it is impossible to disentangle the two.

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.

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.

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.

Innovation and Change

This major explores the links between leadership and entrepreneurship in the context of dynamic domestic and global environments. The major introduces the concepts of change and innovation as they relate to organisational transformation of businesses. You will deal with conflicting viewpoints to understand the complexity of the organisational relationships involved in change and innovation.

To prepare you for management roles, the major examines the challenges associated with developing sustainable, innovative and creative organisations, and includes assessments that facilitate engagement with elements of organisational change and innovation.

The major develops an understanding of how to initiate a business venture, taking advantages of perceived opportunities and mobilising the required resources. To this end, different theories and perspectives on leadership and entrepreneurship are examined, and you will be encouraged to apply them to real-life situations as a way of preparing to be future leaders and entrepreneurs.

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 major is comprised of three fields: 1) structural inequality, social justice & human rights; 2) development and sustainability; 3) peace and humanitarian responses/actions.

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.

How 4 plus 3 makes 5
This outstanding double degree program combines a 4 year Bachelor of Engineering (honours) degree with the 3 year Bachelor of Business degree to yield a course of study that takes only 5 years to complete (in Full-time mode).The Engineering component of this program is offered at the Penrith and Parramatta City campuses, and the Business component is offered at the Parramatta City campus.

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.

Sustainability

Human society is facing ever increasing challenges from changing climate, expanding populations and industrial development. Traditional approaches to solve environmental problems needs rethinking and should consider circular economy, life cycle thinking, climate smartness, digitisation. In this Major, students assess various challenges in provision of water, food, infrastructure and energy then propose design solutions using holistic, futuristic and sustainable technologies and strategies. Through hands-on, real-life projects, students explore solutions that integrate technical, technological (IoT), social, cultural, geographical, regulatory and ethical factors. This major will benefit students aiming for careers such as Environmental Engineer/Scientist/Consultant, Natural Resources Manager, Waste Engineer/Manger/ Consultant, and Sustainability Engineer/ Manager/ Consultant.

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.

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society and culture. Using diverse methods, practices and theories, it helps us understand social life. Sociology is fundamental to the social sciences because the quality of life of every human on the planet is directly or indirectly influenced by their relative position within, and responses to, society.

This major in Sociology provides you with a thorough training in the methods, theories and select leading areas of contemporary sociology. In the Sociology major, you will have opportunities to study particular themes from a sociological perspective, including inequalities, deviance, identities, gender, religion, medicine and health care, ethnicity and migration, and the family, among other possibilities.

A Bachelor of Arts with a major in Sociology will prepare you for both employment and a research higher degree.

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.

Business Analytics

Generating and communicating information and insight from increasingly diverse and growing sources of data for business decision-making is a crucial asset for any organisation. Starting with a framework for applying the tools of business analytics, this major develops a blend of skills from mathematics, statistics and computing. Students will acquire knowledge and understanding in the continually developing areas of artificial intelligence, data visualisation and applications of big data.