2001 Swinburne Undergraduate and TAFE Course Guide

Social Sciences and Arts – Degrees
Bachelor of Arts
Social Sciences and Arts – Degrees
Duration
Three years full-time or six years part-time.
Location
Hawthorn.
Entry requirements
Satisfactory completion of an appropriate Victorian
Year 12 or equivalent.
2001 VCE prerequisites: Units 3 and 4 – a study
score of at least 20 in English.
Application procedure
VTAC code: 34321 (full-time)
34401 (part-time)
2000 ENTER: 87.20
Course overview
The Bachelor of Arts is designed to foster
individual student development, to develop skills
and encourage investigation and enquiry which
may be applied to a range of situations. Arts
students learn how to gather, synthesise and
assess information, how to conceptualise issues,
and to express themselves effectively both orally
and in writing.
Arts students can study from the following:
Asian Languages and Cultures (Japanese)
Asian Studies
Australian Studies
Cultural Studies
European Studies
Italian
Literature
Media Studies
Philosophy and Cultural Inquiry
Arts students may also undertake studies from a
wide range of Business and Social Science
Subjects (see lists on pages 24 and 65).
They are required to undertake two majors one of
which must be from the Arts list (see individual
entries for further details on each of these).
Honours
Outstanding Bachelor of Arts students have the
option of undertaking a specialised additional year
of study, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts
(Honours) degree. Honours provides students with
an opportunity to enhance their research ability
and permits further studies and specialisation in
their major discipline. The Honours year is offered
in the areas of Languages, Psychology, Social
Sciences and Industry and Community Studies.
Career opportunities
Administration, human resources, publishing,
public relations, interpreting, journalism. With
further studies, students with appropriate majors
can gain qualifications to become, for example
psychologists, librarians, sociologists or teachers.
Information sessions
Sunday 27 August between 11.00am and 3.00pm
and Wednesday 13 December between 4.00pm
and 8.00pm. Attendance at one of these sessions
is recommended.
STOP PRESS
Have you visited our ‘Resources for VCE and
Secondary School Students’ at our website:
www.swin.edu.au/sbs/vce
Further information
School of Social & Behavioural Sciences
Tel: (03) 9214 5209
Email: sbsadmin@swin.edu.au
Website: www.swin.edu.au/sbs
Arts Specialisations
Students studying degrees or double degrees in
Arts, Business, Information Systems, Engineering
or Social Science have the option of undertaking
subjects from these study areas.
An honours year is also available.
Asian Languages and Culture
(Japanese)
No prior knowledge of the Japanese language is
assumed. Students who have passed VCE
Japanese are admitted to an advanced program.
Students who are native speakers of Japanese
are ineligible to enrol in this language.
Japan is arguably Australia’s most important
trading partner and plays a major role in
Australia’s economy. The Japanese program trains
students to communicate effectively in Japanese
as well as providing opportunities to study
contemporary Japanese culture, society and
economy.
The Japanese program is held in high esteem
both in Australia and Japan as evidenced by the
number of Swinburne students who are awarded
Japanese language prizes and study scholarships
provided by the Japanese Government.
Subjects include
Japanese (a three year sequence of language
study – both beginner and advanced level
streams are offered) plus two Japanese studies
subjects: Introduction to Japan – A Cultural
Overview and Communication in Japanese.
Work Experience in Japan is also available (only
available to Bachelor of Business/Bachelor of Arts
(Japanese) students).
Career opportunities
Teaching, events organisation, tourism (within
Australia and Japan), the business sector.
Asian Studies
Asian Studies provides a knowledge of the diverse
traditions, political forces, and social and
economic dynamics that have forged our
neighbouring region. With the growing emphasis
on internationalisation and cooperation with our
northern neighbours, it is worth considering
inclusion of at least some of the Asian Studies
subjects in a program. Students of an Asian
language should certainly complement their study
with a number of these subjects.
The focus of Asian Studies is on contemporary
Asia.
Subjects include
International politics, introduction to Japan,
modern Japan, emergence of Modern Asia,
Australia and Asia, communication in Japanese,
development and democratisation in South East
Asia, Asian business law, Asian Pacific business
practice.
Career opportunities
Students envisaging a career in the media,
government, commerce and industry would
benefit from Asian Studies.
Australian Studies
Australian Studies is an interdisciplinary program
that examines Australian society and its cultures
from several perspectives. It looks at the political,
economic and social history of twentieth century
Australia, moving from there to specific studies
within particular disciplines such as Literature,
Media Studies, Philosophy and Cultural Inquiry,
Politics and Sociology. Australian Studies
encourages students to identify connections
between political and social institutions, cultural
practices and economic structures, to analyse
how they are changing and the effects of those
changes.
Subjects include
Australian politics, modern Australia, popular
culture, Australia and Asia, practical ethics,
cinema studies, public policy in Australia,
Australian writing and cultural change, work in
Australia, sociology and social policy.
Career opportunities
Teaching, private and public sectors, human
services.
Cultural Studies
Cultural Studies is an interdisciplinary major
providing students with the theoretical
understanding, the skills of critical analysis, and
the diversity of disciplinary approaches
appropriate to the study of culture.
Subjects include
Introduction to Japan, Models of Sociological
Analysis, Post-War Italy, History of Ideas, Texts and
Contexts, Philosophy of Culture, Twentieth Century
European Literature and Thought, Social
Philosophy, Politics and Ethics, Reading, Writing
and Criticism, Popular Culture, Sex and Gender in
Society, Social Psychology, Approaches to Culture,
Rationality, Environmental Philosophy, Cross
Cultural Perspectives, Renaissance Literary
Culture, Cinema Studies, Sociology of
Organisations.
Career opportunities
Teaching, civil service, journalism, media,
diplomatic corps.
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