Course

Bachelor of Arts

Approved Abbreviation: BA

Western Sydney University Course Code: 1604.4

AQF Level: 7

CRICOS Code: 040992A

Students should follow the course structure for the course version relevant to the year they commenced. This version applies to students whose commencement year for this course is 2008.

Commencement Year 2007 - 1604.3 Bachelor of Arts

Commencement Year 2006 - 1604.2 Bachelor of Arts

Commencement Year 2005 - 1604.1 Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts graduates are prepared for a very wide range of employment opportunities and are equipped with the communication and people skills, creativity and capacity for independent thought, flexibility and adaptability in new situations increasingly demanded by employers. Bachelor of Arts graduates find employment in an enormous diversity of areas including: communication and media industries; education; entertainment and arts administration; government, cultural, and heritage organisations; psychology and counseling; social and policy research and analysis; tourism and leisure industries; writing and publishing.

Students can select Humanities, Applied Humanities, Islamic Studies, Languages or Psychology as a Key Program. In addition to the Key Program, students are able to undertake additional areas of study in the form of a major or sub-major. The Humanities Key Program has majors in Art History and Cinema Studies, Asian Studies and International Relations, Cultural and Social Analysis, English, Text and Writing and History, Politics and Philosophy. Study in the Applied Humanities Key Program is available in Languages and in the Humanities major areas of study. Students enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts Key Program may also choose to package some or all of their elective units into a Social Ecology elective major or submajor, or an Islamic Studies elective major or submajor. The Languages Key Program has majors and sub-majors in specific named language sequences, and in TESOL; Interpreting and Translation; and English Linguistics.

Careers in Teaching and Education:

Students wishing to be primary or secondary school teachers of English, History, Languages or Human Society and its Environment (which includes both history and social science units) should enrol in courses 1651 Bachelor of Arts (Pathway to Primary Teaching) or 1652 Bachelor of Arts (Pathway to Secondary Teaching). For further information concerning the requirements for teaching, students are advised to consult the Subject Content Requirements for Primary and Secondary Teaching NSW (Abridged) from the NSW Institute of Teachers

http://www.nswteachers.nsw.edu.au/future-returning-teachers/become-a-teacher/

or the School of Education.

The Bachelor of Arts is a three-year degree offering students an opportunity to develop a depth of disciplinary expertise together with the breadth of vision afforded by cross-disciplinary approaches to the humanities. The Bachelor of Arts is also designed to provide knowledge, tools for thinking, and enhanced self-understanding, so as to form a basis for lifelong learning.

  • Director of Academic Program - Dr Dianne Dickenson

Study Mode
Three years full-time or six years part-time.

Accreditation
The Key Program in Psychology offered within the Bachelor of Arts is accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) and the Psychology Board of Australia (PBA) as an undergraduate three year sequence in Psychology.

Admission

Students are admitted to the course via application to the Universities Admission Centre (UAC).

International applicants should contact International Office for details on admission. Contact information for the International Office is available via their website.

International Office

Assumed knowledge: Two units of HSC English at Band 4.

Recommended studies: HSC English Standard, or equivalent.

For admission to the Applied Humanities Key Program applicants must have completed a TAFE diploma (AQF Level 5, two years full-time or equivalent) or equivalent in a relevant area at credit level or above, and must nominate the Applied Humanities program on enrolment. TAFE program areas considered most compatible with the Bachelor of Arts studies are:

  • business and public administration
  • community services
  • health
  • tourism
  • hospitality
  • information technology
  • arts and media

Course Structure

Qualification for this award requires the successful completion of 240 credit points.

All students must enrol in and complete:

  • 40 credit points Bachelor of Arts Core
  • 120 credit point Key Program of Psychology or Islamic Studies or Languages or Humanities
  • 80 credit points of elective units

Electives may be used toward obtaining an additional approved major or sub-major.

Core Components

The basic structure of the Bachelor of Arts is the Level 1 core (40 credit points) and the Key Program (120 credit points).

The 40 credit points Level 1 core is made up of:

100958Australia and the World
100960Contemporary Society
100965Media and Visual Cultures

*Students please note from 2010 unit 100965.1 - Media and Visual Cultures is replaced by unit 100846 - Analytical Reading and Writing.

100968Texts and Traditions

All students must complete a Key Program. Explanations of these Key Programs can be found under the key program lisitings below.

Key Program

Key Programs available are:

KP1604AH3Applied Humanities

*The Key Program in Applied Humanities has special entry requirements.

