Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Social Science in Heritage and Tourism (Dual Degree)

at Western Sydney University - Penrith Campus (Kingswood) Australia

You’re curious, enjoy telling stories, and you want to use media to share ideas about the things that get people talking.

Our Communication degree will give you the professional skills and knowledge to build the ‘go anywhere, do anything’ career you want. Major in Journalism, Advertising, Public Relations or Screen Media and develop job-ready skills in communication, digital media, media production, research, and innovation.

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.

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

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.

Mathematics

This major covers topics in the traditional areas of calculus and algebra. Single and multivariable calculus are covered, as well as topics in linear algebra, analysis and mathematical modelling. This major is available to all undergraduate students and may meet the NSW Institute of Teachers accreditation requirements for teaching Mathematics as a first subject in NSW state high schools.

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.

Peace and Development Studies

The Peace and Development Studies major is concerned with methods for promoting peace, human rights and sustainability. It involves a critical analysis of inequalities of power and opportunity that lead to international and local conflict, social dislocation and environmental degradation.

Students will examine the structural causes of racist and gendered violence, environmental crises, forced migration, poverty, resource conflict, and inter-generational inequity. The inter-related network of solutions includes empowerment and self-determination, sustainable living, constructive development, peacemaking and peace building. These require understanding of the theories and method for identifying, measuring and resolving conflict and environmental degradation. The assumptions and failings of traditional development practice are critically assessed. Students will engage social theory within an interdisciplinary and applied framework, at local, national and international levels.

Many future challenges exist at the nexus of environment, infrastructure and technology. Solutions to these will demand innovative engineering combined with applied science and business acumen. Engineers with a head for business will find many opportunities to leverage their highly developed analytical skills towards a host of technical and commercial challenges.

How 4 plus 3 makes 5
This outstanding double degree program combines a 4 year Bachelor of Engineering (honours) degree with the 3 year Bachelor of Business degree to yield a course of study that takes only 5 years to complete (in Full-time mode).The Engineering component of this program is offered at the Penrith and Parramatta City campuses, and the Business component is offered at the Parramatta City campus.

At Western Sydney University, we prepare our students to take on big challenges and succeed. The combined Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) / Bachelor of Business degree covers all major engineering and business domains. You can also experience many facets of engineering before deciding upon your major at the end of your first year.

Materials

Since the dawning of mankind an understanding of how materials can be obtained and used has been critical to successful human endeavour. Materials engineers are concerned with the highly technological and dynamic process of understanding, developing, and applying materials (metals, polymers, ceramics, composites) to a range of engineering problems. Students will develop skills necessary to synthesise relevant information so that they can be effective decision makers in a materials context. These skills will serve them well in varied career opportunities associated with biomedical devices, nanotechnology, advanced manufacturing, opto-electronics, energy, aerospace, and sustainable construction.

The degree will develop the mindset, risk tolerance, creativity, passion, big thinking, team formation and leadership capabilities – the key distinct characteristics of high-impact entrepreneurs.

In an entrepreneurial ecosystem, you will learn the knowledge and techniques for opportunity discovery, impact analysis, customer analysis, strategic team-building and leadership, the psychology and ethics of the start-up, funding modelling and financial analysis, growth and exit strategies.

The Games Design and Simulation specialisation will convert your passion for playing games into deep knowledge of the science and art of problem solving through development and application of games and simulations.

This area of study includes gamification, games design, game-based learning, and psychology of gaming, serious games, games entrepreneurship, as well as broader modelling and simulation. It features two majors that are not available in any other Western University degree - Game Programming and Game Design.

Upon completion you will have developed an entrepreneurial mindset and will know how to apply this mindset to address a diverse range of problems through game and simulation-based solutions.

The program incorporates practical experience in every semester of study, placing students in entrepreneurial environments (incubators, technology parks, innovation centres) and enabling them through all the stages from creative ideation through the sustainable development of the idea into a lean start-up.

Game Programming

In this major you will gain skills in programming, data structures, video game development, artificial intelligence and more. 

The Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) program is designed for students with interests in learning to address humanity’s issues and challenges through the development and deployment of technical solutions.

This program spans all major engineering domains and prioritises industry relevance via an emphasis on work integrated learning to ensure students are career-ready on graduation. In addition to becoming technical experts in their chosen field of specialisation, students are also challenged to become collaborative and innovative problem solvers with an appreciation for the importance of sustainability and global citizenship.

Construction

Construction Engineering consists of core subjects in structural engineering, project management and construction technologies. Graduates will work in the fields of construction, structural design, and project management. Career opportunities include those in the private or public sector on projects covering highways, airports, and residential & commercial buildings.

Graduate destinations include:
Construction Engineer, Structural Engineer, Geotechnical Engineer, Site Engineer, Subdivision Civil Approvals Engineer, Consulting Engineer, Project Engineer, Project Coordinator, Project Manager, Design Manager.

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.

 Heritage and 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.

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.

Technology Entrepreneurship

The Technology Entrepreneurship major is focused on guiding students through all stages of turning their innovative idea into a start-up company. In an entrepreneurial ecosystem, you will learn the knowledge and techniques for opportunity discovery, impact analysis, customer analysis, strategic team-building and leadership, the psychology and ethics of the start-up, funding modelling and financial analysis, growth and exit strategies.

We will be helping you with defining your idea, forming a team around it, building a prototype, developing a pitch for investors and running a start-up company.

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.

Indigenous Australian Studies

What does it mean to live in Indigenous Australia? The Indigenous Australian Studies major offers you the exciting opportunity to acquire key cultural competencies that will enable you to understand and work more effectively with Indigenous Australians in professions such as the arts, communications, media, education, government and non-government, policy, health, sciences, and community services.

The Indigenous Australian Studies major addresses the cultural, historical, social and economic issues affecting Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and relationships.