Bachelor of Social Science in Geography and Urban Studies

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.

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.

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.

Japanese

Language majors will enable you to develop an appropriate level of proficiency in a second language, which may be used for professional purposes such as teaching, interpreting and translation, business or international relations.

If you are undertaking a language major in Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian or Japanese you will be able to use the language in question according to its grammatical and pragmatic principles, communicate with native speakers appropriately in the spoken as well as the written mode, and demonstrate an understanding of the cultures and societies associated with the language.

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.

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.

 History and Political Thought

Since the revival of humanist thought in the Renaissance, universities have placed studies in history and political thought at the centre of exploring what it is to be human.

At the heart of the History and Political Thought major are four compulsory units, which introduce the student to the modern history of humanity (since 1500). Although Europe is very prominent in the major, you will be invited to compare its history to the histories of Asia, Africa and the Americas.

The major culminates in a capstone unit in students’ final semester, discussing historical theories and methods. A wide range of elective units covers European, American, Australian and Asian history and political thought, and includes thematic units which range widely over time and place.

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

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 Design

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

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.

Mechanical

Mechanical engineering is a dynamic area involving the design and build of moving machines including engines that power transportation, industrial machinery, and a range of tools. Students put the core concepts of mechanical engineering, energy, thermodynamics, mechanics, kinematics, and fluid mechanics, into practical application in workshops, industry projects, and work integrated learning. Students design and construct machines and tools, monitor and evaluate their performance. Employment opportunities include automotive or mechanical engineer, control and instrumentation engineer.

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.

Electrical

The Electrical Engineering major includes core subjects from all branches of electrical engineering. Electrical Engineering program is one of the flagships of Western’s engineering whose core subjects such as Electrical Fundamentals, Power Electronics, Engineering Electromagnetics form the foundation for other programs such as Software Engineering and Biomedical Engineering program. Because of the vibrant and diverse offerings of Western’s engineering, its graduates will work in the fields of electronic components, computers, electro-magnetics, power generation and distribution systems, power and control in public utilities, telecommunications, manufacturing, and electrical systems.

Graduate destinations include:
Designers, data loggers, programmers, consultants, system engineers, data communications specialists, wireless communications engineers, and integrated circuit designers.

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.

Entertainment Computing

This major will deal with a comprehensive focus on the technical and theoretical knowledge of design, development and deployment of software applications in the field of Entertainment Computing.