Bachelor of International 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.vvvvvvvv

Philosophy

Philosophy has always asked the 'big questions' about our lives. These are questions, for example, about the limits of our knowledge, the best way that humans can live together, how we understand the world around us, and what is the good life.

A philosophy major will enable students to develop particular skills and attributes - such as clear thinking, capacities to assess arguments and values, sound understanding of important philosophical views that have always been essential to university scholarship, and which continue to be valuable for graduates in both public and private life.

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.

Creative Writing

The Creative Writing major provides students the opportunity to produce their own creative writing and to edit and publish their work.

Students study with professional authors, editors and publishers from the Writing and Society Research Centre and staff from the School of Humanities and Communication Arts.

In addition, students have the opportunity to study contemporary approaches to language and literary studies, including literary criticism and theory, linguistic analysis, genre and textual study, and to read and examine a wide selection of modern and classic literatures.

Graduates can plan a career in media, public relations, journalism or advertising companies with skills adaptable to many environments.

This combined degree ensures that your future work appeals to the right target audience.

The Bachelor of Communication component covers all areas of creative communication, enabling you to understand how your field of study is connected to other disciplines.

The Creative Industries degree partners with creative industries to provide an interdisciplinary, experiential degree that 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.

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.

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.

Biology

Biology is underpinned by cells, the fundamental units necessary for organisms to grow, reproduce and interact with each other and the environment. Cells are also the basis of emerging computer models and bio-technology innovations. Biologists integrate principles from many disciplines, including chemistry, bio-physics, genetics, biochemistry, physiology and bioinformatics, for a more complete understanding of animal, plant and microbial cell function.

Understanding these processes and the principles that govern the organization and function of cells are a necessary framework for creating the next advances in developmental biology and disease mitigation. At Western Sydney University, the strong emphasis on hands-on experience gives biology graduates an excellent foundation for careers in: teaching, academia, research, biotechnology, industry, law and administration. The flexibility of the major also enables students to combine their interest with other disciplines including ecology, environment, zoology and agriculture and environmental health.

Graduates can plan a career in media, public relations, journalism or advertising companies with skills adaptable to many environments.

This combined degree ensures that your future work appeals to the right target audience.

The Bachelor of Communication component covers all areas of creative communication, enabling you to understand how your field of study is connected to other disciplines.

The Creative Industries degree partners with creative industries to provide an interdisciplinary, experiential degree that 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.

Law and Creative Industries

The Law and the Creative Industries major equips you with specialised legal skills and knowledge to support your career in the creative industries in Australia.

In this major you will develop tailored, strategic knowledge to enable you to effectively contribute to business decision making and to appreciate the legal and regulatory challenges within the context of creative and innovative enterprises.

The units in this major focus on the fundamentals of Australian law, critique and analysis of law, contracts, torts, alternative dispute resolution and media law, with the option to also incorporate studies in competition and consumer law, intellectual property and law within the employment context.

The legal and regulatory focus of this major will provide you with specialised knowledge and skills designed to enhance your access to a range of careers within the creative industries sector. 

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.

 Innovation and Change

This major explores the links between leadership and entrepreneurship in the context of dynamic domestic and global environments. The major introduces the concepts of change and innovation as they relate to organisational transformation of businesses. You will deal with conflicting viewpoints to understand the complexity of the organisational relationships involved in change and innovation.

To prepare you for management roles, the major examines the challenges associated with developing sustainable, innovative and creative organisations, and includes assessments that facilitate engagement with elements of organisational change and innovation.

The major develops an understanding of how to initiate a business venture, taking advantages of perceived opportunities and mobilising the required resources. To this end, different theories and perspectives on leadership and entrepreneurship are examined, and you will be encouraged to apply them to real-life situations as a way of preparing to be future leaders and entrepreneurs.

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.

This major will help you understand nutrition, and the science behind food in the largest business sector in the world.

 Innovative Foods

A major in Innovative Foods will prepare you to be a leader in developing innovative, safe, healthy and sustainable foods. A solid foundation in the biological and chemical sciences, needed to underpin food science, will enable graduates from this program to be confident in the rapidly evolving food technology sector. Graduates can pursue opportunities in food formulation, food research and development, quality assurance, food plant management, food molecular biology, flavour chemistry, consumer relations, food quality assurance and teaching. The program is flexible and enables you to undertake units in human nutrition and health, food production, biotechnology, integrated management with industry and community links, with modern sensory and food processing facilities.

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.

Applied Physics

This major provides a deep knowledge of physics and its applications. While also developing a grounding in mathematics and strong computing knowledge, the physics major assures understanding of the concepts, tools and techniques of physics including the interfaces where physics contributes to other scientific disciplines, and the use of physics in wider intellectual and social contexts.

Graduates of this degree can look forward to career opportunities as a medical laboratory scientist, forensic scientist, in government and related industries, in scientific and technical management or can pursue a research or secondary teaching career.

Data is everywhere in this digital age and plays an important role in all careers. A Data Scientist has the required expertise to convert all forms of data into valuable information. At Western, our Bachelor of Data Science gives you an added advantage in a highly competitive environment.

This degree equips our graduates with the skills and knowledge for designing experimental studies, building and fitting models for analysis, visualisation, estimation and prediction, machine learning for prediction, analysis of complex data relationships, storage and retrieval of big data.

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.

Criminology

This criminology major offers students the opportunity to study crime and criminal justice in a critical way that particularly stresses social and cultural definitions of criminality and the reactions to it.

Areas of focus 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; cultural depictions of crime and contemporary debates in criminology.