Bachelor of Arts in Cultural and Social Analysis

at Western Sydney University - Parramatta South Campus Australia

This double degree program allows you to span both the legal and scientific worlds. This Bachelor of Science asks questions about how the natural world works and the impact of humans at its interface. It does so in a systematic, yet rigorously creative way based on inquiry and evidence. A Bachelor of Science will prepare you to take part in this process of inquiry, by both contributing to it and by using scientific knowledge to solve current problems in broad settings.

The Bachelor of Laws program satisfies the academic degree requirements for admission to practice as an Australian lawyer. Students will engage in collaborative face-to-face problem and case-based learning, will be supported by online learning materials, and will participate in authentic assessment to develop knowledge and skills.

Chemistry

A Bachelor of Science with a chemistry major will prepare you to take part in a process of inquiry, by both contributing to it and by using scientific knowledge to solve current problems. The Chemistry program provides a strong background in the key topic areas of contemporary chemistry, including aspects of chemical theory in analytical, inorganic, organic and physical chemistry, with a strong emphasis on practical laboratory skills, and applications in contemporary research, industry and the environment. A research project is available to students in the final year of the degree preparing you for a professional career in a wide range of chemistry based industries. The degree allows for the completion of a second major or additional minors and electives to diversify learning for the careers of the future.

Graduates of this degree can look forward to career opportunities as a research scientist, forensic scientist, or a scientist in environment, mining or manufacturing industries. Other opportunities can be found in pharmaceutical industries, health and food industries, in scientific and technical sales, consumer affairs or you can progress into pursuing a research or secondary teaching career.

This double degree is designed for students whose interests span the Arts and Business.

Study in the Bachelor of Arts component is designed to develop communication and personal skills, creativity and a capacity for independent thought, adaptability to new situations and problem-solving skills, attributes increasingly demanded by employers.

There is a wide choice of eleven majors in the Arts. When combined with high level of knowledge from the specific Business majors you will be ready for the workplace of the future.

Management

The Management major equips you with the expert skills to create a career as a management specialist. You will be prepared to succeed in a range of roles in contemporary private, public, and not-for-profit organisations in Australia and abroad. In this major you will develop strategic management knowledge to enable effective organisational decision making. The units in this major focus on organisational learning and development and behaviour, operations management, leadership and entrepreneurship, change and innovation, and policy. You can look forward to a range of careers in the broad and complex field of management.

This combined degree offers you a unique opportunity to gain the creative and business skills necessary to prosper in the contemporary innovation landscape.

Underpinned by a foundation of graphic design, the Bachelor of Design gives you fundamental skills and knowledge in the exciting and constantly changing area of visual communication.

The Creative Industries component combines a core of entrepreneurship with major studies including culture and society, creative writing, design, enterprise innovation, journalism, literature, media arts, music performance and photo media.

The program is designed for those who wish to pursue a creative practice while gaining the business and legal acumen to become a successful part of the creative economy on their own terms.

Music

The Music major provides students from outside the Music program with a comprehensive introduction to current practice in the fields of music, performance and sound production for sound design, composition and performance. Foundation level units examine the fundamentals of music performance, acoustics, stereo recording and mixing, MIDI systems and sequencing, sound synthesis, and composition utilising environmental sound. Technical concepts are contextualised within a survey of electroacoustic music and sonic arts practice. Students will also examine studio techniques, new performance technologies, and composition and design for screen media.

This double degree program is designed for students whose interests span the Arts and Sciences. Our graduates work across a range of academic and professional disciplines, including the opportunity to develop global perspectives.

Chemistry

Chemistry knowledge underpins all aspects of our modern society. Chemists can use an understanding of chemical structures and processes to adapt, control and manipulate systems involved in energy production, food safety, forensics, biomedical technology, and ecosystem. Indeed, there is not an area of our society that has not been impacted by chemical knowledge. At Western Sydney University, we teach the theoretical and practical aspects of chemical sciences covering the sub-disciplines of physical, analytical, inorganic and organic chemistries. We have a particular focus on contemporary spectroscopy and separation methods that are required to solve big-picture problems in all areas of scientific discovery. Our graduates have opportunities to be closely mentored by experienced academics. We aim to produce scientists who are confident and self-directed, having gained independence in scientific discovery through an integrated theoretical and practical teaching programme that seeks to solve problems relating to societal needs.