KP1604HUM3Humanities
KP1604ISLAIslamic Studies
KP1604LAN3Languages
KP1604PSYCPsychology

Progression Rules

  • No more than 100 credit points of Level 1 units may be counted towards the degree
  • The general pre-requisite for Level 2 and Level 3 units is the successful completion of at least 60 credit points of Level 1 units.*
  • Minimum 60 credit points of Level 3 units.

*There are particular exceptions in the case of the Key Programs in Languages, Islamic Studies and Psychology.

Majors

Students completing a Key Program in one area of study have the option of structuring their elective units into an additional major or sub-major taken from outside that Key Program. Students enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts Key Program may also choose to package some or all of their elective units into a Social Ecology or Islamic Studies elective major or sub-major.

M1604SESocial Ecology
SM1604SESocial Ecology
M1604ISLAIslamic Studies
S1604ISLAIslamic Studies

Students who wish to undertake an additional major drawn from another Key Program are not required to undertake the core units for that Key Program before studying a major sequence.

The exception to this rule is Psychology, which must be studied in its entirety for reasons of external accreditation, and is not available as an additional major.

Key Program in Applied Humanities

KP1604AH3Applied Humanities

The Applied Humanities Key Program is made up of two components combining TAFE and university study. The TAFE component is a Diploma of two-years fulltime or equivalent (AQF Level 5 or higher, with no fewer than 1200 hours of study). The university component is 120 credit points of study, comprising of an 80 credit point major and 40 credit point sub-major. Students must apply for academic credit for the Diploma component of this award when enrolling in the degree

The Applied Humanities Key Program can be completed in the areas of Humanities or Languages.

In the Humanities area 80 credit point major must come from one of the following majors and must include the Humanities Internship unit worth 10 credit points.

100961Humanities Internship

Applied Humanities Area - Majors

For students choosing Humanities their major is made up of the designated Level 1 unit for the major plus 70 credit points of Level 2 or 3 units including the Humanities Internship unit worth 10 credit points.

AH1604AH2Applied Humanities Art History and Cinema Studies
AH1604ASIRApplied Humanities Asian Studies and International Relations
AH1604CSA2Applied Humanities Cultural and Social Analysis
AH1604ETW3Applied Humanities English, Text and Writing
AH1604HPP3Applied Humanities History, Politics and Philosophy

Applied Humanities Sub-majors

The 40 credit point sub-major must be selected from one other of the Humanities major areas listed above, with the exception of students who have chosen the Humanities major area Asian Studies and International Relations. For students majoring in Asian Studies and International Relations the Humanities submajor area may be replaced with a submajor in an Asian Language (Arabic, Japanese or Chinese). The units of study for this optional Asian language submajor are available at Bankstown campus, and students whose home campus is Penrith will have to travel off-campus to complete their submajor.

The Applied Humanities sub-major must be made up of no more than one Level 1 unit with the remaining 30 credit points made up of Level 2 or 3 units, or 40 credit points at Level 2 or 3. For those students majoring in Asian Studies and International Relations a submajor in Asian languages must have no more than 20 credit points made up of Level 1 study.

AS1604AH2Applied Humanities Art History and Cinema Studies
AS1604ASIRApplied Humanities Asian Studies and International Relations
AS1604CSA2Applied Humanities Cultural and Social Analysis
AS1604ETW3Applied Humanities English, Text and Writing
AS1604HPP3Applied Humanities History, Politics and Philosophy

Applied Humanities Majors in Languages (Bankstown only).

AH1604LAN2Applied Humanities Languages

Applied Humanities Sub-majors in Languages (Bankstown only).

AS1604LAN2Applied Humanities Languages

Key Program in Humanities

KP1604HUM3Humanities

The key program in Humanities consists of an 80 credit point major and 40 credit point sub-major.

The 80 credit point major must come from one of the following Humanities areas:

Humanities Majors

M1604AHCS2Art History and Cinema Studies
M1604ASIRAsian Studies and International Relations
M1604CSA2Cultural and Social Analysis
M1604ETW3English, Text and Writing
M1604HPP3History, Politics and Philosophy

Humanities Sub-majors

The 40 credit point sub-major comes from a Humanities major other than the area chosen for the Key Program, with the exception of students who have chosen the Humanities major area Asian Studies and International Relations, or students who have chosen the major area in English, Text and Writing.

