Bachelor of Communication / Bachelor of International Studies in International Relation (Dual Degree)

at Western Sydney University - Parramatta South Campus Australia

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.

English

The English major invites students to explore contemporary approaches to language, literary study and writing, including literary criticism and theory, linguistic analysis, genre and textual study, and creative writing.

The English major focuses on the imaginative workings of language, and students can study a wide selection of modern and classic literature, as well as the relationships between written texts and other media such as film and information technology.

Students also have the opportunity to produce their own creative writing and to edit and publish their work.

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.

Peace and Development Studies

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.

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.

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.

This double degree program equips you with a degree in science, combined with a good understanding of basic business issues.

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 a Business major from a variety of disciplines.

This double degree program allows you to span both the commercial and scientific worlds in a way that a single degree cannot.

It permits you to multi-skill, and offers diverse career paths providing high marketability in multiple areas of expertise. 

As a graduate, you will be equipped to work as a scientist, with a good understanding of business principles and practices. Alternatively, as a Business graduate you will be well-prepared to work in science-based industries and institutions.

Applied Finance

The Applied Finance major equips you with the expert skills to create a career as a finance specialist. In this major you will develop in-depth knowledge of finance with a focus on investment and securities, economics, and banking and finance. The core units in the Bachelor of Business will provide you a foundation of business knowledge and develop your skills in innovation, career planning, and numeracy. The Applied Finance major builds on this knowledge and skills in an applied discipline based context. Finance specialists work in a range of roles within the rapidly growing finance sector. This major fulfils the educational requirements for admission as an Associate (A Fin) of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA) provided the applicant is at least working in the financial services industry. All other students are eligible to apply for Affiliate membership (no postnominals apply).

Our fully accredited Bachelor of Creative Industries is unique in NSW. It gives you the opportunity to combine your studies in Arts, Communication, Design and Music with programs in Business and Law.

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. From 2017 this specialisation is available on Parramatta campus only.

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. You will work with organisations to design, develop, deploy and manage information systems through the application of computing technology.

This program will help you carry out a real-life project where you will need to demonstrate you can design and develop an information system that solves a community-based problem.

This degree is exclusively for high-achieving students, and will continually challenge you to do even better and build on your academic success. Students in the Advanced degree program are automatically enrolled in The Academy Opens in new window, which offers interdisciplinary leadership programs, professional development and local and international internship and engagement opportunities for students.

Networking

This major covers theories and technologies of big data with applications to information systems. Students completing this major will possess and apply the technical skills for managing large volumes and varieties of data in the information systems context.

The Networking Major provides the students with in-depth knowledge for the analysis, design, and implementation of networked systems. It offers the students the opportunity to develop the technical skills needed for management and secure operation of a broad range of systems, including LANs, WANs, wireless networks, distributed systems, and large heterogeneous networks.

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.

Take on the world with resilience, creativity and the right mindset. Add Entrepreneurship to an undergraduate degree to get the edge. This degree is an innovative approach to training the next generation of high impact entrepreneurs by providing knowledge and developing practical skills.

The Bachelor of Entrepreneurship is not a stand-alone degree, but is designed to be undertaken in combination with any Western Sydney Bachelor degree. The program aims to guide students through all phases of their entrepreneurship journey: from forming a team to helping with pitching their ideas to potential investors and developing strategies for obtaining funding.

You’ll learn about product development, legalities and ethics, financing, operations, funding and start-ups, and growth and exit strategies. Develop resilience, creativity, risk tolerance and the right mindset. Learn how to think big and lead teams to success. Gain access to real-world placement opportunities in incubators, technology parks and innovation centres. Get the ultimate edge from creative ideas through the sustainable development of an idea into a lean start-up.

Our fully accredited Bachelor of Creative Industries is unique in NSW. It gives you the opportunity to combine your studies in Arts, Communication, Design and Music with programs in Business and Law.

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 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. 

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.