Bachelor of Humanitarian and Development Studies

at Western Sydney University - Penrith Campus (Kingswood) Australia

In this degree, you will explore the worlds of criminology and crime, and gain fascinating insights into our criminal justice institutions and practices. You will graduate with a strong understanding of crime prevention strategies and debates, victimisation, juvenile justice, prisons and different forms of punishment. This degree equips students with the specialist skills and knowledge to enter the professional workforce.

Western’s Bachelor of Criminology allows you to study crime and criminal justice in a conceptual and applied way, and gain an understanding of how these things affect society. It gives you the skills and knowledge you need to take on a career in the police force, corrective services, and the criminal and community justice systems.

You will learn about law enforcement and surveillance, violence, gender and crime, restorative and international criminal justice, cultural depictions of crime, and contemporary debates in criminology. Examples of minors include Child and Community Studies, Psychological Studies or Sociology.Ultimately, you will emerge with the specialist skills and knowledge to make a difference in the world and be a force for good.

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.

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

Sociology

The major in Sociology provides students with a thorough training in the methods, theories and select leading areas of contemporary sociology.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Networked Systems

This major is only available to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Computer Science and Bachelor of Computer Science Advanced. This major aims to develop graduates with sound skills in the discipline of networked computer systems. Recent advances in computer and telecommunications networked systems, particularly those based on TCP/IP, have increased the importance of network technologies in the discipline of computer science.

This major covers a wide range of topics including computer communication network concepts and protocols, multimedia systems, Internet standards and technologies, network security, wireless and mobile computing, and distributed systems. The candidates are also introduced to some of the relevant current key research issues of the field.

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.

Become an in-demand computing professional. Our real-world project industry experience will give you the edge.

The increasing use of electronic health records requires the accurate and efficient capture, management, security and reporting of health information. This program combines theory with a 20-day industry placement, to give you the skills you need to thrive.

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.

Geography and Urban Studies

Students in this major examine the geography of contemporary Australian cities and regions. Geography is the integrated study of people, places and environments. The cutting edge interests of today’s Geographers include post-colonialism, the emergence of global information economies, indigenous issues, class and cultural disparities, population movement, sexuality and space, and the global diffusion of popular culture.

Urban Studies is a newer discipline focused on social justice within the city, through its critical assessments of peoples’ access to scarce urban resources, such as housing, transport, education and employment. The political, economic, and cultural forces that shape cities and urban policy are the key concerns of the Urban Studies curriculum. These applied interests in urban well-being and city structure are the intellectual basis for the Urban Planning profession.

The Geography and Urban Studies major is a compulsory component of the University’s accredited Planning course.