Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Social Science in Geography and Urban Studies (Dual Degree)

at Western Sydney University - Penrith Campus (Kingswood) Australia

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.

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.

The Master of Clinical Psychology develops competent clinical psychologists by combining advanced academic knowledge with real-life experience to suit a variety of career needs and interests.

The program provides thorough training in a range of mental health issues and equips you with the ability to implement effective evidence-based interventions that are tailored to clients' requirements.

Clinical psychologists offer psychological assessment and treatment for a wide range of mental health problems. This program is designed to provide you with training across a host of mental health issues and settings. It will equip you with the skills and knowledge you need to effectively meet the diverse needs of clients.

At Western, our mandate is to develop your understanding through programwork, a research project, and 1,000 hours of supervised experience in clinical and other appropriate settings.

You will also explore the inner workings of the human mind, be given the knowledge and skills you need to understand dysfunctional behaviour and psychopathology, and learn how to implement effective evidence-based interventions, including cognitive behavioural therapy.

The Bachelor of Criminal and Community Justice degree is designed for current employees within Corrective Services and other similar professions, as well as those external to the industry who wish to pursue a career in corrections, probation and/or parole (Community Corrections).

The degree has been designed in collaboration with Brush Farm, the training academy of Corrective Services NSW.

The degree draws upon disciplinary areas such as Criminal Justice, Criminology, Psychology, Social Work and Welfare in order to provide a theoretical framework for those who work with offenders.

This degree is a specialised degree which targets a range of central themes and issues that are paramount for those who work with victims and also offenders, both in terms of their treatment and management. As well as providing a theoretical framework, the program equips our students with the knowledge and skills to develop and evaluate practice with a view to enhancing work with offenders and victims.

Take on the world with resilience, creativity and the right mindset. Add Entrepreneurship to an undergraduate degree to get the edge. This degree is an innovative approach to training the next generation of high impact entrepreneurs by providing knowledge and developing practical skills.

The Bachelor of Entrepreneurship is not a stand-alone degree, but is designed to be undertaken in combination with any Western Sydney Bachelor degree. The program aims to guide students through all phases of their entrepreneurship journey: from forming a team to helping with pitching their ideas to potential investors and developing strategies for obtaining funding.

You’ll learn about product development, legalities and ethics, financing, operations, funding and start-ups, and growth and exit strategies. Develop resilience, creativity, risk tolerance and the right mindset. Learn how to think big and lead teams to success. Gain access to real-world placement opportunities in incubators, technology parks and innovation centres. Get the ultimate edge from creative ideas through the sustainable development of an idea into a lean start-up.

Neuromorphic Engineering is an exciting inter-disciplinary field combining aspects from electrical engineering, computer science, neuroscience, signal processing and mathematics.

The Master of Applied Neuromorphic Engineering offers students an opportunity to partner with high-profile industry partners in an applied project or a research project, mentored by leading researchers from the International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems at the MARCS Institute. 

This program seeks to address the rapidly growing demand for alternative inter-disciplinary technologies, such as bio-inspired agile sensory systems, smart edge devices, and brain-inspired high performance computational platforms. The students will be introduced to state-of-the-art neuromorphic hardware, sensors and algorithms in a highly structured way that increases their acumen for approaching new situations with creativity and initiative.

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.

Criminology and Criminal Justice

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.

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.

Economy and Markets

The Economy and Markets 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 this area 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. A major in this area is very highly regarded in the business world and opens up a very large range of career prospects in general business, finance and the public sector.

If you’re creative, passionate and a problem solver, our enhanced Arts degree could be for you.

Western offers a specialist Computer Science degrees to equip you with the skills you need to be career-ready by specialising in different applications of computer science and computer systems.

Systems Programming

This major aims to develop graduates with sound skills in the discipline of programming. The focus is on programming at the level of system calls to the underlying operating system and many of the units use the industry standard language for systems programming, namely C/C++, as the vehicle of instruction.

There is a strong emphasis on the development of highly efficient and reliable code that can provide support services for higher level application oriented programs, as well as the development of programs suitable for systems administration and management. Practical work utilises the Unix environment. This major is appropriate where a career in systems programming or systems administration is planned, or where the student wishes to develop advanced systems programming skills.

Western’s Bachelor of Construction Management (Honours) prepares you for an unlimited career in the building industry. Along with the full suite of theory and practical knowledge that enable to develop a broad-based view of how the construction industry operates, you will gain a strong understanding of construction technology; construction economics; construction law; and construction project management through this degree.

You could also opt to specialise either in ‘quantity surveying’ or ‘building surveying’ by undertaking relevant suite of electives under each specialisation pathways.

With the 1200 hours of industry based experience requirement before graduation, the program is offered with flexible and condensed timetables to enable you to undertake industry cadetships and other work-integrated learning activities.