Bachelor of Communication / Bachelor of International Studies in Public Affairs (Dual Degree)

at Western Sydney University - Parramatta South Campus Australia

You’re curious, enjoy telling stories, and you want to use media to share ideas about the things that get people talking.

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.

Advertising

The Advertising major gives students a thorough grounding in general principles of communication as well as practical skills in advertising. The major offers a balance of advertising theory and practice and focuses on real, project-based outcomes.

Areas of study include advertising strategy, advertising creative and art direction, client and account management, digital and social media contexts, advertising campaigns.

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.

Organisations and Work

The Organisations and Work major is designed for people interested in careers in organisational development, where there is emphasis on human resource management.

Graduates have knowledge of how leadership and management of people can support organisational objectives and create organisational opportunities.

That is, graduates develop commercial acumen and appreciate the competing interests around work, aware of trends locally and internationally. Throughout the major, students are challenged to develop and demonstrate communication, cultural, and analytic skills required to be innovative and responsible team-members and leaders.

The Bachelor of Medical Science prepares you for a career in a range of laboratory roles, as well as providing an avenue for further study including graduate research programs.

Anatomy and Physiology

The Anatomy and Physiology Major within the Bachelor of Medical Science will provide you with the opportunity to learn about the basic sciences underpinning human health, wellbeing and its application to human disease. This major provides a strong focus on the anatomy and physiology of the human body in relation to health and disease. The degree also allows for enrolment in a variety of minors (with choices such as Microbiology, Environmental Health and Infectious Diseases) or free electives, so students can design their own learning journey. This major will provide you with the core knowledge in human anatomy and physiology and will allow you unlimited options of employment in areas such as academia, government, research, health and have you well prepared for further postgraduate studies in any medical and health related fields including but not limited to physiotherapy, radiology, sonography, paramedicine or medicine.

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 offers a highly valued career path in criminology and law. The Bachelor of Criminology degree offers students the opportunity to study crime and criminal justice in both a conceptual and an applied way that particularly stresses social and cultural definitions of criminality and the reactions to it.

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.

Areas of focus in the Bachelor of Criminology include criminal justice institutions and practices, the development of criminology as a discipline and its various strands, forms and patterns of victimisation, crime prevention strategies and debates, aspects of juvenile justice, the evolution of prisons and different forms of punishment, law enforcement and surveillance, violence, gender and crime, and cultural depictions of crime and contemporary debates in criminology. The degree addresses the criminalisation of disadvantage through race, class, disability and gender, with a focus on the nexus between social and criminal justice. This will equip students with the specialist skills and knowledge that a new graduate would need on entering the workforce or on proceeding to advanced study.

The Bachelor of Laws 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 also 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.

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.

The aim of the Master of Nursing (Professional Studies) is to provide students who hold an undergraduate nursing degree with the theoretical knowledge and critical thinking skills to prepare them for advanced practice in the clinical setting.

The focus of the Master of Nursing is to provide the necessary skills for Registered Nurses to meet their professional goals in a clinical or research setting. This includes studying cultural and social diversity in health care, evidence based health care and leadership in clinical practice. Our students are provided the option to choose a major in either clinical leadership, clinical teaching, aged care, primary health care or research studies, preparing you for career progression in your chosen field.

This double degree provides you with the practical skills and knowledge required to excel in the fields of both business and law. The Bachelor of Business degree gives you the knowledge to create a career as a business professional. Whether you wish to pursue a corporate role in a global enterprise or start your own business, this degree will provide you with the skills to do it.  

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.

Accounting

The Accounting major equips you with the expert skills to create a career as an accounting specialist. You will be prepared to succeed in a range of roles in accounting practices, and also in both public and private enterprises.

In this major you will develop in-depth knowledge of accounting, supported by knowledge of law, economics, and finance. Accounting major units focus on the fundamentals of financial and management accounting, as well as accounting information and corporate systems.

If you are seeking professional accreditation, you will also undertake specialised units in taxation and audit and assurance. 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 Accounting major builds on this knowledge and skills in an applied discipline based context. Accountants are in high global demand by enterprises in corporate, public, and not-for-profit sectors.

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.

Food Science

The Master of Science majoring in Food Science is designed for graduates interested in furthering a career in food science and technology, working in a variety of settings, such as food manufacturing, research and development, regulatory affairs, technical and senior management. Graduates will develop knowledge and skills to meet future challenges to the food supply including sustainability, food safety, and health and nutrition, applicable to both Australian and global contexts. This major develops essential content knowledge, analytical skills and mastery of laboratory methods and quality assurance through an integrated set of subjects in food processing, quality assurance, food evaluation techniques and new product development. In particular, these subjects are all directed towards solving current and future challenges. Students will be prepared to become professional food scientists with the cognitive, technical and critical thinking skills to analyse issues and articulate appropriate solutions. Students will become familiar with the University’s food pilot plant and commercial kitchen and be able use these facilities to practise their skills and application of knowledge and skills. A capstone subject involving professional 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.