Bachelor of Arts in Psychological Studies /Bachelor of Creative Industries (Dual Degree)

at Western Sydney University - Parramatta South Campus Australia

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.

International relations and Asian studies

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.

Our Master of Science degree can be taken in a number of majors: Public Health Nutrition, Food Science, Greenhouse Horticulture or Agriculture. This program builds on your professional experience and/or prior degrees to develop advanced expertise and critical understanding in science and in these disciplines.

Public Health Nutrition

The Master of Science major in Public Health Nutrition is designed for human nutrition graduates seeking to further their career in public health and health promotion; working in a variety of settings, such as local, state or national health organisations, non-government organisations, population health subjectts, community health centres, and international aid agencies. Roles may include, health promotion officer, research and evaluation officer, monitoring and surveillance officer, and health policy officer. The program draws on and complements the Master of Public Health, providing an attractive postgraduate pathway for students with prior nutrition knowledge. This major build an integrated understanding of relevant aspects of community and public health nutrition and its interrelation with other relevant disciplines including, behavioural sciences and nutrition/health education, social sciences, economics, politics, food and nutrition systems, and public health systems. A capstone subject involving a public health nutrition research project allows students to integrate their knowledge and skills developed from the whole program and build on research skills that are scaffolded through the curriculum.

This program is designed for high achieving law students in the Bachelor of Science/ Bachelor of Laws program who wish to undertake an extended level of study and research in Law.

In the Bachelor of Science, students will learn core concepts and skills investigating the natural world, proposing and testing ideas by experimentation and observation, quantifying and modelling processes, communicating findings, and thinking independently and critically. Students can enrol in this degree and select from a range of scientific disciplines with the option of expanding learning into other areas outside of science.

The Bachelor of Laws (Honours) 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. The program provides students with a broad progressive legal education with a strong practical orientation to the law. Students develop skills in problem-solving, critical thinking, research, communication, collaboration, self-management, and ethical and professional awareness and judgement. Students will have the opportunity to develop skills in legal advocacy, negotiation, and legal technology and extend their professional and learning experiences through work integrated learning, clinical placement and international exchange engagements.

Zoology

This major will provide students with a detailed understanding of the diversity of the animal kingdom. Students will develop a scientific understanding of how animals function and interact with their environment; from their ecology, behaviour and evolution; to the physiology and biochemistry of cells, tissues and major organ systems. On-campus animal facilities include those for reptiles, small marsupials and rodents, sheep and cattle, as well as over 1000ha of native, rural and aquatic habitats. This major will enable students to graduate with practical laboratory and fieldwork skills that will prepare you across a wide variety of disciplines in this field.

The degree will develop the mindset, risk tolerance, creativity, passion, big thinking, team formation and leadership capabilities – the key distinct characteristics of high-impact entrepreneurs.

In an entrepreneurial ecosystem, you will learn the knowledge and techniques for opportunity discovery, impact analysis, customer analysis, strategic team-building and leadership, the psychology and ethics of the start-up, funding modelling and financial analysis, growth and exit strategies.

The Games Design and Simulation specialisation will convert your passion for playing games into deep knowledge of the science and art of problem solving through development and application of games and simulations.

This area of study includes gamification, games design, game-based learning, and psychology of gaming, serious games, games entrepreneurship, as well as broader modelling and simulation. It features two majors that are not available in any other Western University degree - Game Programming and Game Design.

Upon completion you will have developed an entrepreneurial mindset and will know how to apply this mindset to address a diverse range of problems through game and simulation-based solutions.

The program incorporates practical experience in every semester of study, placing students in entrepreneurial environments (incubators, technology parks, innovation centres) and enabling them through all the stages from creative ideation through the sustainable development of the idea into a lean start-up.

This double degree allows you to tailor your studies to your speci?c goals by combining your Bachelor of Social Science with our accredited Bachelor of Laws degree. The Bachelor of Social Science will expand your knowledge through theory, research and practical application and offers you a deep understanding of our complex, culturally diverse and dynamic world. The social science degree is a broadly based, inter-disciplinary program that provides flexibility and choice within a range of social science subject offerings. The degree seeks to equip students with the interdisciplinary and specialist skills and knowledge that a new graduate would need on entering the workforce or on proceeding to advanced study.

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.

Anthropology

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

Our Communication degree will give you the professional skills and knowledge to build the ‘go anywhere, do anything’ career you want. Major in Journalism, Advertising, Public Relations or Screen Media and develop job-ready skills in communication, digital media, media production, research, and innovation.

Screen Media

The major in Screen Media 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 degree opens doors to entrepreneurship, start-up companies and new innovations that require business knowledge and cutting-edge information systems and technology skills.

Today, to implement technology, practising professionals need to not only have knowledge and skills in information and communications technology, but they also need to understand the context in which computer technology can best be selected, applied and implemented.

The business component of the double degree will allow students to gain knowledge in one of three core Business areas: Money, Markets or Management. 

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 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.

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.

Western’s Bachelor of Psychological and Social Sciences is the foundation for anyone wishing to go on to further study to become a psychologist. If you are curious by nature, inquisitive about life and how we, as a society live and interact, this degree will expand your knowledge through theory, research and practical application.

This degree combines a broadly based, interdisciplinary social sciences three-year program with an undergraduate accredited sequence in Psychology.

You will gain a deep understanding of the complex and culturally diverse world we live in and emerge with a thorough understanding of how Psychology uses scientific techniques and methods to understand human cognition, affect and behaviour.

When you graduate, you will have the interdisciplinary and specialist skills and knowledge required for a range of careers available in areas of sociology, mental health, peace and development and counselling in both government and private sectors as well as the academic requirements to proceed to advanced study.

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.