Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Social Science in Innovation and Change (Dual Degree)

at Western Sydney University - Parramatta South Campus Australia

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.

Organisations and Work

A major in Organisations and Work provides you with the skills to initiate valued change and contribute in the complex field of management. The development of strategic knowledge provides strong analytical outcomes directed at understanding the impact managers have on organisational decision making.

This major also aims to instil values and attitudes that support leaders in judgements about balancing the pursuit of organisational objectives with creating opportunities for developing people’s capacities.

Be a leader in and on the field. Our one-of-a-kind Bachelor of Sport Development opens the door to a broad range of career opportunities in the delivery of sport and recreation programs.

Study across a huge range of areas, including physical activity, exercise and health promotion, sport coaching, psychology, sport management, and capacity building through community projects.

Health Promotion

Health Promotion extends beyond raising awareness of healthcare issues. It also involves developing and implementing strategies for communities, individuals and policy makers to support good health and wellbeing. Health Promotion graduates help address health inequities in communities, link individuals and communities with healthcare, and assist individuals and communities to follow healthy behaviours, working across sectors and engaging collaboratively with communities to do so. Health promotion projects are as diverse as injury prevention, skin cancer prevention, HIV/AIDS awareness and community development. Health promotion professionals work in diverse settings including healthcare, workplace and educational facilities, community, local, state and federal government, private industry and not-for profit organisations.

The major combines studies of health politics and planning, health promotion practice and public health with a comprehensive foundation in the health sciences to develop the professional competencies important for ethical and safe practice. Students will develop the skills required to work in multidisciplinary teams. Evidence-based practice is one of the most important trends in healthcare today and a strong feature of the program. This Major will be identified on the Student’s Academic Transcript following completion of the course.

Take the lead in a critical area of needed skills. Our Master of Health Science degree offers you the opportunity to lead in the fields of Health Services Management, Occupational Health and Safety or Digital Health.

The degree is specifically designed to prepare new, aspiring, and middle tier health service practitioners, planners, and managers to lead in the strategic and operational management of a wide range of health services and facilities.

Health Service Management

This major is designed for health practitioners who require skills in contemporary management and their application in the health care setting. Particular emphasis is placed on critical and analytic skills in health service governance, financing, quality and safety, and planning and evaluation, thus providing graduates with the ability to respond effectively to changes as they arise. Students in this major can further focus their studies in areas relevant to health service managers, such as project management, aged care management, human resource management and research and development.

Graduates can plan a career in media, public relations, journalism or advertising companies with skills adaptable to many environments.

This combined degree ensures that your future work appeals to the right target audience.

The Bachelor of Communication component covers all areas of creative communication, enabling you to understand how your field of study is connected to other disciplines.

The Creative Industries degree partners with creative industries to provide an interdisciplinary, experiential degree that 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.

Media Arts Production

The major in Media Arts Production is designed to provide students with production skills, complete with practical hands-on experience together with a theoretical foundation in the moving, visual media. 

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.

Public Relations

The Public Relations major covers the skills and knowledge required in the profession of public relations, including event management, issues and crisis management and campaign development.

The major focuses on the role of the public relations practitioner or adviser and provides a theoretical framework of the industry. Students engage with both theory and practical projects and complete an internship placement.

Become a skilled social worker with the ability to nurture people’s self-reliance and problem-solving abilities. If you have always cared about others, this degree gives you an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of individuals, families, groups and communities.

Through a mix of world-class research and theory, Western's Bachelor of Social Work gives you the valuable skills and knowledge you need to help people deal with personal and social problems, either directly or by planning and carrying out programs that will benefit groups or communities. It prepares you to enter the workforce in a range of sectors, including private or government agencies, welfare support organisations, community groups or in health. 

Tailor your studies to your specific goals by combining our Bachelor of Communication degree with a Bachelor of Business degree. 

Through classwork, independent study and engagement with the multicultural nature of our communities, students develop an understanding of the local and international relevance of their chosen studies, with opportunities to develop and produce a range of media outcomes as applied research and professional projects throughout their studies.

Students complete a capstone subject in engaged learning that equips them as ‘business ready’ in terms of dealing with real world business issues and problems and generating real world business solutions.

Sport Management

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.

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.

AgriFoods

Immersed in an approach that integrates social, economic and environmental values, students will view plant and animal production from consumer contexts to explore personal and community perceptions about food sustainability. This innovative course merges topics of agriculture, food and health to empower you to design solutions for international development, community education and the urban–rural interface. This major provides hands-on experience, developing confidence and giving graduates an excellent foundation for careers in: teaching, research, biotechnology and industry. Throughout study, engagement with industry and community will inspire you to take action towards a regenerative and more environmentally sustainable AgriFood future.

The flexibility of the course also enables students to combine their interest in AgriFood with other disciplines including animal science, data science, ecology, innovative foods, heath and business.

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.

Economy and Markets

A major in Economy and Markets prepares you to be an active participant in addressing the wide range of problems faced by governments, social organisations and the business community in the domestic and international economies. The world’s commercial and political systems affect the quality of life and standard of living of every single person on the planet. If you would like to play a part in the workings of these systems, and have an impact on their outcomes, a major in Economy and Markets is the ideal choice.

The major introduces you to the application of economic analysis to issues affecting both the business sector and a range of government institutions. You will learn how economies function and how public policy and the way organisations behave affects diverse social, economic and environmental problems.

You will be introduced to a wide array of competing economic theories, so that you are critically informed about the ways in which they can be used to transform the world. You can expect to develop your analytical and problem-solving skills, including the capacity to apply modern statistical techniques, and also to critically examine issues from multiple theoretical perspectives.

The Graduate Diploma in Health Science provides students with an opportunity to delve deeper into issues relevant to the Australian healthcare system as well as international models of healthcare. It explores the socioeconomic, behavioural, biological and societal determinants of health and disease, providing a sound knowledge in epidemiology and the use of healthcare data for decision-making. It provides an entry point to the Master of Health Science for those who wish to continue on their professional development journey with further studies.

This program includes work integrated learning opportunities that involve using the workplace and community as a site and as a source for learning. Work integrated learning partners include various Local Health Districts, hospitals, aged care providers, and other health service providers found within the community. Two subjects will be focused on work integrated learning, one using workplaces and communities as sources for learning through project-based learning, and the other using the workplace and community as a site for learning.

In addition to three core subjects, you will complete five electives from a wide range of fields of study including, but not limited to, Communicable Diseases, Health Workforce Planning, Building Organisational Capacity in Health Care, and Surveillance and Disaster Planning.