Bachelor of Social Science in Geography and Urban Studies

at Western Sydney University - Parramatta South Campus Australia

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.

Sociology

The major in Sociology provides students with a thorough training in the methods, theories and select leading areas of contemporary sociology. As well as units in which methods and theories are taught, through the social science core, students enrolled in the Sociology major will have opportunities to study a number of particular themes from a sociological perspective, including inequalities, deviance, identities, gender, religion, medicine and health care, ethnicity and migration, and the family, among other possibilities.

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.

Creative Writing

The Creative Writing major provides you with the opportunity to produce your own creative writing and to edit and learn how to publish your work.

You will 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, you will 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 literature.

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.

 Peace and Development Studies

The Peace and Development Studies major is concerned with inequalities of power and opportunity that lead to international and local conflict, uneven development, social dislocation and environmental degradation. This major examines the structural causes of racist and gendered violence, environmental crises, forced migration, poverty, resource conflict, and inter-generational inequity.

You will be introduced to theories and methods for identifying, measuring and resolving conflict and environmental degradation. Constructive solutions include empowerment and self-determination, sustainable living, peace building and conflict resolution strategies. 

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.

Greenhouse Horticulture

Horticulture is one of the fastest growing food producing sectors in Australia. Western Sydney University (WSU) Hawkesbury Campus has been excellent in delivering high-quality research and teaching programs in horticulture. The unique Master of Science (Greenhouse Horticulture), Graduate Diploma in Protected Cropping, and Graduate Certificate in Protected Cropping offer students exciting learning opportunities to extend the students’ knowledge and further develop their expertise in the areas of science, technology and business with a strong focus on intensive horticulture. The highlight for the learning journey is the Masterclass experience, where you will be meeting with industry experts and working on real life industry challenges in a world-class greenhouse facility at the National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre (NVPCC) of WSU. Themes for the Masterclass include crop and produce management, software and hardware systems, integrated pest management and fertigation systems. In addition, students will have the opportunity to complete protected cropping industry projects by integrating and applying what you have learned. The program will also help students to harness and showcase leadership, communication and business skills. Graduates of these versatile and flexible degrees will be able to apply the latest research findings and practices to the workplace or to explore new career options in the field of horticulture with an elevated perspective and a new skillset. Graduates of the Master of Science (Greenhouse Horticulture) will also have the opportunities to conduct cutting-edge research with an industry partner or at the NVPCC and the Future Food Systems Corporate Centre towards a PhD.

This double degree provides you with the practical skills and knowledge required to excel in the fields of both accounting and law. The Bachelor of Accounting degree will equip students to think creatively, apply innovative solutions to everyday problems, and the know-how to develop trusting, long-lasting business relationships.

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.

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.

In this program you will develop professional legal skills, including the ability to analyse and interpret legal material, understand fundamental legal principles, the relationship between law and society, and solve non-legal problems.You can tailor study for career paths in a variety of local and international law fields.

The program meets the undergraduate academic requirements for admission to legal practice through the Legal Profession Admission Board and also satisfies the current pre-admission educational requirements for registration as a practicing accountant. Once you graduate, you may also pursue further specialised study.

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.

Big Data

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.

This degree gives you the skills you need to become an in-demand computing professional. You will gain skills in a practice-based learning environment, be introduced to real-world project experience, and acquire a solid knowledge of ICT theory.

Western’s Bachelor of Information and Communications Technology will give you a strong understanding of several industry domains including networking, databases, systems analysis and design and programming. You will also gain relevant skills in web and mobile technologies, project management, professional communications, operating systems and human computer interaction. As well as the necessary mathematical and statistical skills to succeed as an ICT practitioner, you can choose from a broad range of specialisations including entertainment computing and social media analytics. You will also gain access to industry-leading facilities where you can bring your ideas to life and shape an unlimited future.

Networking

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.

Be constantly challenged and extended by your studies. Think about a career involving scientific research.

This major will help you understand the science and technology 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. The topics covered in this major includes, food formulation, quality evaluation, food analysis, quality assurance, sensory analysis, food chemistry, food microbiology, food plant management, flavour chemistry and consumer relations.

The program is flexible and enables you to undertake units in human nutrition, health, biotechnology, marketing,
integrated management with industry and community links, with modern sensory and food processing facilities.

Graduates can pursue arange of job opportunities including food product development, research and development, quality assurance, food plant management, flavour chemistry, consumer relations, sensory evaluation and teaching.

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.

Zoology

A Zoology Major provides you with the opportunity to study Australia’s unique animals and their habitats. Zoologists have a detailed understanding of the diversity of the animal kingdom and are equipped with scientific understanding of how animals function and interact with their environment: ranging from their ecology, behaviour and evolution, to the physiology and biochemistry of cells, tissues and major organ systems.

Zoology underpins conservation and sustainability, including major contributions to current research in climate change and ecosystem management. 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 with an abundance of native wildlife. Zoologists graduate with practical laboratory and fieldwork skills that prepare them for a wide variety of vocations in this field.

The Graduate Diploma in Health Science provides students with an opportunity to delve deeper into issues relevant to the Australian healthcare system as well as international models of healthcare. It explores the socioeconomic, behavioural, biological and societal determinants of health and disease, providing a sound knowledge in epidemiology and the use of healthcare data for decision-making. It provides an entry point to the Master of Health Science for those who wish to continue on their professional development journey with further studies.

This program includes work integrated learning opportunities that involve using the workplace and community as a site and as a source for learning. Work integrated learning partners include various Local Health Districts, hospitals, aged care providers, and other health service providers found within the community. Two subjects will be focused on work integrated learning, one using workplaces and communities as sources for learning through project-based learning, and the other using the workplace and community as a site for learning.

In addition to three core subjects, you will complete five electives from a wide range of fields of study including, but not limited to, Communicable Diseases, Health Workforce Planning, Building Organisational Capacity in Health Care, and Surveillance and Disaster Planning.