  • *For students majoring in Asian Studies and International Relations, the Humanities submajor area may be replaced with a submajor in an Asian Language (Arabic, Japanese or Chinese).
  • *For students majoring in English, Text and Writing, the Humanities submajor may be replaced by a submajor in English Linguistics

S1604AHCS2Art History and Cinema Studies
S1604ASIRAsian Studies and International Relations
S1604CSA2Cultural and Social Analysis
S1604ETW3English, Text and Writing
S1604HPP3History, Politics and Philosophy

Key Program in Islamic Studies

KP1604ISLAIslamic Studies

The Key Program in Islamic Studies offers students in-depth study by building on a solid theoretical foundation introduced in the first year, then moving progressively into topics and disciplines essential to an understanding of Islamic studies, past and present. The area of study balances text and context, as well as historical and modern Islamic studies and research methods. One of the keys to Islamic Studies is ‘relevance’ to the contemporary world, but relevance can only come from a sound comprehension of past traditions in Islamic scholarship and their socio-historical contexts. Preparation for graduate study is also a key objective of this program, with its focus on developing critical and interdisciplinary research skills in Islam through a combination of approaches.

The Key Program in Islamic Studies consists of an 80 credit point major and a 40 credit point sub-major in Arabic Language.

M1604ISLAIslamic Studies
S1604ARBArabic

Key Program in Languages

KP1604LAN3Languages

A Key Program in a language comprises of 120 credit points in three areas of languages and linguistics study comprising: (i) a minimum of 40 credit points of studies in a Language other than English (ii) 40 credit points of studies in the Linguistics area of studies and (iii) the balance of 40 credit points may be used to complete a major in the same language, or a sub major in another language or from further studies in a ‘Language in professional contexts’ area with a choice from a pool of units in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Second Language ( L2) teaching, or Interpreting and Translation, or English Linguistics.

Language Majors

M1604ARB2Arabic
M1604CHV2Chinese
M1604ITV2Italian
M1604JPV2Japanese
M1604SPV2Spanish

Language Sub-majors

S1604ARBArabic
S1604CHIChinese
S1604ITALItalian
S1604JAPJapanese
S1604SPANSpanish

Sub-majors for Language in Professional Contexts:

S1604ELEnglish Linguistics
S1604INTRInterpreting and Translation
S1604TSL2TESOL and L2 Teaching

Students may complete additional majors or sub majors in another language or Linguistics or any other approved program using some or all of their 80 credit points of elective units.

Key Program in Psychology

KP1604PSYCPsychology

The Psychology key program offered within the Bachelor of Arts is accredited by the Australian Psychologists Accreditation Council (APAC) and the NSW Psychologist Registration Board as undergraduate three year sequence in Psychology. The Psychology key program prepares graduates for an accredited fourth year in Psychology such as Psychology Honours or the Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology.

Psychology is the field of inquiry that uses scientific techniques and methods to understand and explain behavior and experience. As a profession, it involves the application of psychological knowledge to practical problems in human behavior. Units in the program are drawn from the following topic areas of psychology: history of psychology, biological psychology, learning, social psychology, lifespan development, sensation and perception, individual differences, personality and cognitive processes.

The Key Program in Psychology requires the successful completion of the 40 credit point Bachelor of Arts core units plus the 120 credit points of units in the recommended sequence.

Social Ecology Elective Major and Sub-major (Penrith)

Students in the Bachelor of Arts who choose to package their electives to obtain the named major or sub-major in Social Ecology must be enrolled in a Key Program in Humanities, Languages or Psychology.

M1604SESocial Ecology

As an elective sequence, the Social Ecology major and sub-major is not a required component for graduation from the Bachelor of Arts.

The major and sub-major in Social Ecology is available as an elective package to students across all degrees. Students may also choose any Social Ecology unit as a single elective.

As with all Bachelor of Arts majors, the major is made up of no less than one Level 1 unit and must include the designated Level 1 unit for the major. The remaining 70 credit points are made of Level 2 and 3 units.

Social Ecology Sub-major

Students may take out a Social Ecology Sub-major by completing 40 Credit Points from the above pool of units. The Sub-major must have no more than one Level 1 unit, with the remaining three units drawn from the advanced (Level 2 and 3) pool.

SM1604SESocial Ecology

Major and Sub-major elective spaces

Elective units may be used toward obtaining an additional approved major (80 credit points) or sub-major (40 credit points).

Search for majors and sub-majors

The University offers majors and sub-majors in a range of areas including Sustainability and Indigenous Studies.

Indigenous Australian Studies Major

Indigenous Australian Studies Sub-major

Indigenous Australian Creative Expressions Sub-major

Indigenous Economics Sub-major

Business Sustainability Sub-major

Students can apply for an elective major or sub-major via MySR.

MyStudentRecords (MySR)



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