Bachelor of Design/Bachelor of Creative Industries in Journalism (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.

Innovation and Change

In a world that is undergoing a continuous cycle of change and new ideas, the Innovation and Change major provides students with the key concepts, business models and issues that bring advancement within the context of contemporary business.

Students will learn to compete on a global platform and deal with issues surrounding business ethics, corporate social responsibility and cultural awareness.

The knowledge and skills acquired through this major will enable future leaders to revitalise organisations and create value in the process of transforming innovations into products or services.

By connecting creative writing practice to ideas and creative work from the arts and sciences, the Master of Arts in Literature and Creative Writing offers you the opportunity to think across creative, critical and disciplinary categories, and to produce either works of scholarship or creative writing (or related creative work that crosses into other areas including music, art, performance and film).

The Writing and Research Centre at Western Sydney University offers a challenging, rigorous programwork and project-based Master’s degree, combining criticism and creative work and leading to a Master of Arts in Literature and Creative Writing.

The centre is unique in Australia in the way it combines scholarship, authorship and expertise in publishing. The centre includes some of Australia’s most celebrated writers (such as the novelists Gail Jones and Alexis Wright) and widely published literary scholars and critics with international reputations (such as Ivor Indyk, Hazel Smith, Chris Andrews, and Anthony Uhlmann).

Western Sydney University is ranked above world standard in both the study of literature and creative arts practice. The centre houses the highly decorated literary press Giramondo Publishing, and the pre-eminent literary review site in Australia, The Sydney Review of Books.

With outstanding resources, the University is able to offer multifaceted understanding of literature and writing. Hazel Smith is a world leader in the field of practice-led research and research-led practice, and this carries with it our philosophy of deepening the understanding of both critical and creative practice by linking critical and creative thinking.

In short, the centre is one of the best places in Australia to either become a writer or to think in a critical and scholarly way about writing.

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.

Graphic Design

The Graphic Design major provides students from outside the Design program with a comprehensive introduction to fundamental skills and knowledge in graphic design.

The major is delivered through a series of practice-based and theoretical units and you will study areas such as image design, contextual design studies, web design and branding.

In addition, you will have the opportunity to choose a practice-based specialisation from the areas of interactive design; digital design; illustration; and photomedia.

This program examines the relationship of nations, cultures, languages and systems of government within the international system

International Studies provides you with the diverse skills and knowledge needed to meet the changes in societies, governments and businesses.

It develops your capacity to analyse the historical development of relations among nation states and contemporary political, social and cultural issues, such as globalisation, transnationalism and migration.

You will be able to combine studies from a range of discipline areas, including Asian and Islamic Studies, cultural and social analysis, history, politics and philosophy, and modern languages (Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian or Arabic). The program provides for one semester study abroad during three years of full-time.

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.

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.

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.

Marketing

Marketing focuses on the exchange process built around understanding and satisfying the needs and wants of customers. Often this is associated as doing business within a highly competitive business environment, yet marketing strategy is also important for government and not-for-profit organisations. This major introduces students to the core concepts of marketing theory, consumer behaviour, marketing communications, brand management, and marketing strategy. Graduates are equipped with the skills for marketing careers in a range of diverse industries across an international platform. This major satisfies the educational requirements for recognition as a Certified Practising Marketer and eligibility for membership of the Australian Marketing Institute.

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.

Interactions between people and animals are increasing due to our reliance on animals for companionship and food production. This major will enable you to develop a deep understanding of these issues, through studies of animal behaviour, animal health and welfare, animal nutrition, animal production, animal reproduction, and human-animal interactions. You will have access to diverse on-campus animal facilities including reptiles, native mammals, sheep, cattle and deer and off-campus organisations such as wildlife parks, zoos and farms. 

A variety of exciting career paths are available to graduates of this program, including international opportunities in the many fields of animal science. Graduates of this degree can look forward to career opportunities as an animal welfare officer, life scientist, quarantine officer, animal journalist or can progress into pursuing a research career, teaching career or working in government and related industries. 

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 Bachelor of Arts (Dean’s Scholars) degree is designed to develop your communication and personal skills, creativity, capacity for independent thought, adaptability to new situations, and problem-solving abilities.

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.

With a Bachelor of Social Science from Western, you will have the ability to help shape the world we live in. This degree expands your knowledge through theory, research and practical application and offers you a deep understanding of our complex, culturally diverse and dynamic world. You will gain access to industry-based projects and placements, local and international work experience and build the practical skills that will get you ready to apply your knowledge to the workforce.

Heritage Tourism

In a highly mobile world (migration, tourism, media and communications, travel and transport) and in contemporary life where the preservation of historical and natural environments present as one of the major challenges facing all societies, heritage has become a touchstone for social and cultural identity, our understanding of modernity, peace and development, our senses of citizenship, custodianship and community. At the same time heritage places have become significant tourist destinations and so in a world of flows and networks, the heritage-tourism relationship is a critical one. In the 21st century it is impossible to disentangle the two.

This major introduces contemporary heritage issues and provides an in-depth understanding of tourism as a social phenomenon. It enables a critical examination of the relationship between heritage and tourism in number of settings within Australia (including Indigenous Australia) and internationally.

Graduates with a heritage and tourism major can contemplate careers within a diverse range of government, non-government organization and businesses that require understanding, insight and skills related to heritage and tourism.