Bachelor of Arts (Deans Scholars) in Geography and Urban Studies

at Western Sydney University - Parramatta South Campus Australia

If you’re creative, passionate and a problem solver, our enhanced Arts degree could be for you.

Choose a study plan that aligns with your own interests. Find your passion and select from 27 majors. Discover opportunities for internships and overseas study.

Islamic studies

Students 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. Students are encouraged to undertake a sub-major in Arabic to complement the Islamic Studies major.

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.

International Relations

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. 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 minor 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 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.

Journalism

The Journalism major combines an understanding of how the news media work with practical experience in broadcast, print and online journalism. Students develop journalism skills suitable for newspapers, magazines, internet, radio and TV, corporate and community media.

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.

Geography and Urban Studies

Students in this major examine the geography of contemporary Australian cities and regions. Geography is the integrated study of people, places and environments.

The cutting edge interests of today’s Geographers include post-colonialism, the emergence of global information economies, indigenous issues, class and cultural disparities, population movement, sexuality and space, and the global diffusion of popular culture.

Urban Studies is a newer discipline focused on social justice within the city, through its critical assessments of peoples’ access to scarce urban resources, such as housing, transport, education and employment. 

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.

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 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.

Arabic

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.

Through counselling and psychotherapy, people gain self-understanding, expand interpersonal capacities and become capable of healthy change.

This program brings together theory and practice, and gives you the tools to make a meaningful, real-life impact in the fields of psychotherapy and counselling. You will also enjoy the close guidance of Western’s highly experienced clinical practitioners and internationally recognised psychotherapy educators.

Western’s Master of Psychotherapy and Counselling is designed to expand and refine your capacity to listen deeply and provide in-depth support to people struggling with emotional issues and life difficulties.

This is a deeply humanistic program in which you will explore the role of the human psyche and learn how your own life experiences and perspectives can be used to help others achieve their personal and mental-health goals. Your training will also include an emphasis on the creation of the therapist and the therapeutic environment for the client.

Taught by highly experienced clinical practitioners and internationally recognised psychotherapy educators, you’ll learn to bring theory and practice together, receive practical guidance to make meaningful impacts, and be supported by staff to counsel people in real-life situations.

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.

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.

If you’re creative, passionate and a problem solver, our enhanced Arts degree could be for you.

Choose a study plan that aligns with your own interests. Find your passion and select from 27 majors. Discover opportunities for internships and overseas study.

International English

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.

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.

Environmental Health

The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the places we live, work and play all have major impacts on our health and well-being. The testamur major Environmental Health, when combined with the major Environmental Futures in a Bachelor of Science, will equip you to explore the diverse range of natural and built-environment challenges that confront us, from the mitigation of human health impacts of global climate change through to the more localised issues of air and water quality, waste management, food security, environmental noise and healthy communities. The major areas of study addressed within the major include air pollution; community studies; emergency management; environmental regulation and policy; environmental monitoring; environmental planning; environmental protection; epidemiology; food safety; noise, occupational environment; risk assessment; sustainable environmental management; toxicology; urban development and water pollution.