Western offers a specialist Computer Science degrees to equip you with the skills you need to be career-ready by specialising in different applications of computer science and computer systems.

Networked Systems

This major is only available to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Computer Science and Bachelor of Computer Science Advanced. This major aims to develop graduates with sound skills in the discipline of networked computer systems. Recent advances in computer and telecommunications networked systems, particularly those based on TCP/IP, have increased the importance of network technologies in the discipline of computer science.

This major covers a wide range of topics including computer communication network concepts and protocols, multimedia systems, Internet standards and technologies, network security, wireless and mobile computing, and distributed systems. The candidates are also introduced to some of the relevant current key research issues of the field.

This double degree program will allow you to combine your interest and expertise in science with a sophisticated understanding of international issues and systems. This will equip you to work in globalised science-based professions and industries.

You can design your own academic program within the Bachelor of Science program structure, which must include a Science major. This can be combined with an International Studies major in International Relations and Asian Studies.

The Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of International Studies equips you to work in globalised science-based professions and industries. Our graduates have a solid grounding in a core science disciplines such as Biological Science, Chemistry or Mathematics.

International Relations and Asian Studies

The International Relations and Asian Studies 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. It seeks to produce graduates with a broad, liberal education with the skills to mediate between Australia and the world in general and Asia in particular through political, economic, commercial, cultural, diplomatic and strategic links. Students are encouraged to undertake a sub-major in an Asian language in conjunction with the major. Employment opportunities may be found in the State and Commonwealth public service, overseas organisations, the media, business and industry, education and research.

This double degree program is designed in recognition of the globalising nature of the information technology industry.

In the IT area, the program allows students to develop skills in application development, program design, systems analysis and design, networks, web-design, and the implementation of technology.

 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 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.

Anthropology

Social Anthropology is the study of humans and the cultures they create. The major in Anthropology within the Bachelor of Social Science offers students the opportunity to examine social patterns and practices across cultures, to discover similarities and differences between cultures, and to understand the processes by which humans organise and create meaning.

Areas of focus include the development of anthropology as a discipline; globalisation and culture; power and politics; gender and sexuality; identity and belonging; ethnography and ethnographic methods; indigenous peoples and nation states.

Specific attention is given to cultures of Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and to cross cultural interactions, at both global and local levels. The major seeks to equip students with multi-cultural knowledge as well as to provide a thorough grounding in research methods and ethics with utility in a variety of professional and academic contexts.

Tailor your studies to your specific goals by combining our Bachelor of Arts degree with the Bachelor of Creative Industries degree.

When you graduate after four years, you have two degrees, and the unique skills relevant to the contemporary employment environment.

The Arts component combines academic knowledge with practical real life training. It is designed to equip you with a broad range of skills and knowledge in research and critical enquiry, and is sufficiently flexible to cater to a range of career aspirations and personal interests.

In the Creative Industries component you will combine a core of entrepreneurship with major studies including culture and society, creative writing, design, enterprise innovation, journalism, literature, media arts, music performance and photo media.

Anthropology

Social Anthropology is the study of humans and the cultures they create..

Areas of focus include the development of anthropology as a discipline; globalisation and culture; power and politics; gender and sexuality; identity and belonging; ethnography and ethnographic methods; indigenous peoples and nation states. Specific attention is given to cultures of Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and to cross cultural interactions, at both global and local levels.

The major seeks to equip students with multi-cultural knowledge as well as to provide a thorough grounding in research methods and ethics with utility in a variety of professional and academic contexts.

This double degree program is designed in recognition of the globalising nature of the information technology industry.

In the IT area, the program allows students to develop skills in application development, program design, systems analysis and design, networks, web-design, and the implementation of technology.

History and Political Thought

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 history of humanity (since 1500). Although Europe is very prominent in the major, you 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.