Master of Laws

at Western Sydney University - Parramatta South Campus Australia

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.

Child and Community

The Child and Community major provides a comprehensive introduction to a range of social sciences related areas and a strong grounding in contemporary issues facing children and their families from a critical perspective.

This major provides a good foundation for people interested in a career in the human services with a particular interest in children.

In the Bachelor of Communication, through classwork, independent study and engagement with the multicultural nature of our communities, students develop an understanding of the local and international relevance of their chosen studies, with opportunities to develop and produce a range of media outcomes as applied research and professional projects throughout their studies.

Through self-directed, team-based and problem-based learning strategies requiring active participation in the community and professional contexts, graduates learn to reflect and value ethical and intellectual conduct as well as respect for diversity and social justice principles.

The Bachelor of Laws (Honours) 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 program 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 have the opportunity to 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.

 Public Affairs

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.

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.

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. Career prospects include publishing, editing, teaching, writing and advertising.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

Cultural and Social Analysis

Cultural and Social Analysis is an interdisciplinary major, developing the knowledge, research skills and analytical capacities relevant to understanding and interpreting landscapes of cultural diversity and social difference in our contemporary world.

This major focuses on both the broad contours, as well as the specific microsocial environments. This major provides grounding in contemporary debates and methodologies in cultural studies and social theory, and draws on various disciplines, including history, sociology, film studies, and the visual arts.

Tailor your studies to your specific goals by combining our Bachelor of Communication degree with a Bachelor of Business degree. 

Through classwork, independent study and engagement with the multicultural nature of our communities, students develop an understanding of the local and international relevance of their chosen studies, with opportunities to develop and produce a range of media outcomes as applied research and professional projects throughout their studies.

Students complete a capstone subject in engaged learning that equips them as ‘business ready’ in terms of dealing with real world business issues and problems and generating real world business solutions.

Economics

The Economics major provides a broad pluralist perspective on fundamental aspects of relationships between individuals, firms, institutions and countries.

Students will learn how economies function and how public policy and the way organisations behave affect diverse social, economic and environmental problems. Students are introduced to a wide array of competing economic theories, so that they are critically informed about the ways in which they can transform the world.

A major in Economics prepares students to be active participants in addressing the wide range of problems faced by governments, social organisations and the business community in the domestic and international economies.

Students who study economics can expect to develop their analytical and problem solving skills and to be intellectually challenged, whether they view the discipline as providing specific vocational skills or as an area of academic and intellectual interest to them.

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.

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.

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.

Cultural and Social Analysis

Cultural and Social Analysis is an interdisciplinary major developing knowledge, research skills and analytic capacities relevant to understanding and interpreting landscapes of cultural diversity and social difference in our contemporary world, both in terms of the broad contours, as well as specific micro-social environments.

This major provides grounding in contemporary debates and methodologies in cultural studies and social theory, and draws on various disciplines including history, sociology, communications, and linguistics. Topics include popular culture, everyday urban life, cultural and social impacts of scientific theories and new technologies, multiculturalism, and contemporary spirituality.